US Treasuries, JGBs Rally As Bank Of Japan Shifts To "More Flexible" Bond-Buying Plan

After a few years of relative apathy, today's Bank of Japan statement is greeted with considerable anticipation as it may well have some significant impacts on global markets, judging by the last two weeks' action after hints at BoJ policy shifts.

But the most-watched item in today's statement will be with regard Yield Curve Control (YCC) as recent source articles have suggested that the BoJ will discuss potential policy changes to its YCC framework on the basis of sustainability, not tightening, of monetary policy which could lead to an adjustment of the yield curve target - where the 10Y JGB trades - to allow a long-term natural rise. This is said to be the cause due to the central bank's admission that it may take even longer to hit the 2% price target, and therefore would need to ensure its policy measures can be sustained, while a policy tweak could also help alleviate some of the side-effects from its prolonged ultra-loose policy which has squeezed banks' profits.

And yet, few expect that the BOJ will make an explicit YCC determination today, as an increase in the JGB yield target appears unlikely at a time when it is expected to revise downward its inflation forecast; instead in consideration of the adverse side effects of its policy, the BoJ will likely declare at the end of its statement that, based on its analysis in its quarterly Outlook Report, that it will maintain its easing policy for an extended period but will conduct financial market operations and asset purchasing operations to address the mounting cumulative side effects.

And in case there is a negative reaction to this apparent 'tightening', one likely easing measure to deal with such side effects will include an overhaul of its JPY6 billion ETF purchasing operations, a shift from Nikkei 225-linked ETF to Topix-linked ETF, which would likely spur investors to follow suit in rebalancing their portfolios should this materialize.

And finally, while 'officially' The Bank of Japan has not shifted its bond-buying program's scope, in practice it has been tapering dramatically... forced by liquidity constraints in the market.

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"Now The Real Economic War Begins, With America And Europe Allied"

The US and EU account for over 50% of global GDP and have the world’s largest bilateral trade relationship, exchanging $1.1trln of goods and services annually; there’s no more integrated economic relationship on earth. One-third of world trade involves the US and EU - the US is humanity’s #1 customer, accounting for 18% of all imports, the EU is #2 at 15%.

Total US investment in the EU is 3x higher than its investment in all of Asia. EU investment in the US is 8x higher than its investment in India and China combined. The US and EU have 880mm people (12% of total population), $180trln of wealth (65% of global wealth) and own nearly all of humanity’s intellectual property.

To be sure, we have our differences, but heaven help this planet’s divided nations if we set those aside and seek material advantage.

“Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, when I was invited by the President to the White House, I had one intention: I had the intention to make a deal today,” announced Jean-Claude Juncker, camera’s clicking, a media whir, history in the making. “And we made a deal today,” continued the President of the European Commission, as a shockwave circled the planet.

You see, throughout Europe’s timeless saga, never had a single politician cut a real deal on behalf of the entire continent, though not through any lack of effort. Many fought to attain the power of a united Europe - the Romans, Charlemagne, the short Frenchman with an ulcer, Austria’s most famous Adolph. Juncker’s unlike them all. He’s a creature of Europe’s modern union, a concept born of utter exhaustion, profound weakness.

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BOJ Offers To Buy Unlimited Bonds After Bizarre Delay As Yield Surge

While traders' attentions were as usual focused on the latest developments in China last night, around 9pm ET we pointed out that the real action was taking place in Japan, where the 10Y yield had blown out beyond the BOJ's designated range of 0.00%-0.10%...

... and had even crossed into the range above 0.11% where the BOJ traditionally launches its Fixed Rate Operation, also known as Unlimited Buying of JGBs beyond a given rate, something it did most recently on Monday morning (after a 7 month hiatus) when JGB yields also blew out sharply.

Which is why we were wondering when the BOJ would announce the latest "unlimited buying" operation to defend Japanese bonds from a further rout.

And it wasn't just us: so were all bond traders and central bank watchers, and yet the hours passed and still nothing from Kuroda.

Then, finally, just around 1am ET or 4 hours after the rout had started, the BOJ couldn't take it any more and announced the long overdue fixed-rate operation for the second time in 5 days after the 10-year yield rose to its highest level in more than a year.

