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JPM, ECB Hint At Arrival Of “Helicopter Money” In Europe Following Next “Significant Downturn”
JPM, ECB Hint At Arrival Of “Helicopter Money” In Europe Following Next “Significant Downturn”
Moments ago, ECB governing council member and Bank of Italy governor Ignazio Visco had some very troubling comments.
He said that while helicopter money is not currently part of the discussion in the Governing Council that “no policy tool within our mandate can or should be dismissed a priori.” The reason for this startling admission is “the importance of expectations of low inflation in determining wage outcomes, and thus giving rise to second- round effects, may be increasing.”
He cited Italy’s recently signed collective contracts where “it was agreed that parts of future pay rises will be revised downwards in the event that the inflation rate falls short of current forecasts” adding that a “a generalized adoption of this type of contract would significantly decrease the rate of growth of wages and this would in turn be reflected in the dynamics of consumer prices.”
He went on to defend existing monetary policy which has so far only resulted in savings hoarding, ongoing deflation and a slammed banking sector, saying that “Regarding Italy, the effects are estimated to be somewhat stronger: absent the monetary impulse, the Italian recession would have ended only in 2017; inflation would have remained negative for the whole three-year period.”
But back to helicopter money: Visco also said that: “such an extreme measure would undoubtedly be subject to operational and legal constraints.”
Is the ECB really this cloase to helicopter money? It appears so, because as he notes “the redistributive implications and the close ties with fiscal policy would all make it very complex, all the more so in the euro area given its institutional framework.” He concluded that a discussion on the measure “is noteworthy, not much per se, but because it underlines the concern that monetary policy is left to act in isolation.”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Will The Fed Follow The BoJ Down The NIRP Rabbit Hole?
Will The Fed Follow The BoJ Down The NIRP Rabbit Hole?
“Overall, we believe the latest package is far from a game changer,” Matejka opined.
What was especially interesting about that particular note was the following graph and set of tables which show just how “effective” NIRP has been for the five central banks that have tried it so far.
As you can see, once you go NIRP, it’s pretty much all downhill from there whether you’re talking inflation, the economy, or even equities.
Given that, and given that the entire idea is absurd on its face for a whole laundry list of reasons, one wonders why any central banker would chase down this rabbit hole only to find themselves the protagonist in the latest retelling of “Krugman in Wonderland”.
In any event, for those wondering whether the Fed will join the ECB, the BoJ, the Riksbank, the SNB, and the NationalBank in this increasingly insane monetary experiment, below, courtesy of Bloomberg, find a chronological history of Fed and analyst commentary on NIRP in America.
FED COMMENTARY
- March 16: Yellen said during post-FOMC press conference Fed isn’t actively considering negative rates, studying effects in other nations
- March 2: San Francisco President Williams said “we’re not doing negative interest rates”; Williams Feb. 25 said negative rates are “potentially in the toolbox” but may have “unintended consequences”
- March 1: Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Bloomberg Radio and TV negative interest rates, if pursued for an extended period of time, will eventually distort saving and investment…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Something Just Snapped At The Comex (Updated)
Something Just Snapped At The Comex (Updated)
Update: Earlier today, we said that we would “keep a close eye on today’s Comex update to see if JPM reverses this “adjustment” and adds at least a few more tons of deliverable gold to its vault.” Moments ago we got the daily update form the Comex and not only did JPM not reverse its registered to eligible adjustment, but more curiously, the second largest vault, that of Scotia Mocatta (behind only HSBC) saw a comparable adjustment, whereby 16,644 ounces of gold, or about half a ton, and 14% of its vault total, were adjusted away from “registered” and into the “eliglble” category.
This means that the already record low total registered holding across the Comex system, declined once again this time by 8.3% and hit a new all time low of 185,315, or less than 6 tons.
This means that what was already a record dilution factor, with over 200 ounces of paper gold claims for every ounce of deliverable gold, just soared even more, and following today’s 8% drop, there is now a unprecedented 228 ounces of paper claims for every ounce of deliverable “registered” gold.
