"The Cat Is Out Of The Bag" - In Interview Mossack Fonseca Founders Admit It's Over... To Rothschild's Delight

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/05/2016 - 08:19

"The cat’s out of the bag,” Mossack said. “So now we have to deal with the aftermath"... an aftermath that will make the provider of the biggest new tax haven service in the world, Rothschild, extremely happy. 

Panama Papers: Obama, Clinton Pushed Trade Deal Amid Warnings It Would Make Money Laundering, Tax Evasion Worse

from IBTimes:

Years before more than a hundred media outlets around the world released stories Sunday exposing a massive network of global tax evasion detailed in the so-called Panama Papers, U.S. President Barack Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pushed for a Bush administration-negotiated free trade agreement that watchdogs warned would only make the situation worse.
Soon after taking office in 2009, Obama and his secretary of state — who is currently the Democratic presidential front-runner — began pushing for the passage of stalled free trade agreements (FTAs) with Panama, Colombia and South Korea that opponents said would make it more difficult to crack down on Panama’s very low income tax rate, banking secrecy laws and history of noncooperation with foreign partners.
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Why Traders Are Angry: "The Fed Is Modeling Distortions It Helped Create"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/05/2016 - 09:55 It’s important to realize that the inexorable buying of debt securities by global central banks has so distorted markets that no one can actually know what’s implied by market pricing: other than monetary policy run amok. Just this week several central banks warned they have plenty more ammunition to ease further. After all, its done so much good. Wave after wave of price insensitive frenzy and disregard for risk make these debates merely an academic exercise. But, scarily, one that directly influences policy.

• 2018 – SDR World Currency Backed with Gold
  Posted by: Sprott Money
  Post date: 04/05/2016 - 05:59
  Tomorrow is already here, we just haven’t awakened to hear the news.

'Everything Is Being Sold' - Smart Money Selling Soars, Now In 10th Straight Week

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/05/2016 - 09:32 "Last week, during which the S&P 500 was up 1.8%, BofAML clients were net sellers of US stocks for the tenth consecutive week, in the amount of $3.98bn. Net sales last week were the largest since September, and the fifth-largest in our data history (since 2008)."

Valeant Stock Soars After Its Own Board Clears Itself Of Any More Wrongdoing, Will File 10-K

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/05/2016 - 09:12 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (NYSE: VRX and TSX: VRX) today announced that the ad hoc committee of the board of directors (the "Ad Hoc Committee") believes that its review of various Philidor and related accounting matters is complete, and that it has not identified any additional items that would require restatements beyond those required by matters previously disclosed.

In 20 Words The ECB Explains The Business Model Of Every Central Bank

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/05/2016 - 08:58

Q1 GDP To Be Revised Even Lower After February Trade Deficit Grows More Than Expected

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/05/2016 - 08:38 As of this moment, the Atlanta Fed calculates Q1 GDP to be -0.7% (Bank of America has it at 0.6%). We expect this number to be promptly revised even lower following the latest disappointing trade data from the US, when moments ago the BEA reported that the US February deficit rose from $45.9BN to $47.1BN, missing the $46.2BN consensus estimate. This was the largest monthly deficit since August 2015's $50.5BN, and the number is likely only going to increase as the US is once again forced to start importing more oil with its own shale industry increasingly mothballed.

USDJPY Spikes On Reuters Story BOJ To "Debate Further Easing"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/05/2016 - 07:59 IT WILL BE A CLOSE CALL AT THE BOJ'S APRIL MEETING ON WHETHER OR NOT TO CONDUCT EASING - SOURCES
IF BOJ WERE TO ACT, MORE LIKELY TO INCREASE ASSET BUYING THAN  FURTHER CUT INTEREST RATES - SOURCES

Did Italy And Malta Actually Agree To Swap Oil Rights For Refugees

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/05/2016 - 07:46 As the Syrian refugee crisis reaches a critical impasse, both in terms of European security and refugee human rights, Brussels has found itself having to deny accusations of a secret pact between Malta and Italy to swap refugees for oil exploration rights. The Maltese opposition leader has claimed that Malta and Italy cut a secret deal in which Malta would surrender oil exploration rights in an offshore area disputed with Italy, while Italy would return the favor by picking up Malta’s share of migrant rescues at sea.

