Sunday Macro, November 30

China

• Chart of the day: China’s deflationary millstone (SCMP) …another real estate noose…
• China Said to Order Companies to Check Risks in Commodity Trades (Bloomberg)
• The Next Phase of China’s Financial Deepening (Project-Syndicate)
• Another Brother in Prominent Shanxi Family Is Target of Graft Investigation (Caixin)
• China’s Property Market Set for Correction, Not Collapse (Peterson Institute)
• China’s coal-bed methane prospects (CER)
• Beijing, international conference capital? (Nikkei Asian Review)
• China Interest-Rate Swap Complete Biggest Weekly Drop Since July (Bloomberg)
• Banking tricks blunt China’s drive to increase lending (Reuters)
• PBOC’s Hu says falling inflation biggest risk to China’s economy (SCMP)
• China Loosens Monetary Policy Further as PBOC Scraps Repo Sales (Bloomberg)
• Bumpy ride ahead for china’s top corporates (Finance Asia)
• China Surpasses Japan as World’s Second-Biggest Equity Market (Bloomberg)
• Record China Downgrades Test PBOC as More Defaults Seen (Bloomberg)
• Asymmetric rate cuts likely to put further pressure on banks (China Daily)
• China Has Pledged to Curb Its Smoking Habit, but Results Are Meager (Caixin)

Asia

• Japan mulls financing body to boost weapons exports (Japan Times)
• Reduced tax rate, security legislation top priorities for Komeito (Japan Times)
• Disemployment caused by Foreign Direct Investment? Multinationals and Japanese employment (Vox)
• India Eases Gold Import Restrictions to Remove Trade Distortions (Bloomberg)
• India Sees $15.6B Hit On State Lenders From Coal Verdict (IB Times)
• Putin Eyes India Energy Deals as Modi Seeks China Treatment (Bloomberg)

Europe

• EU should be able to veto national budgets: Germany’s Schaeuble (Reuters) …good luck selling that…
• Juncker’s investment plan: No risk – no return (Bruegel)
• After zero rates, Sweden ponders next steps to avoid deflation (Reuters)
• Euro zone inflation back at five-year low in November (Reuters)
• Russia opens new front in gas war (BNE) ..and an influential one it is…
• Falling Spanish prices add to euro zone deflation pressure (Reuters)
• Europe feels sting in the tail of Russia sanctions (Reuters)
• Lending to euro zone private sector shrinks again October: ECB (Reuters)
• Europe’s German Ball and Chain (Project-Syndicate)
• Heightened French risk still imperilling the eurozone (Euromoney)
• Draghi Quest to Reach QE Consensus Starts With Asset Choice (Bloomberg)
• Summit of Failure: How the EU Lost Russia over Ukraine (Der Spiegel)
• Relations at Rock Bottom: Cracks Form in Berlin Over Russia Stance (Der Spiegel)
• German Foreign Minister: ‘Crimea Will Remain a Source of Conflict’ (Der Spiegel)
• ECB’s Draghi warns countries to reform as clouds gather over euro zone (Reuters)
• France, Italy, Belgium may break budget rules, EU to revisit in March (Reuters)
• Mario Draghi back on the defensive as euro project faces fresh turmoil (Telegraph)
• Leading French, German economists offer plan to counter EU “stagnation” (Irish Independent)
• Oil Makes Eurozone Inflation a Slippery Prospect (WSJ)
• Russia’s banks struggle as sanctions bite (BNE)
• Ukraine’s government: Tragedy and farce (Economist) …the eternal farce: oligarchs wanting the pie…
• EU’s Jean-Claude Juncker Presents Massive $380B Investment Plan To Boost Growth (IB Times)
• Gas cooperation in Cyprus not enough for reconciliation (Turkish Weekly)
• Spain’s bizarre tax laws make it easier to sell porn than theater tickets (Quartz)

United Kingdom

• British banks’ rotten culture will take generation to fix – think tank (Reuters)
• David Cameron: I’m ready to lead Britain out of Europe if migrant reforms fail (Telegraph)
• Britain’s energy policy is a catastrophic mess that will keep prices high (Telegraph)
• The house price party is over: Values in ‘luxury’ London fall (Telegraph)
• Battersea power station home prices ‘defying all logic’ (Guardian)