While the BOJ's latest intervention resulted in a lot of relieved traders as the lack of any intervention almost convinced markets that Kuroda was willing to let the long end JGBs "slide", there was a difference: this BOJ offered to buy 10-year debt at 0.10% vs 0.11% at its previous operations. And also unlike Monday's operation, today the central bank actually did end up buying some 94BN yen worth of 10-year bonds.

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Tech Investors Start To Panic As Facebook’s Stock Price Plunges More Than 20 Percent

Is this the beginning of the fall of Facebook?  After announcing disappointing numbers for the second quarter on Wednesday, Facebook’s stock price plunged more than 20 percent in after-hours trading.  If that decline holds on Thursday, it will be the biggest stock price drop in Facebook’s entire history.  But the truth is that we will probably see the stock price bounce back a bit, because Wednesday’s crash was almost certainly an overreaction.  Unlike many other tech companies, Facebook is still making lots of money, and the number of users globally is still growing.  However, there are definitely some huge red flags.  In the U.S. and Canada the number of users is stagnant, and in Europe the number of users is actually declining.  Facebook’s user base is aging as many young people abandon the platform for trendier alternatives, and there is a growing backlash among conservatives against the tremendous censorship that we have seen in recent months.  People are hungry for an alternative, and if something more appealing comes along Facebook could ultimately suffer the same fate as MySpace very rapidly.

Stock prices tend to fall a lot faster than they go up, but what happened to Facebook on Wednesday was truly breathtaking…

Facebook lost about $130 billion in market value in just two hours, its steepest stock decline ever, after warning of slowing sales growth.

The stock, which plunged as much as 24% in after-hours trading Wednesday, had a cascading effect on competitors Snap and Twitter, which dropped, too. Traders are bracing for a decline in tech stocks when the markets open Thursday.

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The Regulation That Could Push Oil To $200

Oil prices could spike as high as $200 per barrel over the next 18 months, which would cause an “economic crash of horrible proportions,” according to a new report.

A research paper from economist and oil market watcher Philip K. Verleger predicts there could be a shortage of low-sulfur diesel fuel in 2020 as a result of regulations from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) aimed at cutting sulfur emissions. The regulations, due to take effect at the start of 2020, lowers the allowed concentration of sulfur in maritime fuels from 3.5 percent to just 0.5 percent.

Those rules have already sparked a scramble for low-sulfur options. But the current global refining capacity may not be able to churn out enough low-sulfur fuels to allow a smooth transition from high-sulfur fuels by the world’s shipping fleet.

The shipping industry accounts for about 5 percent of total global oil demand, and most ships burn heavy fuel oil that is high in sulfur. Switching over 5 percent of total demand to low-sulfur diesel and gasoil – a distillate similar to diesel – is a massive shift.

Ship-owners will have a few options: install expensive scrubbers to remove sulfur, switch to low-sulfur fuels such as diesel or gasoil, or switch over to LNG. Scrubbers and LNG are generally thought to be the most expensive options, requiring capital outlays to overhaul entire fleets.

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Venezuela Surpasses Weimar As Hyperinflation Expected To Hit 1,000,000% By Year End

Some readers may recall this headline from January 2018 "IMF Projects Venezuela Inflation Will Soar to 13,000 Percent in 2018."

This, it turns out was just a little bit off, because as we reported only two weeks ago, Venezuela's annualized inflation hit an annualized rate of 482,153%, with food prices soaring 183% in just one month.

Fast forward to today, when it's time for another "slight revision" because according to the latest IMF forecast released today, Venezuela’s hyperinflation by the end of the year will hit, drumroll, 1,000,000% as the government continues to simply print money to in hopes of filling the void of what was once the country's economy. Putting that number in perspective, the IMF believes that Venezuela inflation hit only 2,400% in 2017, according to a report published Thursday by Alejandro Werner, head of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere department.

The revised forecast means that as of right now, Venezuela's hyperinflation has officially surpassed the Weimar Republic's, where the highest recorded monthly inflation was a timid 29,500% (resulting in prices doubling ever 3.7 days).

