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Yesterday, when we got the first news of huge P&L losses at various publicly-traded banks not to mention the collapse of several retail brokers culminating with the bailout of FXCM by Jefferies, we reminded that seconds after the SNB shocker, we tweeted what was quite obvious to anyone who realized that speculators were most short the CHF since the summer of 2013. We also added that "We have yet to find out just which hedge funds were blown up yesterday", for the simple reason that unlike public banks who have an obligation to reveal news, especially bad, to their shareholders,...

The Swiss central bank plans to charge depositors a 'negative' interest rate of -0.25 per cent to discourage spooked investors from using it to shelter their cash. Money has flooded into Switzerland as market turbulence caused by the Russian rouble collapse and oil price slide has prompted a desperate search for safe havens in recent days. The Swiss National Bank said it would slash its interest rate on balances of over 10million Swiss francs from January 22 - effectively imposing a charge on depositors wanting to hold francs in a bid to keep its currency artificially weak against the euro.

One day, it’s gold. The next, it’s equities. Most days, it’s crude. On Wednesday, it was copper. On Thursday it was the Swiss franc and Swiss stocks. And the move in those two makes those others look like minor-league hiccups. While you were sleeping, all hell broke loose in Switzerland, as the central bank ditched its currency cap against the euro after four years and slashed interest rates to negative 0.75%. The Swiss franc is rallying wildly, while the Swiss stock market is cratering and U.S. stock futures are mostly on the losing side as investors figure out this latest...

Europe is deflating….The Swiss banking established, normally always a pillar of private property and free capital movement have decided to stop pegging their currency which has been an affront against free markets. Hedge Funds piggy banking off government manipulation and mostly short the currency were taken out to the woodshed and shot as the currency shot up 30% in minutes.

"As if millions of macro hedge funds suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced" Over two decades ago, George Soros took on the Bank of England, and won. Just before lunch local time, the Swiss National Bank took on virtually every single macro hedge fund, the vast majority of which were short the Swiss Franc and crushed them, when it announced, first, that it would go further into NIRP, pushing its interest rate on deposit balances even more negative from -0.25% to -0.75%, a move which in itself would have been unprecedented and, second, announcing that the 1.20...

Global markets were thrown into turmoil on Thursday as a shock move by Switzerland to abandon its more than three-year-old cap on the franc sent the currency soaring and Europe's shares and bond yields tumbling. The franc jumped by almost 30 percent in a chaotic few minutes after the 1.20 per euro cap in place since late 2011 was lifted, surging past parity to trade as high as 0.8052 francs per euro. It was trading at 1.02600 at just after 1200 GMT. The move reversed an earlier rebound in risk appetite following an overnight recovery in commodity prices. Over 100...

Sam Ro January 6, 2015Over the past few days, we've seen stocks plummet and oil prices crash. But the most interesting moves have been occurring in the global bond markets where government bond yields have been plunging to historic lows. "2015 starts off with the average of G3 10 year government yields below 1%," wrote Steven Englander, Citi's global head of G10 FX Strategy. The G3 currency group consists of the US dollar, the euro, and the yen. On Tuesday, the US 10-year yield got as low as 1.959% and Japan's 10-year yield fell to as low as 0.288%. In...

President Obama still has two years left as president, but that’s not stopping some of his biggest fans from thinking about his legacy. Here’s Ta-Nehisi Coates of The Atlantic: 10 years world will long for "pragmatic" Obama. 25 years--will be considered one of America's "greatest presidents." 50 yrs on the $20 bill.

The dramatic fall in Russia's ruble slowed on Wednesday, with the government selling foreign currency to prop it up after a 50 percent fall against the dollar this year. Losses were partly contained by exporters selling dollars in preparation for paying their monthly tax bills but the slide was less precipitous than in the past two days when it fell about 20 percent against the dollar. At 0508 ET, the ruble was down around 1.6 percent against the dollar at 68.58 rubles per dollar and was 0.3 percent weaker versus the euro at 85.40.

Russian customers waiting for Apple's iPhone 6 will have to wait longer. The Cupertino, Calif., electronics giant on Tuesday temporarily shuttered its online store in the Eastern European country because of the instability of Russia's currency. Apple doesn't operate physical stores in the country, and the company declined to say when it would resume online sales there. "Due to extreme fluctuations in the value of the ruble, our online store in Russia is currently unavailable while we review pricing. We apologize to customers for any inconvenience," Apple said in a statement. The ruble has been dropping sharply in recent days...

