Free Republic

By now it is common knowledge that when it comes to massive, taxpayer-backed hedge funds, few are quite as big as the Swiss National Bank, whose roughly $100 billion in equity holdings have been extensively profiled on these pages, including its woefully investments in Valeant and the spike in its buying of AAPL stock at its all time high. But while the SNB's stock holdings are updated every quarter courtesy of its informative SEC-filed 13F (we wish the Fed would also disclose the equities it holds courtesy of its Citadel proxy), getting a gllimpse of the flow is more...

While the move by the SNB to basically link its currency to the dying Euro was shocking and will send shockwaves throughout the global financial systems for months to come, in many ways it was inevitable. The central planners are still in control and they are getting increasingly desperate. Part of their desperation manifests itself in acts to prevent markets from sending out signals to investors and the general population. This is why Central Bankers print money and buy government bonds. This is why the ECB is buying worthless PIIGS debt. This is why the SNB decided to destroy its...

Confirming that this is a market for idiots, by idiots, was the 4 am response in the price of gold, which following the SNB's Swiss Franc peg announcement did not surge, as it should have considering that the SNB just singularly changed the role of the CHF from a "flight to safety" to a carry currency, making gold the only island of stability in a world of fiat insanity, but instead plunged by over $50. Subsequent attempts to regain the $1900+ level were met with constant program selling for no other reason, than just because someone 'else' was selling....

Today, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank (ECB), the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank are announcing coordinated measures designed to address the continued elevated pressures in US dollar short-term funding markets. These measures, together with other actions taken in the last few days by individual central banks, are designed to improve the liquidity conditions in global financial markets. The central banks will continue to work together closely and will take appropriate steps to address the ongoing pressures. Bank of England action The Bank of England will offer...