Not Good Enough

There's a reason why one should never keep more than the minimum, if that, of one's expenses in banks. Any banks. And here's just one reason. The list of other reasons is almost as long as some of the lies both sides in this upcoming election are spreading daily.

While it now seems that Friday's rumor of a substantially reduced Deutsche Bank settlement with the DOJ, which sent the stock price soaring from all time lows, was false following a FAZ report that CEO John Cryan has not yet begun the renegotiation process, and in the "next few days" is set to fly to the US to discuss the proposed RMBS misselling settlement with the US Attorney General, Germany's largest lender continues to be impacted by the public's declining confidence, exacerbated over the weekend by a disturbing "IT glitch."

For one, it remains unclear if Friday's report halted, or reversed, the outflow of cash from DB's prime brokerage clients, which as Bloomberg first reported last week was a major catalyst for the swoon in the stock price. However, as UniCredit's chief economist Erik Nielsen notes in a Sunday notes, one thing is certain: "so long as a fine of this order of magnitude ($14 billion) is an even remote possibility, markets worry."

There is also the threat of the bank's massive derivative book, which despite attempts of many pundits to gloss over, over the weekend none other than JPM admitted that that is what the markets will likely be focusing on for the foreseeable future: "In our opinion it is not so much funding issues but rather derivatives exposures that more likely to trouble markets going forward if Deutsche Bank concerns continue.  This is especially true if these concerns propagate into a confidence crisis inducing more rapid unwinding of derivative contracts."
Indeed, as we first hinted last Thursday...

...  and as CNBC's Jeff Cox correctly observed subsequently, at the core of this week's investor angst is a word that came up during Bear's demise: "novation," or a request by hedge funds that deal with the bank to have others take their place in derivatives trades. In the case of Bear Stearns, word in March 2008 that Goldman Sachs had refused a novation request spread panic through Wall Street.

If it's not good enough for insiders like Goldman Sachs, it ought not be good enough for you.

zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-02/some-deutsche-bank-clients-unable-access-cash-due-it-outage

The Moral Of The Story

Who doesn't dislike paying taxes?

Only criminals, thieves and the underhanded of the business world, so the incessant MSM rap goes.

Well, it appears one of them is the New York Times. Now we don't know about anyone else but we find this a bit unusual since it's been our experience the Times has been one of the major moralistic members of  MSM, preaching their cult like sermons about climate change, fairness and level playing fields for years. Now it appears they not only didn't pay any taxes for 2014 but received a hefty rebate. That's great work if only the proletarians could get some. Rumor has it that the Times is now checking that on FactCheck.

The New York Times has excited the Clinton campaign and the rest of the media with a revelation that Republican nominee Donald Trump declared a $916 million loss in 1995 that might have resulted in him not paying taxes in some subsequent years.
The implication, reinforced by CNN’s Jake Tapper on State of the Union on Sunday morning, is that Trump “avoided” paying taxes, when in fact his tax liability was zero.
But the Times itself has “avoided” paying taxes — in 2014, for example.
As Forbes noted at the time:

… for tax year 2014, The New York Times paid no taxes and got an income tax refund of $3.5 million even though they had a pre-tax profit of $29.9 million in 2014. In other words, their post-tax profit was higher than their pre-tax profit. The explanation in their 2014 annual report is, “The effective tax rate for 2014 was favorably affected by approximately $21.1 million for the reversal of reserves for uncertain tax positions due to the lapse of applicable statutes of limitations.” If you don’t think it took fancy accountants and tax lawyers to make that happen, read the statement again.

New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani defended Trump on Sunday, telling NBC News’ Meet the Press that Trump was a “genius” in business who was simply doing what the tax code allows every American to do by counting losses against tax liabilities, and bouncing back from failure to success.
That would include the New York Times — which, however, is still struggling.
As Jazz Shaw of HotAir.com notes, the Times — or whoever was its source — likely obtained Trump’s tax document illegally.

blacklistednews.com/The_New_York_Times_Paid_No_Taxes_in_2014.

There's a moral to this story and it's as simple as this: People who live in glass houses shouldn't tell lies. 

