People decided to get scared about Credit Suisse

Plus: Putin keeps losing. [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a horror movie of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Credit Suisse is [not about to go under](. - But Putin will [go under](, eventually. - China is [not quite winning the new Cold War](. - The UK bond nightmare could [just be the start](. Spooky Markets One of the upsides (?) of watching a lot of horror movies is you build up a callus on your limbic system; after a while, it takes a lot to really scare you. You might think the same principle would apply to watching the daily horrors in financial markets, but that just seems to make people jumpier. Take Credit Suisse. The bank has been struggling to have a normal one for at least a couple of years now, but over the weekend a lot of people decided to get freaked out about its credit default swaps. Its new CEO didn’t help matters with his “My ‘Credit Suisse is totally solvent’ t-shirt is raising a lot of questions already answered by the shirt” [moment]( on Friday. But take it from Paul Davies: [Credit Suisse will be fine](. Not great, not perfect, but “fine,” even if that’s “the New York Mets are still going to the playoffs despite getting swept by the Braves” fine. The term “CDS” might trigger your PTSD about the GFC (Global Financial Crisis), but the bank’s stock price and credit insurance have been behaving just about as you would expect at a time of broader market turmoil. Market heebie-jeebies won’t make its turnaround plan any easier, no doubt. But it’s not an existential crisis. Unlike horror movies, markets involve real stakes, which does make them scarier. If you really want to lose sleep tonight, think about how the biggest market on the planet, the one for US Treasury debt, is [too big for banks to handle alone](, as Bloomberg’s editorial board notes. Without reforms it could seize up again as it did in March 2020. But people do love to be scared, especially in October. We’ve already [spooked ourselves with Credit Suisse and inflation](, writes John Authers, and we’re only three days in. It could be a long month. Vlad the Inflator Also scary are Vladimir Putin’s threats to go literally nuclear if Ukraine doesn’t stop hurting his fee-fees by taking back the towns he took from them first. But assuming Russia’s leader doesn’t start World War III (the biggest “if” in history), his power is fading before our eyes, writes Niall Ferguson, meaning his regime is coming to an eventual end. It’s one of a few [relatively positive “trevents](” — a hybrid of trend and event — Niall sees in the world. It’s a good thing too, because all the events, and a lot of the trends, seem pretty lousy right now. This couldn’t come to fruition quickly enough for Europe, which for now must bear at least one winter without Russian gas. It has to slash energy demand to make it work, Javier Blas writes. But the instant the weather got a teensy bit cold last week, [the continent cranked up the heat](. Just like Elon Musk’s [peace plan](, this is not the way, Europe. Wear a sweater or something. Further Ukraine War Reading: Europe can fight Putin by [capping natural-gas prices](: Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis China’s So-Called Prosperity Not to spoil too much of Niall’s column, but another trevent he sees coming is the crumbling of Communist Party power in China. This will probably take even longer than Putin’s downfall, but the signposts are already there. Xi Jinping’s “common prosperity” push has done nothing for the economy but [drive more people into poverty](, writes Shuli Ren. Meanwhile, despite years of talk about China replacing the US as the world’s hegemon and dominant economy, its [yuan is still a minor-leaguer](, writes Dan Moss, at the mercy of the almighty US dollar. It’s much harder to push the world around when you don’t print its reserve currency. Of course, China is still trying. And it has found a foothold in Africa, writes Max Hastings. While the US and the rest of the West treat the continent with disdain, [China has been cutting deals](, flooding the airwaves with propaganda and milking resources. None of it is really helping Africa, meaning there’s still an opportunity for the US to win friends and influence people there, if it only wants to take it. Bonus China Reading: Boeing and Airbus shouldn’t ignore the [growing threat of Chinese rival Comac](. — Thomas Black Telltale Charts The UK’s bond-market debacle could just be the start of the ructions caused by [semi-permanent inflation and higher rates](, warn Stuart Trow and Marcus Ashworth. The slow death of globalization is one trevent that isn’t helping. [Moore’s Law still holds true](, writes Tim Culpan, even if chipmaking keeps getting harder and more expensive. Further Reading Jair [Bolsonaro beating expectations]( in a first round of voting means another month of chaos for Brazil. — Clara Ferreira Marques The Bank of England should mimic Kwasi Kwarteng’s U-turn on taxes by [delaying its bond sales](. — Marcus Ashworth Democratic enthusiasm over abortion is [no guarantee of midterm success](. — Joshua Green Ron DeSantis and his state [thrive on the federal dole]( he claims to oppose. — Matt Yglesias [Farmers are installing solar panels]( to boost their income, but a backlash is growing. — Adam Minter The newly approved [ALS drug is overpriced and may not work](. Otherwise the FDA is doing great! — Lisa Jarvis Want to take advantage of the strong dollar? [Try Portugal, not Paris](. — Alexis Leondis ICYMI [Turkey asked Russia]( for a break on its gas payments. Only one person came out looking good in [Elon Musk’s texts](. (Matt Levine has more [text thoughts](.) Feds seize Bitcoin, hacker [allegedly steals it back](. The Video Store Kyla Scanlon made [a video with us](, about how millennials still can’t buy houses. Kickers Eighty percent of [pregnancy-related US deaths]( are preventable. Supertanker cuts fuel use with [massive sails](. The technology behind [Bella Hadid’s spray-on dress](. NYU fired a professor for [flunking too many students](. Notes:  Please send passing grades and feedback to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. 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