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EU Parliament Study: Central Bank Digital Currencies "Will Reshape Competition" In Crypto Market

A study on issues of competition in fintech, commissioned by the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON), was published July 20. It found that central bank-issued digital currencies could be a “remedy” for a lack of competition policy in the crypto sector:

“The arrival of permissioned cryptocurrencies promoted by banks, even by central banks, will reshape the current competition level in the cryptocurrency market, broadening the number of competitors.”

The study mentions cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) as “technological and operational paradigms that are a source of disruption for the entire sector, including monetary policy and financial stability.” Other “disruptive and innovative applications” of new technologies include “AI, cloud computing, biometrics, digital identity, blockchain, cybersecurity, RegTech, internet of things (IoT), augmented reality.”

Private digital currencies are defined separately from central bank-issued digital currencies (CBDC), noting that the CBDCs differ by being based on a “conventional bilateral settlement with a trusted central party.”

According to the study, since closed cryptocurrency systems require a supervisory authority, central banks could be considering using “permissioned cryptocurrency systems” to “complement or substitute” the currencies already used.

The study claims that CBDCs “will reshape the current competition level in the inter-cryptocurrency market” by adding to the pool of competitors:

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Trump's Trade War May Spark A Chinese Debt Crisis

There’s no chance China will cut its trade surplus with the U.S. in response to President Donald Trump’s tariff threats. For starters, Washington has made no specific demand to which Beijing can respond. But its efforts may have an unexpected side effect: a debt crisis in China.

The 25 percent additional tariffs on exports of machinery and electronics looked, at first blush, like a stealth tax on offshoring. The focus on categories like semiconductors and nuclear components, in which U.S.-owned manufacturers in China are strong, recalled Trump’s 2016 promise to tax “any business that leaves our country.”

It seems, though, that offshoring wasn’t the target after all. Now, with the imposition of new tariffs on low-value exports that mostly involve Asian value chains, the simple fact of selling cheap products that the U.S. buys has become the problem.

Either way, the administration appears set on shrinking its current-account deficit (which, at a moderate 2.4 percent of GDP, is far lower than the 6 percent clocked in 2006-7) just as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates. Distress has already been registered in China. On July 19, the yuan (also known as the renminbi) hit 6.80 to the dollar, the weakest in a year and 7 percent lower than at the end of May.

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China Launches Quasi QE To Support Banks And Sliding Bond Market

With the ECB's QE coming to an end at the end of the year (absent some shock to the market or economy), some traders have already been voicing concerns which central bank will step in and provide a backstop to the global fixed income market, especially once the BOJ joins the global tightening bandwagon (something it will soon have to as Japan is rapidly running out of monetizable securities, and just moments ago the BOJ announced it would trim its purchases of bonds in both the 10-25 and 25+ year bucket).

Today one answer emerged when China’s central bank - three weeks after its latest RRR cut - announced further easing measures, including the introduction of incentives that will boost the liquidity of commercial banks, helping them to expand lending and increase investment in bonds issued by corporates and other entities.

And in a surprising twist, in order to make sure that Chinese banks and financial institutions have ample liquidity, the PBOC appears to have engaged in quasi QE - using monetary policy instruments such as its medium term loan facility (MLF) - to support the local bond market and banks, especially those that have invested in bonds rated AA+ and below. Effectively, China will directly fund banks with ultra cheap liquidity, with one simple instruction: "increase bank lending and bond purchases." And since all Chinese banks are essentially state owned, what Beijing is doing is launching a form of stealthy QE, only one where it is not the central bank, but the country's various commercial banks that do the purchases... using central bank liquidity.

As a reminder, one month ago we noted that the spread between China's AAA and AA- rated bonds has spiked in the past three months, blowing out to levels not seen since August 2016, and an indication of the market's growing fears about the recent surge in Chinese corporate defaults.

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EU Fines Google Record $5 Billion In Android Antitrust Probe

Shares of Google parent Alphabet are in the red on Wednesday morning as European Union antitrust regulators unveiled a record €4.3 billion ($5 billion) fine against the tech giant for allegedly anti-competitive practices related to Google's Android operating system. The wide-ranging probes into Alphabet have been a primary focus of Margrethe Vestager, the bloc's famously aggressive competition commissioner, since she was first appointed to the role in 2014.

Wednesday's fine follows a then-record 2.4 billion euro ($2.8 billion) levied by Vestager last year over allegations that Google's search feature unfairly benefited its comparative-shopping service.