Oevrnight

The mess at Deutsche Bank casts a wide and well-deserved shadow late last week as Asian shared opened Monday higher. Four of five of the major markets, since some were closed for holiday, were up with one down, the Kospi at 23593.55 off -1.21%. The Nikkei  was up 1.18% at16644.05, the ASX 200 climbed 0.82%, the Hang Send rallied 1.27% and the Shanghai composite edged up 0.23%.

Though rumors floated that an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to settle their threatened $14 billion fine had been cut, it was later questioned as mostly MSM puff to keep a lid on the investor panic button. Deustche is Germany's largest bank and their only global one, a bank that for years has been trying to break the global monopoly of big U.S. banks like Goldman Sachs. In addition, Italy just jumped into the fray over the weekend accusing DB of similar charges involving improper selling of mortgages that date to 2008.

The Bank of Japan's third-quarter Tankan survey was the other bit of news investors seemed to focus on if ever so slightly since the results for big Japanese manufacturers' confidence came in flat and the service-sector declined to its lowest level in almost two years. Meanwhile, Tokyo's bank index rallied 1.6%, mostly on favorable rumors about a Deustche bank settlement some were pegging at $5.4 billion.

The dollar/yen changed hands at 101.34 in early trading and oil futures was trading down 0.79 percent at $47.87 per barrel while Brent futures were trading lower by 0.70 percent at $49.84 with
oil prices in September gaining, pushed up by an announcement late in the month from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that it would aim to cut output. Brent crude settled up 4 percent for the month and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 8 percent. Investors will have to apparently wait until November to get the actual numbers for the alleged cut in production. Gold was down slightly at 1315.20.

The Great Train Bribery

Here's another idea too good to be true, but not too stupid to be horrible.

It's one that could only emanate from bureaucrats, in this case European ones.

To buck up EU young, free-train idea on a roll … Younger people used to be the main supporters of the European Union. But as the continent continues to struggle with existential problems that include economic crises and growing nationalism, the continent’s youthful are becoming disillusioned, according to a recent Eurobarometer survey. Some EU politicians have now come up with an idea to convince younger people that Europe isn’t that bad: encourage all 18-year-olds to travel the continent for free by train. –Washington Post

This is one more example of people who will stop at nothing to get what they want, allegiance to the mighty EU in this instance. The only things transparent in governments--all governments--are their bad ideas. And here's another one. We can't win your support on the merits of the circumstances so we have to bribe you for your loyalty. Our efforts to create meaningful jobs for you has failed so stupendously owing to our regulation-swamped rules, but here, kid, is a train ticket. Enjoy yourself.

For more: http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/europeans-should-stay-home-not-travel

Fund Ouflows

It's the financial sector, dummy.

At least that's the take in Europe, according ti. Financial Times story, "European fund outflows near $100 billion."

Redemptions from European equity funds have approached $100bn as investors race out of an asset class rattled by the uncertain health of the continent’s financial sector.

Funds invested in European stocks suffered $1.9bn of withdrawals in the week to September 28, the 34th consecutive week of outflows, according to fund flows tracked by EPFR. The exodus since mid-February has reached $95bn, the data show.

Anxiety about the European banking system, which has culminated in a rise inshort interest in Deutsche Bank, has persisted from the year’s start and weighed on the region’s nascent recovery.

The European Central Bank has unleashed a wave of stimulus in a bid to rekindle growth and inflation but has been unable to assuage investor concerns. Flight from European stocks has been accelerated by a struggling Italian financial sector as well as the UK’s Brexit vote, which is seen as a weight on economic activity throughout the bloc.

Deutsche Bank was thrust to the fore after a report said German officials were drawing up contingency plans in the event it is unable to tap financial markets to meet regulatory requirements resulting from a US fine. The bank has emphasised its strong financial position, but that has not stopped some hedge funds from pulling part of their business from the German group.

“Deutsche Bank’s travails kept mutual fund investors on their toes during the final week of September,” said Cameron Brandt, director of research for EPFR. “Sentiment towards Europe took hits from the setting of a date for Italy’s constitutional referendum and the possibility of higher oil prices sapping regional consumer confidence.”

There's that term we keep mentioning, confidence. Confidence is taking a beating on nearly every front these days and from where we view it the prospects for meaningful changes without some major pain are slim and none. Keep your eye on the globalization freaks. They have their best interests at heart, not yours.

Global Banking Fears

 
For a long time it's been the banks have it.

