Category Archives: China
Strategic Indicator: Greedometer Last week, the greedometer registered 5400 rpm, a respectable but not unexpected jump from the previous week 4800rpm. And with that, we have the end of the year-end rise in the greedometer. The 2011 set of greedometer readings resemble that of 2007. Indeed, both years saw the last or second to last week finish with a 5400rpm reading. Uncanny. And foreboding. (the […] Read the rest of this entry
China: There’s more evidence of residential property prices dropping. The People’s Bank of China is going to have to step-in in Q1 if this continues. After the European financial system crisis, China’s property bubble is the number two strategic investment issue to track. How is China’s stock market? Down over 60% since the peak in 2008, and down nearly 30% from this year’s peak. India: The news […] Read the rest of this entry
China: Last week, China announced the November inflation rate dropped to 4.2%. Fingers reamin crossed everywhere for China to avoid the same fate as everyone else that had a property bubble. December 11th marks the 10th anniversary of China’s admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO). You can imagine a lot of deals had to be done in order to permit this. One such deal was the protection […] Read the rest of this entry
Apparently I’m not the only one to notice Ben Bernanke’s comment last week where he indicated the chances of more QE (after QE2) are dropping because the trade off with inflation is “getting less attractive”. The Economist April 30th 2011 issue pointed this out too. 1Q earnings season is mostly complete (435 of 500 done). As expected, earnings have been strong. In fact, the only quarter […] Read the rest of this entry
• German central banker Axel Weber announced he will quit the post at the end of April. Mr. Weber was highly critical of the Fed’s QE and irresponsible spending by PIIGS countries. He was also the person most likely to assume the role of the European Central Bank later this year — arguably the most important role in the European financial system. His departure, […] Read the rest of this entry
The US Treasury released data on November bond sales. China sold $11B in US Tbonds that month, leaving them with $895B of our Tbonds ($1T if you include Hong Kong’s reserves as well). Russia sold $9B, leaving them with $122B. We won’t hit the panic button yet. That was just 1 month. Apparently Caribbean banking centers (home to a lot of hedge funds) saw US Tbond positions rise […] Read the rest of this entry
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