Earlier, we reported that various currency brokers such as FXCM and FxPro, would - as a result of the soaring liquidity in the USDRUB pair - suspend trading in the Russian Ruble (while other merely hiked margins to ridiculous levels). It appears things have escalated again, and as FXCM just reported, instead of just politely advising clients not to open new USDRUB position tomorrow, it has advised anyone long, or short, the USDRUB that their positions will be forcibly shut in moments. So for those curious why there appears to be a collapse in Ruble volatility in the past...

(Reuters) - The ruble plunged more than 10 percent for the second day on Tuesday and recorded its worst fall since the Russian financial crisis in 1998 as confidence in the central bank evaporated after an ineffectual overnight rate hike. The rouble opened around 10 percent stronger against the dollar following the overnight 650-basis-point rate hike, but it reversed gains in early trade and fell to record lows, pushing losses this year against the dollar to over 50 percent. At 0637 ET, the rouble was down over 11 percent against the dollar at 73.00 after dipping past 74 rubles per...

Russia's economy is crashing and its currency appears to be in free fall. The ruble plunged by about 12% Monday, meaning it's lost nearly 50% against the dollar this year. Early Tuesday in Russia, the central bank hiked its key interest rate for a sixth time this year to 17% from 10.5%.

SWISS VOTERS overwhelmingly rejected a so-called gold standard referendum. They were right to do so. The wording of the referendum revealed a major obstacle to any return to a genuine gold standard: ignorance of what makes such a system work. The proposition was actually focused on the levels of Switzerland’s gold reserves, not on an actual return to a gold standard. But it was seen as a step in that direction. The purpose of a gold standard is to keep a currency stable in value. Other currencies not on a gold standard may go up or down vis-à-vis the gold-linked...

For most of my career in international investing, I had always placed a great deal of faith in Switzerland's financial markets. In recent years, however, as the Swiss government has sought to hitch its wagon to the flailing euro currency and kowtow increasingly to U.S.-based financial requirements, this faith has been shaken. But this week (November 30th) a referendum in Switzerland on whether its central bank will be required to hold at least 20% of its reserves in gold, will offer ordinary Swiss citizens a rare opportunity to reclaim their country's strong economic heritage. It's a vote that few outside...

. It appears the rumors are true. Islamic State is set to become the only 'state' to back its currency with gold (silver and copper) as it unveils the new coins that will be used in an attempt to solidify its makeshift caliphate. ISIS says the new currency will take the group out of "the oppressors' money system." As Zaid Benjamin notes, ISIS releases details of its new currancy with golden 1 & 5 dinar, silver 1, 5, 10 dirham and copper 10 & 20 fils It seems Alan Greenspan may have been on to something after all... "Remember what...

Tyler Durden 11/07/2014 For some reason, the Council of Foreign Relations, where ex-Fed-Chief Alan Greenspan spoke last week, decided the following discussion should be left out of the official transcript. We can perhaps understand why... as Gillian Tett concludes, "comments like that will be turning you into a rock star amongst the gold bug community." Greenspan (Uncut):(Click to the site to see the video) TETT: Do you think that gold is currently a good investment? GREENSPAN: Yes... Remember what we're looking at. Gold is a currency. It is still, by all evidence, a premier currency. No fiat currency, including the...

Ruble Rout Accelerates as Russia's Central Bank Stands Aside Reuters Nov. 06 2014 18:15 Last edited 21:33 The Russian currency plunged almost 4 percent against the U.S. dollar Thursday amid relentless selling pressure after the Central Bank announced it was limiting market interventions to defend the ruble. The ruble dropped to 46.7 versus the dollar early evening in Moscow, a historical low, while also falling below the mark of 58 to the euro for the first time ever. The declines mean the ruble has fallen over 40 percent against the greenback since the start of the year.

Greg McKenna, Business Insider Australia November 3, 2014I was listening to one of my favourite bands, The Smashing Pumpkins, over the weekend. And it struck me that the opening chorus to “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” is probably how noted stock market bears around the globe feel right now after the massive rally from the October lows and the BoJ’s extra stimulus on Friday which sent stocks and the US dollar much higher. In “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” lead singer Billy Corgan opens up with haunting lyrics: The world is a vampire, sent to drain. Secret destroyers, hold you up to...

November 02, 2014 MISES Marcia Christoff-Kurapovna writes: The story of the destruction of the German mark during the hyper-inflation of Weimar Germany from 1919 to its horrific peak in November 1923 is usually dismissed as a bizarre anomaly in the economic history of the twentieth century. But no episode better illustrates the dire consequences of unsound money or makes a more devastating, real-life case against fiat-currency: where there is no restraint, monetary death will follow. "It matters little that the causes of the Weimar inflation are in many ways unrepeatable; that political conditions are different, or that it is almost...