"Risk Off" - Global Stocks Slide As Yen Surges To 17 Month High; Bund Yields Plunge

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/05/2016 - 06:49 The market's slumberous levitation of the past month, in which yesterday's -0.3% drop was the second largest in 4 weeks and in which the market had gone for 15 consecutive days without a 1% S&P 500 move (in March 2015 the sasme streak ended at day 16) may be about to end, after an overnight session, the polar opposite of yesterday's smooth sailing, which has seen a sudden return of global risk off mood.

Was There A Run On The Bank? JPM Caps Some ATM Withdrawals

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/04/2016 - 23:44 Under the auspices of "protecting clients from criminal activity," JPMorgan Chase has decided to impose capital controls on . As WSJ reports, following the bank's ATM modification to enable $100-bills to be dispensed with no limit, some customers started pulling out tens of thousands of dollars at a time. This apparent bank run has prompted Jamie Dimon to cap ATM withdrawals at $1,000 per card daily for non-customers. Of course, we are sure this is just another 'storm in a teacup' as why would anyone complain about a bank withholding people's money when they are assuredly tax evaders, terrorists, drug dealers and human traffickers.

President Poroshenko’s Offshore Tax Haven: Ukraine’s Largest Candy Business Moved to the British Virgin Islands

by Anna Babinets and Vlad Lavrov, Global Research:

When Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ran for the top office in 2014, he promised voters he would sell Roshen, Ukraine’s largest candy business, so he could devote his full attention to running the country.
“If I get elected, I will wipe the slate clean and sell the Roshen concern. As President of Ukraine I plan and commit to focus exclusively on welfare of the nation,” Poroshenko told the German newspaper Bild less than two months before the election.
Instead, actions by his financial advisers and Poroshenko himself, who is worth an estimated US$ 858 million, make it appear that the candy magnate was more concerned about his own welfare than his country’s – going so far as to arguably violate the law twice, misrepresent information and deprive his country of badly needed tax dollars during a time of war.
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First-Quarter Earnings Are Now Expected to Really Suck

from Wolf Street:

Declines not seen since the Financial Crisis.
With the first quarter done, the bean-counting begins. One thing is clear: Wall Street is now furiously trying to contain the damage.
Even analysts who estimate pro-forma, ex-bad-items, non-GAAP earnings that S&P 500 companies propagate to look better and that these analysts use to inflate their stock-price targets, just threw in the towel on the quarter.
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JAPANESE TRADERS ANGRY WITH CENTRAL BANK OF JAPAN AND ITS NIRP POLICY

by Harvey Organ, HarveyOrganblog:
Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen:
Gold: $1,218.20 down $4.20 (comex closing time)
Silver 14.94 down 10 cents
In the access market 5:15 pm
Gold $1215.70
silver: 14.96
As many of you know, my theory on silver is that in 2003 China lent the USA their hoard of silver long believed to be in excess of 600 million oz. The USA received the silver so as to continue the bashing of metals. China then proceeded to massively buy and ship hoards of gold onto its shores.
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Your future...

In Oil-Bust Venezuela, Buying Diapers on the Black Market

by Scott Tong, Market Place:
In the petroleum state of Venezuela, the oil price crash has worsened what’s already an economic emergency. Food and medicine are scarce. So residents are asking for help from anyone they can, including public radio reporters visiting from America.
Yesman Utrera is the fabulous translator I hired in Venezuela. Often we call these short-term colleagues “fixers.” They set up interviews, arrange travel, keep us alive (which matters in Latin America’s most dangerous place). Yesman is the best. Before I went, he delivered this selfie via WhatsApp so I’d recognize him at the Caracas airport.
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Here Are the Big-Fat IPOs Stuck in the Pipeline: a Wild Ride through LBO & Private Equity Land

from Wolf Street:

PE firms have trouble dumping their LBO queens.
The IPO pipeline is blocked and chock-full, after a dismal fourth quarter and an abysmal first quarter: in terms of deals, the worst since 2009; in terms of money raised, the worst since before the dotcom bubble. A fiasco with implications for the overall stock market.
So which IPOs are actually is stuck in that pipeline?
First thing you notice is that the VC-backed startups with the most dizzying valuations, such as Uber, Airbnb, Palantir, and Snapchat, are not in the IPO pipeline!
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