For those who missed the full story from earlier today, please read on.
* * *
Just over one month ago, when looking at the latest changes in registered gold held at the Comex ,we were stunned not only by the collapse in this series to a record low of just over 350k ounces or barely over 10 tons, but also by the surge in “gold coverage”, or the amount of paper gold claims on physical gold, which exploded to a record high 124 per ounce.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Comex On The Edge? Paper Gold “Dilution” Hits A Record 124 For Every Ounce Of Physical
Comex On The Edge? Paper Gold “Dilution” Hits A Record 124 For Every Ounce Of Physical
Over the weekend, we got what was merely the latest confirmation that when it comes to sliding gold prices, consumer of physical gold just can’t get enough. As the Times of India reported over the weekend, India’s gold imports shot up by about 61 per cent to 155 tonnes in the first two months of the current fiscal “due to weak prices globally and the easing of restrictions by the Reserve Bank. In April-May of the last fiscal, gold imports had aggregated about 96 tonnes, an official said.”
This follows confirmations previously that with the price of gold sliding, physical demand has been through the roof, case in point: “US Mint Sells Most Physical Gold In Two Years On Same Day Gold Price Hits Five Year Low“, “Gold Bullion Demand Surges – Perth Mint and U.S. Mint Cannot Meet Demand“, “Gold Tumbles Despite UK Mint Seeing Europeans Rush To Buy Bullion” and so on. Indicatively, as of Friday, the US Mint had sold 170,000 ounces of gold bullion in July: the fifth highest on record, and we expect today’s month-end update to push that number even higher.
But while the dislocation between demand for physical and the price of paper gold has been extensively discussed here over the years, most recently in “Gold And The Silver Stand-Off: Is The Selling Of Paper Gold And Silver Finally Ending?”, something unexpected happened at the CME on Friday afternoon which may be the most important observation yet.
Recall that in the middle of 2013, in an extensive series of articles, we covered what was then a complete collapse in Comex vaulted holding of registered (i.e., deliverable) gold. At the time the culprit was JPM, where for some still unexplained reason, the gold held in the newest Comex’ vault plunged by nearly 2 million ounces in just six short months.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
“QE Benefits Mostly The Wealthy” JPMorgan Admits, And Lists 8 Ways ECB’s QE Will Hurt Everyone Else
“QE Benefits Mostly The Wealthy” JPMorgan Admits, And Lists 8 Ways ECB’s QE Will Hurt Everyone Else
Over the past 48 hours, the world has been bombarded with a relentless array of soundbites, originating either at the ECB, or – inexplicably – out of Greece, the place which has been explicitly isolated by Frankfurt, that the European Central Bank’s QE will benefit everyone.
Setting the record straight: it won’t, and not just in our own words which most are familiar with as we have been repeating them since 2009, but those of JPM’s Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, who just said what has been painfully clear to all but the 99% ever since the start of QE, namely this: “The wealth effects that come with QE are not evenly distributing. The boost in equity and housing wealth is mostly benefiting their major owners, i.e. the wealthy.”
Thank you JPM. Now if only the central banks will also admit what we have been saying for 6 years, then there will be one less reason for us to continue existing.
And of course, even the benefits to those who stand to gain the most from QE are only temporary. Because the same asset prices which rise thanks to money printing are only transitory, and ultimately mean reverting. To wit: “It potentially creates asset bubbles by lowering asset yields by so much relative to historical norms, that an eventual return to normality will be accompanied with sharp price declines.”
So enjoy your music while it lasts dear 0.1%. Collateral eligible for monetization is becoming increasingly scarce and by our calculations there is about 2 years worth of runway left for G3 assets before central bank interventions in the private market result in a complete paralysis of virtually every asset class, and the end of capital markets as we know them.
As for everyone else, here is a list of 8 ways that the ECB’s QE will hurt, not help, by way of JP Morgan.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
