US futures are set for a sharply lower open (at least in recent market terms) following a steep decline in European stocks and a selloff in Asian shares, following yesterday's sharp escalation in the war of words between the U.S. and North Korea. In a broad risk-off move U.S. Treasuries rose, the VIX surged above 12 overnight, while German bund futures climbed to the highest level in six weeks.
Authored by Chris Whalen via The Institutional Risk Analyst,
"It is not down in any map; true places never are."
"Moby Dick"
Herman Melville
News reports that prosecutors have dropped their case against Bruno Iksil, the former JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) trader many know as the “London Whale,” comes as no surprise to readers of The IRA. Iksil, who resurfaced earlier this year, has been living in relative seclusion in France for the past few years.
When one strips away the lies about central banks' "inflation and employment" mandates and focuses on what they really do - which is to keep asset prices artificially supported and volatility suppressed - the motive behind virtually every central bank act becomes readily apparent: preserve (and increase, if possible) confidence in the market and economy, while saying anything and everything that helps achieve this, or in other words, lie but don't get caught.
In what some have called a “watershed” moment for bitcoin, Bloomberg reports that a company co-owned by an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking to expand Russia’s bitcoin-mining industry, leveraging Russia's cheap energy to rival China as the world’s largest mining market.
The company, known as Russian Miner Coin, or RMC, is seeking to raise $100 million in an initial coin offering, promising buyers a right to 18% of the company’s mining revenue, according to a presentation cited by Bloomberg.
After a temporary dip in 2016, prices for expensive Manhattan and Brooklyn real estate seems to be on the rise yet again. But no matter how quickly the bubble re-inflates, it can't seem to keep up with the perpetually positive outlook of New York's home sellers.
As Bloomberg points out today, despite a rise in prices YoY, 25% of homes sold in 2Q still experienced a price cut at closing versus their original listing prices. Moreover, as much as 40-60% of the homes sold in the more trendy neighborhoods are seeing price cuts.