What's up now, however, owing greatly to zero interest rates, is banks no longer have it. Banks live off the spread on a normal yield curve. Much of this is over the current Deutsche Bank mess. MSM is trying its best to play down the systemic risk associated with Germany's biggest bank.

zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-02/about-deutsche-settlement-rumor-cryan-hasnt-even-started-negotiations-doj

Owing to an earlier International Monetary Fund release, pointing out that declines in Deutsch Bank shares spilled over to other bank shares, calling is the riskiest global bank with systemic tentacles, the debate gathers momentum. There's something in banking called the counter party relationship. It financial code for confidence and trust. Confidence and trust are critical components any financial system. Just ask the Fed, the BOJ or the ECB.

Enter stage left the greedy U.S. Department of Justice, a agency that never met a fine it wouldn't like to impose and collect. It's this administration's version of 21first Century Smoot-Hawley. The DoJ is seeking $14 billion to settle alleged bad faith mortgage deals. We don't have a figure but this administration's DoJ has collected tons of fines and nobody knows where that money wound up. One should not be surprised if it later turns up some went to a certain foundation.

With Deutsch the fine is three times the expected and only a smidgen less that the current market value of the depressed bank's share prices. But this indirectly reflects the Obama crew's real opinion of business in general. That this story was leaked also, like the current administration, smells

What this proves is nothing happens in a vacuum. Should the DoJ's greed trigger a systemic event you can bet they will deny any and all responsibility. But there's another point to all this, one about the market and investors. As a Financial Times article notes: there's a big question about something called level three assets. What's at sake here is mark to market accounting, something banks traditionally have avoided. In short, is some junk hidden in there somewhere? And if so how much?

These are charges that date to before the 2008 crisis began. For sure, this is a negotiable opening joust. But the intrigue here runs deep. High finance is high finance. And you usually will find the footprint of Goldman Sachs. Deutsche is Germany's only global bank and it has spent years trying to crack that  U.S. controlled monopoly. Say hello to GS.

This is a political game as we said, a Smoot-Hawley world, the U.S. regulators versus European ones. Goldman Sachs faced a $15 billion  DOJ  fine for financial misgivings, but GS was allowed to negotiate theirs in private, paying in the end $5 billion. It pays to have friends in government and, as one hopeful presidential candidate does, just the reverse, friends at GS.

Eight years ago hedge funds withdrew funds from Lehman Brother shortly before the what is now a PC loathed expression, the fat lady sings. Deutsche CEO John Cryan played down the problem and added he has no plan to raise capital. Couple that with Germany's austerity stances over the years and Angela Merkel's declining popularity over an endemic immigration problem and you get some idea how nitty-gritty things can get.

Further trouble ahead as another sovereign--yes we still use the term, Italy--has jumped into the DB fray. German market is closed Monday, but the ADR trades on New York. Let's see how MSM tries to spin this one.

zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-01/deutsche-bank-charged-italy-market-manipulation-creating-false-accounts

yahoo.com/news/german-bank-regulator-warns-negative-perception-spiral-report

Is a government bailout close at hand? Given the current turmoil and the history of Germany's stance on austerity it may have painted itself into a difficult corner.

A year ahead of national elections, German leaders are keen to avoid upsetting voters with a bank bailout - something EU banking rules were designed to prevent.
In July, hardline Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble opposed the Italian government rescuing troubled lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

"The rules must stick, otherwise what is the use of giving ourselves rules?" he asked

thelocal.de/20160930/6-things-to-know-about-crisis-hit-deutsche-bank

Exploit And Plunder

I

If you want to know about banks and their mark to market gambols here is a decent read for you. And this is related to those Italian banks and the recent turmoil over Deutsch Bank, Germany's only global bank and it's largest.

Leave your money in those places at your peril in these perilous times. We have talked before about the power of one's purchasing power. When you leave excessive cash in banks it's an indirect diluting of your purchasing power. As the article below notes, these people care nothing about you except when they need to use your money to bail them out. And thanks those august politicians on both sides of aisle, they continue to exploit and plunder the masses.

If you want too see financial dereliction and in-your-face arrogance, see Wells Fargo and the Omaha
Hypocrite.

zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-01/three-reasons-why-banking-system-rigged-against-you

Exhibit A: Governments are working to make banks LESS safe

Yesterday an unelected bureaucrat that no one has ever heard of made a stunning announcement that has sweeping implications for anyone with a bank account.