Of course, the size of the latest fine is certainly notable, and begs the question: Is the bloc using these fines to retaliate against the US tech industry and President Trump for his refusal to grant a permanent exemption to the EU from the US's tariffs on aluminum and steel imports? Like China, which is also employing similar "stealth" retaliatory measures, the bloc also has a massive trade surplus of roughly $150 billion with the US.

Others have speculated that the hefty fines and intense scrutiny are a result of resentments in the EU over the global dominance of the US tech industry. Bloomberg broke the story, and also pointed out that the expected fine is roughly equivalent to the annual contribution to the EU's budget made by the Netherlands.

The decision will bring the running total of fines levied against Alphabet to €6.7 billion, and could soon be followed by fines related to Google's online advertising contracts - the last of the three anti-trust probes against the company.

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Did Xi's Overly-Ambitious Goals Trigger US-China Trade War?

Talk of becoming world No.1 backfired, hurting even dinner tables...

Soon, all 1.4 billion Chinese will be feeling the pinch of Donald Trump's presidency an ocean away.

They will look at their dining table and notice their favorite dishes -- Chinese-style deep fried chicken, firecracker chicken and twice-cooked pork -- are all cooked with lots of oil, much of which is pressed from the seeds of American or Brazilian soybeans.

Similarly, many of China's pigs and chickens are raised on imported soybean meal, the residue left after oil extraction.

Doubanjiang, the chili-bean paste that determines the splendor of Chinese cuisine, also cannot be made without soybeans. Of the above mentioned dishes, cabbage is about the only ingredient the country can fully provide for itself.

President Trump last week imposed 25% punitive import tariffs on Chinese products, citing violations of intellectual property rights. Chinese President Xi Jinping responded immediately, slapping 25% retaliatory import tariffs on American products, including soybeans.

As a result of the soybean levy, the cost of food in China will jump, dealing a serious blow to Chinese farmers and eaters.

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China GDP Growth Slows After Record Contraction In Shadow Banking Credit

Following the largest contraction in 'shadow banking system' credit, and a record low for M2 growth, fears were building that China's economic growth prospects may lag expectations.

By way of background for tonight's economic data deluge, here are the lowlights.

The drop in shadow bank was particularly sharp for the second month in a row: this has been the area where Beijing has been most focused in their deleveraging efforts as it’s the most opaque and riskiest segment of credit. And, as the chart below show, the aggregate off balance-sheet financing posted its biggest monthly drop on record in June the lass granular M2 reading also posted a growth slowdown, rising only 8.0% in June, down from May's 8.3%, below consensus of 8.4%, and the lowest on record.

Both of which do nothing to help China's credit impulse. Investors see China's liquidity tightening...

Commenting on the ongoing slowdown in China's credit creation, Goldman said that the latest money and credit data highlighted the challenges the government is facing in loosening monetary policy.

But before we shift to the market's perceptions, don't forget, China's trade surplus with the US just hit a Trump-tantrum-creating record high...

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European Powers Prepare To Ditch Dollar In Trade With Iran

While the White House’s frenzied anti-Iran campaign has entailed unprecedented attempts to twist the arms of the United States’ traditional European allies, the pressure may be backfiring – a reality made all the more clear by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s claims that Europe’s three major powers plan to continue trade ties with Iran without the use of the U.S. dollar.

The move would be a clear sign that the foremost European hegemons – France, Germany, and the United Kingdom – plan to protect the interests of companies hoping to do business with Iran, a significant regional power with a market of around 80 million people.

Lavrov’s statement came as Trump insisted that European companies would “absolutely” face sanctions in the aftermath of Washington’s widely-derided sabotage of the six-party Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).  On May 8, the former host of NBC’s “The Apprentice” blasted the agreement and said that the U.S. would reinstate nuclear sanctions on Iran and “the highest level” of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.

Speaking in Vienna at the ministerial meeting of the JCPOA, Lavrov blasted the U.S. move as “a major violation of the agreed-upon terms which actually made it possible to significantly alleviate tensions from the point of view of the military and political situation in the region and upholding the non-proliferation regime.”  He added that “Iran was meticulously fulfilling its obligations” at the time that Trump destroyed the U.S.’ end of the agreement.

