Tag Archive: China

China: Blatant Similarities

2017-05-07

by

2017-05-07

China NBS Manufacturing PMI, April 2007 - April 2017
Declines in several of the world’s PMI’s in April have furthered doubts about the global “reflation.” But while many disappointed, some sharply, it isn’t just this one month that has sown them. In China, for example, both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sentiment indices declined to 6-month lows.

Read More »

Bank of England releases new data on its gold vault holdings

2017-05-04

by

2017-05-04

An article in February on BullionStar’s website titled “A Chink of Light into London’s Gold Vaults?” discussed an upcoming development in the London Gold Market, namely that both the Bank of England (BoE) and the commercial gold vault providers in London planned to begin publishing regular data on the quantity of physical gold actually stored in their gold vaults.

Read More »

‘Dollar’ ‘Improvement’

2017-04-29

by

2017-04-29

US TIC Official Buying Of US Treasury Bonds And Notes, February 2013 - February 2017
According to the headline TIC statistics, foreign central banks have in the past six months sold the fewest UST’s since the 6-month period ended November 2015. That may indicate an easing of “dollar” pressure in the private markets due to “reflation” sentiment.

Read More »

PBoC: Mechanical Tightening PBoC is China Central Bank

2017-04-28

by

2017-04-28

PBOC Balance Sheet, March 2011 - March 2017
The mainstream narrative as it relates to Chinese money is “tightening.” Having survived the economic downturn last year, we are to believe that the PBOC is once again on bubble duty. They raised their reverse repo rates, considered to be their policy benchmarks, three times up to mid-March.

Read More »

To The Asian ‘Dollar’, And Then What?

2017-04-27

by

2017-04-27

TIC - US Banking Data Claims On Foreigners, February 1979 - February 2017
The Bretton Woods system was intentionally set up to funnel monetary convertibility through official channels. The primary characteristic of any true gold standard is that any person who wishes can change paper claims into hard money. It was as much true in any one country as between those bound by the same legal framework (property).

Read More »

Assessing China’s Economic Risks

2017-04-18

by

2017-04-18

China Industrial Production 2009-2017
First quarter GDP in China rose 6.9%, better than expected and above the government’s target (6.5%) for 2017. It stands to reason, however, that if Communist officials thought they could get 6.9% to last for the whole year they would have made it their target, especially since 6.5% would be less than the GDP growth rate for 2016 (6.7%). In only that one way is China’s GDP statistic meaningful.

Read More »

What Was Chinese Trade in March?

2017-04-17

by

2017-04-17

China Exports, Jan 2008 - 2017
As with all statistics, there are discrepancies that from time to time may obscure the meaning or validity of the particular estimate in question. For the vast majority of the time, any such uncertainties amount to very little. Overall, harmony among the major accounts reduces the signal noise from any one featuring a significant inconsistency.

Read More »

Trade Notes: China and Prospects for a New Executive Order

2017-04-14

by

2017-04-14

China's trade concessions seem modest, but little discussion of US concessions. Reports suggest Trump is set to sign a new executive order to investigate trade practices in steel, aluminum, and maybe household appliances. Trade imbalances and floating currencies are not mutually exclusive.

Read More »

FX Daily, April 13: Greenback Stabilizes After Trump Induced Slide

2017-04-13

by

2017-04-13

The US dollar slid after US President Trump complained about its strength. The sell-off extended into early Asian activity, before stabilizing. It is mixed in late morning European turnover, which is already lightening up due to the extended Easter holiday.

Read More »

Euro Saves Germany, Slaughters the PIGS, & Feeds the BLICS

2017-04-06

by

2017-04-06

European Population vs. Total Europe Energy Consumption
The change in nations Core populations (25-54yr/olds) have driven economic activity for the later half of the 20th century, first upward and now downward. The Core is the working population, the family forming population, the child bearing population, the first home buying, and the credit happy primary consumer. Even a small increase (or contraction) in their quantity drives economic activity magnitudes beyond what the numbers would indicate.

Read More »

February US Trade Disappoints

2017-04-06

by

2017-04-06

US Imports, Jun 1989 - 2016
The oversized base effects of oil prices could not in February 2017 push up overall US imports. The United States purchased, according to the Census Bureau, 71% more crude oil from global markets this February than in February 2016. In raw dollar terms, it was an increase of $7.3 billion year-over-year. Total imports, however, only gained $8.4 billion, meaning that nearly all the improvement was due to nothing more than the price of global oil.

Read More »

FX Daily, April 05: Dialing it Up on Hump Day

2017-04-05

by

2017-04-05

he dollar is practically unchanged against the euro and yen in the first two sessions of the week. The pace can be expected to pick up starting Wednesday. Although the euro slipped through $1.0650, it was not sustained, and on Monday and Tuesday, the euro finished near its highs.

Read More »

FX Weekly Preview: The Macro Backdrop at the Start of the Second Quarter

2017-04-03

by

2017-04-03

The macroeconomic fundamentals have not changed much in the first three months of the year. The US growth remains near trend, the labor market continues to improve gradually, both headline and core inflation remain firm, and the Federal Reserve remains on course to hike rates at least a couple more times this year, even though the market is skeptical. The uncertainty surrounding US fiscal has not been lifted, and it may not be several more months.

Read More »

Blocher and the People That Ruined the EU

2017-03-30

by

2017-03-30

Christoph Blocher
Last weekend, European leaders gathered in Rome for the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. They discussed, not for the first time, how to get the EU back on track. And they told each other they are still committed to the Union and believe in its future. (We’ve heard that one before, too.)

Read More »

TIC Analysis of Selling

2017-03-25

by

2017-03-25

When the Treasury Department released its Treasury International Capital (TIC) data for December, what was a somewhat obscure report suddenly found mainstream attention. Private foreign investors had sold tens of billions in US securities primarily US Treasury bonds and notes which the media then made into some kind of warning to then-incoming President Trump. It was supposed to be a big deal, the kind of rebuke reserved for disreputable leaders of...

Read More »

Durable Goods After Leap Year

2017-03-25

by

2017-03-25

Durable Goods New Orders, NSA 1993-2017
New orders for durable goods (not including transportation orders) were up 1% year-over-year in February. That is less than the (revised) 4.4% growth in January, but as with all comparisons of February 2017 to February 2016 there will be some uncertainty surrounding the comparison to the leap year version.

Read More »

SNB Spent $68 Billion On Currency Manipulation In 2016

2017-03-24

by

2017-03-24

SNB Intervention, 2010 - 2017
While Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his displeasure with China for manipulating its currency, he appears to have recently figured out that over the past 2 years Beijing has been spending hundreds of billions in dollar to strengthen, not weaken, the Yuan and to halt the ~$1 trillion in capital flight from China.

Read More »

Non-Randomly Surveying RMB

2017-03-23

by

2017-03-23

PBOC RMB Liquidity Management 2014-2017
China’s central bank, unlike other central banks, is constantly active almost never resting. Because it is always in motion, the PBOC can seem to be “adding” liquidity at the very same time it might be “draining” it. Its specific actions should never be interpreted as standalone procedures related solely to some unknown policy stance. That is particularly true given that we know what their stance is and has been – neutral.

Read More »

Pressure, Sure, But From Where?

2017-03-22

by

2017-03-22

Belly of the Curve Gone Flat 2009-2017
It may just be that in life you have to get used to disappointment. Though not for lack of trying, I have spent a great deal of time over the years intending to piece together exactly what happened on days like October 15, 2014. The official explanation is an obvious whitewash, one so haphazard that I doubt it will ever be referred to again outside of ridicule.

Read More »