Dombrovskis is Europe’s top financial services official, so he controls bank regulations in the European Union.

He issued a stern warning to global bank regulators yesterday that he is prepared to reject any further plans they might have to tighten bank capital requirements.

This might sound rather dry, but it’s incredibly important.

“Bank capital” is the most critical component of any bank balance sheet.

Capital is like a bank’s rainy day fund; when things start to go bad, a bank’s capital provides a margin of safety to ensure that their depositors’ funds are safe.

Strong banks have ample capital and are able to withstand crises.

Weak banks with low levels of capital collapse. And that’s precisely what happened in 2008.

Most banks across the west had very low levels of capital. They had spent years making appallingly stupid ‘no money down’ loans with 0% teaser interest rates to borrowers with pitiful credit.

When that bubble burst, the banks lost billions of dollars. And it turned out that most of the banks at the time had razor thin levels of capital.

If you’re wondering why, the answer is quite simple: the less capital a bank maintains, the more money it can invest… so poorly capitalized banks tend to make more money.

Lehman Brothers was quite profitable.

But the bank infamously had capital worth just 3% of its total assets… meaning that if Lehman’s investments fell by just 3%, they would be wiped out.

Lehman’s investments fell by a lot more than 3%… so the bank’s capital was totally insufficient to weather the storm. The bank folded, and a huge crisis erupted.

Regulators vowed to never let that happen again.

And in the years since, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the primary global bank regulator, has been pushing banks to increase their capital levels higher.

European banks in particular still have pitiful balance sheets.

Their investment portfolios are stuffed full of negative-yielding bonds issued by bankrupt European governments.

And their capital levels are still so low with many of them that there are whispers of taxpayer funded bailouts, from Italy’s Monte dei Paschi to Germany’s global titan Deutsche Bank.

But despite these pitiful bank fundamentals, Dombrovskis is rejecting the Basel Committee’s latest push to make banks safer.

According to the Financial Times, Dombrovskis is specifically complaining that the Basel proposals might lead to a “significant” increase in the amount of capital that banks would maintain.

… so in other words, the head of European financial services thinks it’s a bad idea for banks to have an extra margin of safety.

Bank profits are being prioritized over depositor safety, even at a time when so many of the banks are seeking taxpayer-funded bailouts.

In the eyes of the bureaucracy, bank profits come before depositor safety… which makes it completely obvious how rigged the system is against you.

* * *

Exhibit B: The Volker Rule farce

In another effort to make banks safer, the US government passed the Volker Rule as part of their new post-crisis financial regulation.

The Volker Rule forces banks to sell their riskiest assets, i.e. the stuff they shouldn’t have been buying to begin with, especially with their depositors’ savings.

Problem is, those risky assets aren’t worth very much, and the banks are having a hard time finding a buyer willing to pay them 100 cents on the dollar.

My,My,My

Here's a story some of those Trump critics should read. It seems Trump and many of his supporters are not the only ones concerned about foreigners immigrating across borders.

Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is concerned about an influx of immigrants into the country from African and Asian countries, according to a report Thursday in El Universal.

“Many of them will have to return to their home countries,” Socorro Flores, undersecretary of Latin America and the Caribbean for the Mexican Foreign Ministry, said to El Universal.

The Mexican government is now trying to deal with this influx of immigrants by setting up shelters and working with the countries of origin of the immigrants on deportations.

Flores said regarding this immigration that, “yes there is a concern because the flows have increased and there is also a concern because they need to cross many countries to get to their intended destinations.”

Read more: dailycaller.com/2016/09/30/mexico-is-worried-about-an-influx-of-african-and-asian-immigrants

Gold Anyone?

Either it's a big hoax or a really big truth. Either way, the bunker saga won't go away. Bowling alleys and even swimming pools festooning bunkers of the rich. So what's the big deal about those rich folks storing some gold there. With the exception that maybe it's telling you something about those elites not much.

But if you don't have a bunker you could get left holding MSM bag.

zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-30/swiss-vaults

For decades, Switzerland had a reputation for bank secrecy that made it the most sought after tax haven for billionaires from around the globe.  But, after more than 80 years of secrecy, a series of bilateral agreements with countries around the world, including America’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), have forced the private-banking industry in Switzerland to embrace an entirely new era of transparency that requires a full exchange of tax-relevant information with more than a hundred countries.

