Chinese rail freight collapses 9.1% YoY; China Manufacturing PMI tumbled back to a contractionary 49.2 - lowest in 11 months; and the Employment sub-index plunged to its lowest since Lehman ... yeah but apart from that, everything is awesome. And for those excited about just how disastrous Chinese data is (and thus how huge the next stimulus unleashing will be), think again - China now sees exactly where the last trillion dollar QE went... a de minimus and unsustained blip in the economy and liquidity-fueled rampage in stocks (which is not what a corruption-crackdown politburo wants to encourage). Single Whammy: CHINA JAN.-FEB. RAILWAY CARGO VOLUME FALLS 9.1% Y/Y Double Whammy: China Manufacturing PMI prints 49.2 - lowest in 11 months Everything is un-awesome... Triple Whammy: Employment collapses... * * * Copper prices have continued to collapse and retraced the entire US day session jerk higher... And Shanghai Composite tried to rally but failed... * * * Of course, HSBC and Markit are screaming for moar QE... “The HSBC Flash China Manufacturing PMI signalled a slight deterioration in the health of China’s manufacturing sector in March. A renewed fall in total new business contributed to a weaker expansion of output, while companies continued to trim their workforce numbers. Meanwhile, manufacturing companies continued to benefit from falling input costs, stemming from the recent global oil price decline. However, relatively muted client demand has led firms to pass on savings in a bid to boost new work, and cut their selling prices at a similarly sharp rate.” And sure enough... *JPMORGAN SEES CHINA RRR CUT TO BE AS EARLY AS APRIL Charts: Bloomberg