Tag Archives: China

In the latest tragic news from the world of finance, earlier today Zurich Insurance, the largest Swiss insurer which employs 55,000 people and provides general insurance and life insurance products in more than 170 countries, reported that Martin Senn, the company's former chief executive officer who stepped down in a December reshuffle, has committed suicide. He was 59. Senn had been a long-time employee of the insurer, serving as its chief executive for six years before stepping down in...

Several months ago, as Venezuela’s hyperinflating, imploding economy was spinning in freefall, leading to the dramatic episodes of total social collapse such as those profiled in “Scenes From The Venezuela Apocalypse: “Countless Wounded” After 5,000 Loot Supermarket Looking For Food“, we wrote that the country which recently had “run out of money to print its own money” was preparing to liquidate its remaining gold holdings to pay coming debt maturities. Then, courtesy of an analysis by...

The G7 heads of state summit has begun.  The host, Japan’s Prime Minister Abe began with doom and gloom.  Accounts suggest he warned of the risk of a crisis on the scale of Lehman if appropriate policies are not taken.  It is not clear to whom Abe was addressing.  It may not have been the other heads of state. It may have been a domestic audience Abe had in mind. At the finance ministers and central bankers meeting last week, Japan’s Aso indicated that contrary to speculation, the retail...

The US dollar is little changed against the major currencies as yesterday’s moves are consolidated and traders wait for fresh developments.  Global equities were higher after Wall Street’s advance yesterday.  Asia-Pacific bond yields were firm, following the US lead, but European 10-year benchmark yields are lower, led by the continued rally in Greek bonds after an agreement was struck that will free up a tranche of aid. Source Dukascopy The relative stable capital markets are itself...

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that minutes of a meeting in China two months ago reveal that officials there have abandoned their commitment to give market forces greater sway in setting the yuan’s exchange rate.  Reportedly, in response to economists and banks request that officials stop resisting market pressure, one PBOC official explained that “the primary task is to maintain stability.”   The WSJ cites the minutes of the meeting and interviews with Chinese officials and...

After yesterday's algo-driven mad dash to close the S&P green both for the day and for the year following Fed minutes that came in shocking hawkish, the selling has continued overnight, led by the commodity complex as rate hike fears have pushed oil back down some 2% from yesterday's 7 month highs, which in turn has dragged global stocks lower to a six-week low, while pushing bond yields higher across developed nations as the market suddenly reprices the probability of a June/July rate...

The most notable thing is not what has happened, but what has not happened.  The market has not responded to the soft Chinese data over the weekend.  Chinese equities began softer but recovered fully and the Shanghai Composite closed on its highs.  The MSCI Asia Pacific Index is snapping a two-day losing streak with a 0.5% gain. The Australian dollar is often perceived be influenced by developments in China.  China’s disappointing industrial output figures (6.0% from 6.8% in March and...

In what has been an approximate repeat of the Monday overnight session, global stocks and US futures rose around the world as oil prices climbed toward $44 a barrel, with risk-sentiment pushed higher by another plunge in the Yen which has now soared 300 pips since the Friday post-payroll kneejerk reaction, and was trading above 109.20 this morning. At the same time base metals regained some of Monday’s steep losses following Chinese CPI data that came in line while PPI declined for 50...

The current financial market volatility increasingly reflects loss of faith in policy makers. Celebrity central bankers are learning that they must constantly produce new miracles for their followers. First, the measures implemented since 2009 created an artificial stability and an asset price boom in many markets. But the absolute rate of GDP expansion and level of price changes is inadequate to solve global debt problems. Second, new initiatives seem the risky response of clever...

There are opportunities for investors in China if they consider the impact of structural reforms and which factors are driving economic growth, panelists at the Credit Suisse 2016 Asian Investment Conference (AIC) said.   China’s secondary market has been at the “epicenter of skepticism”, remarked Helen Zhu, Managing Director and Head of China Equities at BlackRock. She told participants that market mindsets have shifted and since President Xi Jinping took office, there is a search for...