United States

• Fed’s latest invention holds promise for controlled rate rise (Reuters)
• Yet More Evidence that Pay Is Going Nowhere Fast (Blanchflower, Peterson Institute)
• Rock Bottom Economics: The Inflation and Rising Interest Rates That Never Showed Up (Krugman, NY Times)
• Wells Fargo: first big bank simple enough to fail (Reuters)
• Manufacturing’s false promise of a decent payday (Reuters)
• Why the odds are against you ever owning your own home (CBS)
• U.S. consumer, business spending data point to slowing growth (Reuters)
• Yellen’s ‘optimal’ model calls for rate hike this year, in theory (Reuters)
• US reluctant to extradite corrupt officials, Chinese foreign ministry claims (SCMP)
• The Federal Reserve’s Escape from New York (Project-Syndicate)
• How Baseball Statistics Can Help Explain the Economy (NY Times)
• There’s a Giant Contradiction at the Heart of the U.S. Economy (NY Times)
• US shale boom is same as dotcom bubble, says Russian oil executive (Telegraph)
• A Worrisome Slide For Inflation Expectations (Capital Spectator)
• The Fed concerned about “importing” disinflation (Sober Look)

Americas

• IMF can’t stop worrying about Canada’s so-called housing bubble (Financial Post)
• Argentina’s Case Has No Victors, Many Losers (NY Times)
• Argentina accuses HSBC in US$3b tax evasion cases (SCMP)
• Liquidity and foreign asset management challenges for Latin American countries (Vox)

Terra Incognita

• Labor wins power as Coalition dumped after one term (Fairfax)
• Tony Abbott sweats as Victorian voters cast harsh judgment (Fairfax)
• Micro parties to control Victorian upper house, with Shooters Party likely winners (Fairfax)
• How to Buy a Used Car (Idiot Tax)
• Now is not a good time for the housing construction boom to end (Jericho, Guardian)
• Plunging Oil Threatens to Spoil Australia’s Next Gas Boon (Bloomberg) …game on Richie?…
• Australia Government Suffering Worst Polls as Abbott Breaks Vows (Bloomberg)
• Australia Starts to Turn as Non-Mining Investment Gains: Economy (Bloomberg)
•  Australia set to tighten rules for foreign property buyers (SCMP)
• The noodle-bowl effect: Australian trade is increasingly complex (Conversation)
• Productivity could trump the iron ore price, but who’s counting? (Conversation)
• Liberalising land regulations would open new frontiers (Fairfax) …fancy that, freeing up land supply…
• Chart of the day: Sing when you’re winning (SCMP)…year end AUD of 79.5?…

Commodities

• Sliding investment, cost-cutting shows commodity boom-bust lives (Reuters) …Clyde Russell nails it- LNG NEXT TO JOIN IRON ORE, COAL …
• Panic In Crude Oil Prices (ShortSideofLong)
• Oil drop is big boon for global stock markets, if it lasts (Telegraph)
• Crude facts: why the plunging price of oil is not all good news (Guardian)
• Oil Enters New Era as OPEC Faces Off Against Shale; Who Blinks as Price Slides Toward $70? (Bloomberg)
• Canadian Natural Resources chairman sees oil touching US$30 a barrel (Vancouver Sun)
• U.S. crude down 10 percent post-OPEC, Brent breaks below $70 (Reuters)
• OPEC Gusher to Hit Weakest Players, From Wildcatters to Iran (Bloomberg)
• OPEC might get the last laugh on oil (MarketWatch)
• OPEC’s Prisoner’s Dilemma (Marc to Market)
• Renewable-energy stocks hobbled by OPEC (MarketWatch)
• Gold could face its own OPEC moment as Swiss referendum nears (MarketWatch)
• Iron Ore Caps Monthly Decline as Seaborne Supplies Increase (Bloomberg)
• Why the uranium market has recently given investors glowing returns (Quartz)
• Le Pen calls for audit of French gold reserves (Mineweb)
• Uranium price rally – on pause (Mineweb)
• Oil: The Good, the Better, the Ugly (WSJ)
• Mining suppliers face loss-making deals to stay alive (Mineweb)
• Top Tea Grower McLeod Sees Rebound on Record India Prices (Bloomberg)
• Japan Receives First U.S. Oil Since 2010 Amid Shale Boom (Bloomberg)
• The Abundant Commodity That’s Becoming Harder to Find (Bloomberg) …and Australia has tonnes…
• Oil in New Era as OPEC Refuses to Yield to U.S. Shale (Bloomberg)
• The Opec oil price still matters (just not as much as before) (Guardian)
• Will the Swiss go for gold? (Schiff, Financial Post)
• How JPMorgan struck gold with copper (Mineweb)
• Rio Tinto vows big returns despite iron ore rout (Mineweb)
• Private funds see promise in Australia’s battered mines (Mineweb)
• Farmed ‘Kindai Tuna’ output to triple, says Kinki University (Japan Times)
• OPEC is playing a dangerous game with oil markets (Platts)
• Dysfunctional Opec is stuck in the Sixties and must be reformed (Telegraph)
• Swiss vote provokes ‘6,000-year gold bubble’ attack (Telegraph)
• How markets finally beat OPEC’s oil-price chokehold (Financial Post)
• Speculators increase bets that Brent crude will fall to $65 in first quarter (Reuters)
• LBMA takes stake in gold, platinum, palladium benchmarks (Reuters)
• Renewable Energy: Does It Need Critically Rare Materials? (Financial sense)