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U.S. Consumers On An Unprecedented Debt Binge As Credit Card Debt Soars To An All-Time Record High

Americans are on an absolutely spectacular debt binge.  Does this mean that the economy is getting better, or does this mean that U.S. consumers are totally tapped out and are relying on borrowed money to make it from month to month?  On Monday, the Federal Reserve announced that total consumer credit in the United States increased by a whopping 24.6 billion dollars in May, which was far greater than the 12.4 billion dollar gain that economists were anticipating.  Total U.S. consumer credit has now hit a grand total of 3.9 trillion dollars, but it is the “revolving credit” numbers that are getting the most attention.  Revolving credit alone shot up by 9.8 billion dollars in May, and that was one of the largest monthly increases ever recorded.  At this point, total “revolving credit” has reached a brand new all-time record high of 1.39 trillion dollars, and credit card debt accounts for nearly all of that figure.

The optimists will tell us that this is yet another sign that the U.S. economy is booming, and hopefully they are correct.

But does it really make sense for U.S. consumers to go on a historic debt binge when much of the country is already drowning in debt and just barely scraping by from month to month?

In a previous article, I pointed out that U.S. consumers have been spending more money than they make for 28 months in a row.

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"We're In Uncharted Waters" - Stocks, Yuan, Commodities Slump As US-China Trade Wars Re-Escalate

Just when you thought it was safe to BTF Trade War Dip, a headline hits to remind you that President Trump is anything but done with China.

The new list marks the latest escalation of the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.

And judging by the reaction in stocks and the yuan, it appears that the market's brilliant extrapolation of "no more trade wars" as a result of a 3 days silence (of which 2 was during the weekend) may have been wrong.

As Asia markets open, Dow Futs are down around 300 from the closing highs.

The US has released the list of $200 billion in Chinese products that could be subject to an additional 10% tariff, fulfilling President Trump's promises for further escalation of the burgeoning trade war between the US and China. Meanwhile, a senior US official reportedly told CNBC that China isn't seriously negotiating on trade, suggesting that the hoped-for negotiated settlement might not materialize - at least not anytime soon.

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The Root Of The Crisis: Every $1 Of Debt Generates Just 44c Of Economic Output

Exactly ten years ago, in the middle of the summer of 2008, the world was only two months away from the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression.

At the time, the size of the US economy as measured by Gross Domestic product was around $14.8 trillion– by far the largest in the world.

And the US national debt back then was about 64% of GDP– roughly $9.5 trillion.

Fast forward a decade and take a snapshot of the same numbers:

US GDP has grown nearly 35% to $19.9 trillion.

But the national debt has soared 122% to over $21 trillion.

The debt-to-GDP ratio in the United States is now 106%, meaning that the national debt is larger than the size of the entire US economy. Yet the debt keeps growing. Rapidly.

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Chinese Refiner Halts US Oil Purchases, May Use Iran Oil Instead

With the US and China contemplating their next moves in what is now officially a trade war, a parallel narrative is developing in the world of energy where Asian oil refiners are racing to secure crude supplies in anticipation of an escalating trade war between the US and China, even as Trump demands all US allies cut Iran oil exports to zero by November 4 following sanctions aimed at shutting the country out of oil markets.

Concerned that the situation will deteriorate before it gets better, Asian refiners are moving swiftly to secure supplies with South Korea leading the way. Under pressure from Washington, Seoul has already halted all orders of Iranian oil, according to sources, even as it braces from spillover effects from the U.S.-China tit-for-tat on trade.

"As South Korea's economy heavily relies on trade, it won't be good for South Korea if the global economic slowdown happens because of a trade dispute between U.S and China," said Lee Dal-seok, senior researcher at the Korea Energy Economic Institute (KEEI).

Meanwhile, Chinese state media has unleashed a full-on propaganda blitzkrieg, slamming Trump's government as a "gang of hoodlums", with officials vowing retaliation, while the chairman of Sinochem just become China's official leader of the anti-Trump resistance, quoting Michelle Obama's famous slogan "when they go low, we go high." Standing in the line of fire are U.S. crude supplies to China, which have surged from virtually zero before 2017 to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July.

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