Which, as Bloomberg points out, has been a huge boon for Swiss operators of private vaults which are not subject to the same transparency and reporting requirements as banks.  In fact, these super-secret, privately operated storage facilities buried around the Swiss Alps can basically store anything from anybody because they're not even required to report suspicious activity to Switzerland's Money Laundering Reporting Office. 

“There is growth in gold,” Wipfli says. “Since 2008 there has been a real interest in alternatives to bank deposits.” The company explicitly taps into that demand. Swiss Data Safe “is independent from the banking system and any other organization or interest group,” according to a PowerPoint presentation Wipfli shows clients. The company and its anonymous rival aren’t regulated by the Swiss financial-services regulator Finma.

Nor do such companies have to report suspicious activity to Switzerland’s Money Laundering Reporting Office. In the past, submissions to the agency have led the Swiss attorney general to open investigations into corruption at FIFA, the global soccer body, and banking ties to Brazil’s Petrobras bribery scandal.

Moreover, American citizens aren’t required under FATCA to declare gold stored outside of financial institutions either.  So perhaps it's no surprise that, according to the Swiss defense department, of the roughly 1,000 former military bunkers still in existence across Switzerland, several hundred of them have been sold to private individuals who are now operating them as private storage sites for the gold stash of the world's wealthiest of billionaires.

“The gold trade is a huge part of the Swiss economy,” says John Cassara, a former U.S. Treasury special agent and the author of books on money laundering.

“I’m not surprised that there are not more effective efforts in Switzerland to better monitor its misuse. The powers that be don’t want to crack down.” In the first half of this year, 1,357 metric tons of gold—worth about $40 billion—were imported into Switzerland, according to the Swiss customs office, putting the year on course to be the biggest since a record in 2013.

Pathetically Weak Denial

The National Parkinson Foundation has received several questions about whether Hillary Clinton has Parkinson's disease (PD).

The allegations that Hillary Clinton suffers from Parkinson's disease have been reviewed by NPF's National Medical Director, Michael S. Okun, MD, and by others from NPF's Centers of Excellence network and been unanimously dismissed by every Parkinson's expert who has weighed in.

"I have reviewed the video footage and some of the recent claims that Hillary Clinton is suffering from Parkinson's disease. Video analysis and a review of available information does not in any way support a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease," stated Dr. Okun. "This recent flurry of misinformation on social media provides a great opportunity for the public to be educated on the many features of Parkinson's disease."

"These rumors demonstrate the lack of awareness of Parkinson's even among many physicians," said Peter Schmidt, PhD, the foundation's Senior Vice President of Research Programs and Chief Mission Officer. "While Secretary Clinton does not show signs of Parkinson's in the opinions of senior neurologists, even if she did, a diagnosis of Parkinson's should not be seen as a disqualifying condition for high office — and, in fact, in recent times it has not been. We have many people with Parkinson's who have succeeded in very challenging jobs, including Senators, Congressmen, an Attorney General of the United States, and an astronaut who performed admirably in challenging jobs while living with Parkinson's.  People with Parkinson's make amazing contributions in our society every day."

The National Parkinson Foundation offers a toll-free Helpline staffed by nurses and social workers who are experts in Parkinson's and available to answer questions relating to the disease. The Helpline can be reached at 1-800-4PD-INFO (473-4636) orhelpline@parkinson.org.

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You will note here that the good Doctor Okun states he has reviewed the video footage and some of the recent claims, video analysis and a review of available information does not support a PD diagnosis. You will also note he does not say he examined the patient. He points out his organization has received several questions about this issue. Really! We have another question for you, sir,  how much pressure did you receive to put this bulletin out?

This is an interesting denial for many reasons. He says he looked at the tapes and some of the recent claims and they do not indicate Hillary Clinton has Parkinson's disease. Interesting, he doesn't go further and rule out Parkinson's-like diseases that mimic PD. Yet he casually drops in the part about other PD experts without naming them or giving an exact number, a detail he will no doubt probably not overlook in the future.

