Monthly Archives: April 2013

Ex-Soros Advisor Sells Japan Holdings, Shorts Bonds; Sees Crash, Default, Hyperinflation

"Fujimaki said he recently bought put options for Japanese government bonds of various maturities, without elaborating. He continues to hold real estate in Japan and options granting the right to sell the yen against the greenback expiring in less than five years. He also holds assets in U.S. dollars and currencies of other developed nations. 'Japan’s finance is sinking into the ocean,' Fujimaki said. 'There’s no escape from a market crash in the future when you have such enormous debt. By expanding the monetary base to 270 trillion yen, the BOJ is making a huge bet which I think it will ultimately lose,' Fujimaki said in an interview in Tokyo on April 11." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEx-Soros Advisor Sells Japan Holdings, Shorts Bonds; Sees Crash, Default, Hyperinflation

U.S. Treasury to BOJ: Do As We Say, Not As We Do

"The BOJ will double the monetary base by purchasing about 7.5 trillion yen of Japanese government bonds per month. It plans to extend the average maturity of its portfolio from three to seven years. And it will continue such actions until it achieves its inflation target. In other words, the BOJ is doing exactly what the Federal Reserve is doing. And for this it gets a warning from the U.S. Treasury 'to refrain from competitive devaluation and targeting its exchange rate for competitive purposes'? The message came in the Treasury's semiannual report on international exchange rates, released on April 12." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Treasury to BOJ: Do As We Say, Not As We Do

China Takes Another Stab At The Dollar, Launches Currency Swap Line With France

"China has now launched yet another feeler to see what the apetite toward its currency is, this time in the heart of the Eurozone: Paris. According to China Daily, as reported by Reuters, 'France intends to set up a currency swap line with China to make Paris a major offshore yuan trading hub in Europe, competing against London.' As a reminder the BOE and the PBOC announced a currency swap line back in February, in effect linking up the CNY to the GBP. Now it is the EUR's turn." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina Takes Another Stab At The Dollar, Launches Currency Swap Line With France

BOE Supports Chinese Financial Domination

"Governor Zhou Xiaochuan met Governor Mervyn King today during Governor King's visit to Beijing. They agreed to facilitate discussions on the establishment of a reciprocal 3-year, renminbi (RMB)/sterling currency swap arrangement. The arrangement would be used to finance trade and direct investment between the two countries and to support domestic financial stability should market conditions warrant. They have agreed that the Bank of England and the People's Bank of China (PBoC) would work together to sign the final agreement shortly." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBOE Supports Chinese Financial Domination

Australia And China To Enable Direct Currency Convertibility

"The land down under is set to say goodbye to the world's 'reserve currency' in its trade dealings with the world's biggest marginal economic power, China, and will enable the direct convertibility of the Australian dollar into Chinese yuan, without US Dollar intermediation, in the process 'slashing costs for thousands of business' and also confirming speculation that China is fully intent on, little by little, chipping away at the dollar's reserve currency status until one day it no longer is. This latest development in global currency relations should come as no surprise." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAustralia And China To Enable Direct Currency Convertibility

Is Japan’s Devaluation an Attack on China?

"In an article yesterday we suggested that the reason Japan was embarking on a massive attempt at Keynesian-style stimulation was to promote the efficacy of Keynesian economic 'cures.' But there is another possibility as well. Perhaps the idea is to start a currency war aimed at least in part at China. Japan is a longtime ally of the US, which defeated it in World War II. It is certainly possible that Japan has allied itself with the US to serve Anglo-American interests in this regard. It is indeed possible to hypothesize that Japan's current policy is intended to confront China and therefore is being used as a monetary 'weapon of war.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs Japan’s Devaluation an Attack on China?

Don’t Sell Your Gold!

"You would be crazy to look upon the current events in the gold market and presume the golden age is over. It won’t end until America has a credible plan for dealing honestly with our country’s debt and Washington’s financial diarrhea. That isn’t likely for many more years yet. As I told attendees at the Global Currency Expo earlier this month, I don’t care if gold goes to $2,000 or $500, I don’t sell. I don’t cancel my homeowners insurance just because I don’t expect a fire at my house this year. Why would I cancel my lifestyle insurance just because some investors are bailing on gold?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDon’t Sell Your Gold!

Peter Schiff: Gold in the Crosshairs

"While the vast majority of economists see gold as the 'barbarous relic' described by Keynes, the sentiment has not stopped many central bankers from holding huge quantities as currency reserves. It is a curious phenomenon that the countries with the most daunting debt problems have the highest percentage of gold in their foreign exchange reserves. Many of these countries were formerly prosperous, and at various points in their histories had gold-backed currencies that required large reserves. These legacy assets now account for the bulk of their reserve wealth." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPeter Schiff: Gold in the Crosshairs

Bill Bonner: Gold versus paper cash

"Maybe there really is a recovery...however weak. Maybe the feds really do have the situation under control. Maybe the central banks are right to print money. Maybe it will be clear sailing from now until Kingdom Come. And we'll be fools not to be on the boat along with all the other stockbuyers and gold-dumpers. One day, however...and we won't say 'when'...people will stop worrying about the quantity of the paper and begin worrying about the quality of it. They will find that they have plenty of paper...and that more is coming all the time. They will look in their vaults and wonder what they will do with all this paper money." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: Gold versus paper cash

A surprising map of the countries that are most and least welcoming to foreigners

"Buried several hundred pages into a new World Economic Forum report on global tourism, past the sections on air travel infrastructure and physician density (by which they mean the number of physicians per capita, not the mass-per-cubic-meter of individual doctors), are some very interesting numbers. The WEF has compiled survey data from 140 countries estimating the attitude of each countries’ population toward foreign visitors. The results, mapped out above, seem significant beyond just tourism. The WEF gathered the data from late 2011 through late 2012 by asking respondents, 'How welcome are foreign visitors in your country?'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA surprising map of the countries that are most and least welcoming to foreigners