The single biggest event overnight was the PBOC's devaluation of the Yuan to the lowest since March 2011, setting the fixing at 6.5693, the highest in over 5 years and in direct response to a stronger dollar, which however if one looks at the DXY remains well below the recent highs in the 100 range, suggesting for China this is only just beginning.
Precious Metals: Fake-Rally Ends, Hostage Markets Return
Written by Jeff Nielson
Back at the beginning of 2009, we had a real rally in the precious metals sector. The price of gold increased by roughly 2 ½ times. Silver led the way, rising more than double that amount. And the precious metals miners soared much higher, leveraging the gains in metals prices – as they must do, in any legitimate rally.
Submitted by Patrick Watson via MauldinEconomics.com,
Negative interest rates are all the rage at central banks, a symptom of the deflation that is slowing spreading worldwide. The Bank of Japan, European Central Bank, and Swiss National Bank already peg rates below zero. Even if the Federal Reserve doesn't formally join them, US rates are solidly negative in real terms.
Moments ago, the Fed's discount rate minutes for the months of March/April suggested that a rate hike may be indeed closer than some expect, because after just two regional Feds - those of Richmond Fed and Kansas City - requested an increase in the rate charged on direct loans from the central bank to 1.25% from 1% in the Feb/March meeting, this number doubled to four, with the inclusion of the San Fran and Cleveland Feds joining the group of regional Feds pushing for a 25 bps rate hike to the discount rate.
Asset markets aren't prepared for a hawkish Fed. As Bloomberg's Richard Breslow notes Fed speakers have even taken to the Sunday talk shows to beat the rate-rise drum as economics is morphing into punditry. They’re going to raise rates because they can, are independent, apolitical and can’t be bullied by foreigners. The numbers notwithstanding...
Hallelujah