Central Banks Have Issued Their ‘Amber Alert’ ‘The Trouble Is The Central Banks Are Between A Rock And A Hard Place And Being Driven Into Action

Why is this not front page news in the west?
So it must be looking good, as super-loose monetary policy seems to have peaked and central banks are “talking the talk” and “walking the walk” for normalisation and tighter policy ahead. The US Federal Reserve has been doing this for nearly two years now, the European Central Bank has just started its taper and the Bank of England poised on “amber alert” for higher rates. Even the Bank of Japan is in wait-and-see mode.
The trouble is the central banks are between a rock and a hard place and being driven into action for the sake of being seen to be in control. Yet whatever they do has the same result – global borrowing costs are going up. If they do nothing, inflation expectations will rise and yields will push higher. If they tighten policy, then yields will still push higher. They are in a no-win situation.

Central banks know a lot more than they are letting on. It is the reason why the ECB went easy on its policy taper last week. Although it has scaled back its bond-buying programme, much to Germany’s chagrin it has still prolonged its special measures until the end of next year. It is plainly aware of the nuclear junk buried deep in the vaults of Europe’s financial system and needs to tread carefully.
www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2117548/central-banks-have-issued-their-amber-alert?utm_source=Direct
 
 
Record Surge in Riskiest Loans Fattens Wall Street Banks
by Wolf Richter • Oct 30, 2017
Crackdown efforts by bank regulators are put on hold.
The volume of leveraged loans – the riskiest loans Wall Street banks provide – has surged 38% year-over-year and has already beaten the full-year record set in 2013, according to Dealogic. Total of leveraged loans outstanding has reached $1.25 trillion.
Nine of the 10 largest banks in the leveraged-loan business have already surpassed their respective 2016 full-year totals, according to Bloomberg data, cited by the Financial Times, including Bank of America (about $120 billion in leveraged loans so far this year); JP Morgan (about $110 billion), Goldman Sachs ($79 billion); and Barclays ($72 billion). Of the top ten, only Wells Fargo ($69 billion) is still lagging behind last year.
wolfstreet.com/2017/10/30/junk-rated-risky-loans-fatten-wall-street-with-record-fees/
And at the same time:
Wall Street bankers are getting bigger bonuses again
nypost.com/2017/10/30/wall-street-bankers-are-getting-bigger-bonuses-again/
 
“This Could Be Huge”: Gold Bar Certified by Royal Canadian Mint Exposed As Fake
youtu.be/pVDvgvw5CoI
The last time there was a widespread physical gold counterfeiting scare was in the summer of 2012 when as we reported the discovery of a single 10 oz Tungsten-filled gold bar in Manhattan’s jewelry district led to a panic among the dealer community, which then resulted in local jewelry outlets discovering at least ten more fake 10-ounce “gold bars” filled with Tungsten. Fast forward to today when a similar instance of gold counterfeiting has been discovered, this time in Canada, and where the fake bar in question had been “certified” by the highest possible authority.
According to CBC, the Royal Canadian Mint is investigating how a sealed, “pure gold” wafer with proper mint stampings has emerged as a fake. According to the Canadian press, the one-ounce gold piece, which was supposed to be 99.99% pure, was purchased by an Ottawa jeweller on Oct. 18 at a Royal Bank of Canada branch. The problem emerged when tests of the bar showed it may contain no gold at all. And, when neither the mint nor RBC would take the bar back, jeweler Samuel Tang contacted CBC news.
Learn More:
www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10…
 
h/t ND