“Art is a lie that ma- kes us understand the truth”

“It’s beautiful, said the devil behind Adam. But ... is it art?”

“A friend of another friend once showed Picasso a Picasso. “No, it’s a fake,” an- swered the painter. The same friend pro- cured another pre- sumed Picasso and Picasso said that this was also a forgery. He got another one, but that was false, too, said Picasso. “But Pablo”, replied the friend “I saw you with my eyes while you painted it.” “I can paint a false Picasso like anyone else,” replied Picasso.

“Our works in stone, on canvas or in print, are rarely spa- red for a few decades, or for a millennium or two, but in the end, everything is canceled by war, or it is erased in the inevitable universal ash. Triumphs and deceptions, treasu- res and fakes. It is the reality of life: we must die. But be merry: the cries of dead artists come to us from the living past, all our songs will be silenced, but what does it matter? We continue to sing. Perhaps the name of a man is not that important.”

“There are many oysters, but pearls are rare.” Quotes from the film: “F for Fake” by Orson Welles.

The film, interpreted by the same Orson Welles, is a long reflection on the relationship that exists between truth, art and lies. The film stems from a Franco-German-Iranian co-production under the direction of an American, Orson Welles. A scheme that is very reminiscent of the treaty that under Obama led to agreements with Iran. Immediate stop to the construction of the nuclear bomb but much uncer- tainty about the future. Better to get something right away, it was the motto of that time. Now the direction changes and Donald Trump raises the post: change of treaties. Who is right, Obama or Trump? Iran would really be under the table by funding terrorists or it’s the usual rhetoric. Truth or falsity, today this is not the problem. And maybe it never was. The only important thing is the art of building truth and falsity, creating international support around itself. Iran see- med a step away from a normalization phase. Thanks to the end of the multi-year embargo, Iran is now able to produce over 2.5 million barrels a day, twice what it pumped when sanctions were in place. The country is the third producer of Opec, but also within the association, it does not have many friends because of the strong opposition between Shiites and Sunnis. Now the Iran front is getting hotter, with the US inaugurating the embassy in Israel celebrating the 70 days since its birth. Result 55 Palestinians killed and 2,400 inju- red. The Middle East is not North Korea and even China is a quagmire that has not come out of it for decades. But the effects on the stock exchange are limited. Exchanges with Iran have never even been mentioned.

The stock market knows, the markets, fear Trump’s false steps but focus on another work of diplomacy: the “newfound” friendship with China. The two superpowers seem to want to bury the ax of the commercial war. Today, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He arrives in Washington, the first adviser to President Xi Jinping on economic matters. In the US capital he will meet a delegation led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. There could be the basis for the signing of a collaboration agreement, since in the last hours there have been signs of relaxation. Trump, yesterday on Twitter, wrote that the position of ZTE, the Chinese high-te- ch colossus some time ago for relations with Iran and South Korea, will be reviewed. According to rumors, the Chinese surveillance authorities restarted the process for the approval of the purchase of Chinese Nxp Semiconductor by the US Qualcomm. Furthermore, 25% of ZTE’s suppliers are American with a turnover of 2/3 billion a year. The relations between China and the US are normalized and the return to the world of bonds is continuing, with strong sales on the German 10-year, whose yield rises to 0.60%, from 0.55% on Friday. The BTP trades at 1.91%, from 1.87% yesterday. The governor of the central bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Gahau said that due to the rise in the cost of money, in the euro zone, there will probably be some quarter to wait, but not years. The art of words. Still on the rate front, and this time it is not falsehood, the five-year US government makes only 25 basis points less than thirty years. The flattening of the rate curve is a reality and has always been a harbinger of bad news.

The euro is still appreciated on the dollar at 1.96. The wei- ght of Argentina falls again, to 24.7 per dollar, a new record. The US currency gains 6%. Today the International Monetary Fund said that the negotiation, in view of a possible in- tervention in support of the Argentine economy, continues: the topic will be discussed on Friday at the meeting of the organization’s board of directors. According to some, the central bank of Argentina would intervene to try to support the currency, to no avail. The art of lies makes us understand the truth. The US attack on China hid new deals. Now it’s up to Iran, while the expensive crude helps US shale gas. Even the quarterly US is a work of art, almost all above expectations. If it is an art to lead a global company, by drib- bling international duties and tensions, the truth is behind the numbers that do not know how to lie. You have to look at a manager.