Then you have this arrogant comment by Peter Schmidt, PhD, the foundation's Senior Vice President of  Research and Chief Mission Officer. We can only speak for us and we're really impressed by your title. With all due respect to you and your big title, you make a statement in your summary you are not qualified to make. That is, even if she has PD it should not be seen as a disqualifying one for high office. One is aware of your research endeavors. And your huge study on PD and your smart phone work, but until one can see a valid medical practitioner's license you remain unqualified to make that statement.

We challenge the good PhD Peter Schmidt to come forth and lecture all the honest, hard-working medically competent practitioners across America who are so woefully lacking any awareness of PD patients and the course of what is a very nasty disease. We further challenge Dr. Schmidt to tell us how many PD patients he's personally treated in and out of clinic. Not researched, but treated. 

The second part of his statement is even more obvious. It's one of those letters that are popular in the medical profession, damning with faint praise. In this case, the reverse. Here you get even if she does have PD it's not debilitating. He then rolls off the obligatory examples, concluding with an often used PC tactic:: "People with Parkinson's make amazing contributions in our society every day."

The question, sir, is a pure one, the kind people like you never enjoy. Let me give an example, one you can even understand. It's a pure question that requires a pure answer. Do you want to have a Myocardial Infarction this week? Does she have PD? That's the question, sir, not what people who unfortunately have been stricken with this terrible disease have contributed to society. Many of us know that. In fact, many of the examples you gave made most of those contributions before their disease progressed and there at present is little way to objectively determine how fast PD will progress since each case is individual. So, kind sir, there's a certain disingenuousness here. We also know that a good percentage suffer from dementia, even delusions, that have to be treated with powerful anti-psychotics.

You conveniently leave out that there is no accurate time table to tell when in the course of the disease those delusions begin and when they end. In fact, earlier this year, as we are sure you are aware, the FDA approved a new PD  medicine that apparently doesn't impact dopamine levels but is able to bypass some of the harsh side effects of the anti-psychotics. 

In fact, from what we read the San Diego-based company that manufactures the drug sees the eventual market for it as a billion dollar one, a fact that you as a former investment banker can readily understand. Meanwhile, the invitation to offer lectures to all of America's decent, dedicated practitioners who are so rumor prone and lack awareness of PD is an open one.

There are some things the public needs to know. Whatever happened to Hillary that weekend, it had nothing to do with either pneumonia or dehydration. And finally, all those so-called rumors and claims about her having PD obviously cut deep to the bone for them to cough up such a pathetically weak denial as this.

Spacey Central Bankers

Two central banks tried it before you with less than good results. But you no doubt believe you and your cohorts can do it better. You didn't learn anything from their mishaps apparently.

This is why Fed Chair Janet Yellen hasn't got a clue. This is why she has to go. It 's no longer just laughable. It's now nearly pitiful how misguided the Eccles Building crew is. They have managed to give even the Peter Principle a bad name. It's one thing to rise to your level of incompetence. It's another all together to take it into outer space. Spacey central bankers can kill more than an economy.
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.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-29/despite-japanese-failure-janet-yellen-suggests-buying-stocks-help-increase-spending

Having hinted overnight that The Fed could buy stocks "maybe in the future," Janet Yellen blurted out confirmation that buying assets other than long-term U.S. debt is on the table. Despite the total and utter failure of SNB and BOJ direct equity buying to create increased consumption, Yellen explained "it could be useful to be able to intervene directly in assets where the prices have a more direct link to spending decisions."

Speaking via videoconference in response to questions raised at forum of Kansas City Fed minority bankers, Fed Chair Janet Yellen says there could be benefits to Fed buying equities or corporate bonds, yet would also likely be costs that have to be considered.

The idea of expanding into areas like equities might be “good thing to think about,” yet is not “something we need now,” Yellen said, noting that (for now) The Fed is more restricted in which assets it can purchase than other central banks.

"If we found, I think as other countries did, that they could reach the limits in terms of purchasing safe assets like longer-term government bonds, it could be useful to be able to intervene directly in assets where the prices have a more direct link to spending decisions."

And as Reuters notes, the Fed could get benefits from buying assets other than long-term U.S. debt if in a future downturn it could not buy any more government bonds, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Thursday.

So let's see how those "other countries" equity buying schemes have done.

Japanese Equity ETF purchases have utterfly failed to spark a rebound in Japanese Household Spending...

Let alone even maintain Japanese stocks!!