Capital Markets

• Where others fear to tread (Economist) ..this man is very very good…
• Frequent but inefficient (Economist)
• Bob Diamond: I have opportunities not seen for 30 years (Telegraph)
• Tightening by superpower Fed trumps mini-stimulus in Europe and Asia (Telegraph)
• Financial systems must consider extreme weather, or risk condemning millions to die (Guardian)
• Insurers and fund firms battle it out for pensioners’ cash (Reuters)
• The Geopolitical Impact of Cheap Oil (Project-Syndicate)
• Causes of the G7 fixed investment doldrums (Vox)
• The role of bank guarantees in international trade (Vox)
• Productivity, pricing power, and exports (Vox)
• Vicious Cycle 2.0: European bank interconnectedness and vulnerabilities (Pieria)
• Is Abenomics discrediting Keynesianism? (Pieria)
• So banks are too big to fail. Are they also too big to regulate? (Guardian)

Global Macro

• Political crisis is the big market nightmare now (Telegraph)
• We should cash-bomb the people – not the banks (Guardian)
• Five Economic Trends to Be Thankful For (NY Times)
• WTO clinches first global trade deal in its history (Reuters)
• Why do nearly 40 percent of Germans endorse Russia’s annexation of Crimea? (Washington Post)
• Seven years after: why this recovery is still a turkey (RWER)
• Summits that matter, summits that don’t (Liam Halligan, BNE)
• Beware overselling the case for free trade (Conversation)
• Go where it is darkest: When company, country, currency and commodity risk collide!  (Musings on Markets)…very interesting read…
• WTO deal paves way for implementing landmark trade pact (Japan Times)
• «We all are in a Ponzi world right now. Hoping to be bailed out by the next person» — interview with DANIEL STELTER (Janela na web) …yep, very good interview…

And Furthermore

• British Developer Vincent Tchenguiz Files $3.5 Billion Claim Over Iceland Bank Inquiry (NY Times)
• Emperor’s New Clothes: Money Lacking for Facade of Berlin’s New Palace (Der Spiegel)
• Dr. Web: German Medical Start-Ups Aim to Digitalize Healthcare (Der Spiegel)
• What have climate engineering boffins learned? (ScienceInsider)
• Star quality – Focus your attentions on a fund’s process, not its manager (Pieria)
• Food Smuggling: Why Commodities Traders Should Care (WSJ)
• Get a degree in drones: earn $100,000 a year (Market Watch)
• A Respectful Deference to Elders Curdles Into a Fight Over Assets (NY Times)
• Our planet may be on the verge of its sixth mass extinction (Washington Post)
• Shades of complexity dominate the debate over ‘net neutrality’ (Washington Post)
• Why Government Workers Are Harder to Motivate (HBR)
• The loaded language of austerity – but all the sinners are saints! (Bill Mitchell)
• Poor kids who do everything right don’t do better than rich kids who do everything wrong (Washington Post)
• Malnutrition, nutrients and obesity: Feast and famine (Economist)
• INSIDE ELON MUSK’S $1.4 BILLION SCORE (Fortune)
• What the Dickens? How 21st-century capitalism is producing 19th-century working conditions. (Fortune)
• Maglev elevators are coming that can go up, down, and sideways (Quartz)
• Are you heading toward a retirement crisis? (CBS)
• Bride in hospital, groom and best man charged after Hobart wedding brawl (ABC) …don’t you miss those days?…