May 7, 2011

The ECB Is Tightening Too Soon

Unfortunately the ECB has started to increase interest rates, these increasing interest rates are leading to a strengthening of the euro. The euro becoming stronger and stronger is preventing the resumption of economic growth.

"If there is not going to be economic growth their peripheral eurozone economies own fiscal problems - too much public debt, too much private debt - will never be resolved.

"A weaker euro would help them to grow out of their own recessions. Maybe the ECB is tightening to much, too fast, too soon. - in BBC

May 6, 2011

I Don`t Believe There`s A High Risk Of Inflation

I don't believe there's a high risk of inflation. If commodity prices get too high, that could double-dip the world economy and cause disinflationary pressure. - Nouriel Roubini at a recent conference sponsored by the nonprofit Milken Institute

Related: ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasuries (ETF) (TBT), iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond (ETF) (TLT), iShares Lehman 7-10 Year Treasury Bond (ETF) (IEF), SPDR Gold ETF (GLD), IShares Silver ETF (SLV)

May 5, 2011

The Risks Of Rising Oil Prices

"If oil rises in price by 20 percent, then there is the risk of recession in the economies of the leading Western countries." - in The Voices Of Russia

Related ETF`s: SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY), iShares Russell 2000 Index (ETF) (NYSE:IWM), ProShares UltraShort S&P500 (ETF) (NYSE:SDS), ProShares UltraShort QQQ (ETF) (NYSE:QID), SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE:DIA)

May 4, 2011

The Bond Market Vigilantes Have Already Woken Up In The Periphery Of The Eurozone. They Have Not Woken Up Yet In The U.S., U.K And Japan

"We have to address own problems. If you're looking at advanced economies, there's a series of problems that are going to remain with us, leaving aside geopolitical challenges we're facing.

We're coming out of the balance sheets of a recession. We have excesses of debt and leverage in the housing sector, in the financial system and in the government sector, both state and local and federal level. That's a problem in the U.S., in the Eurozone, in Japan, in the most advanced economies. There is a problem of sovereign risk. The bond market vigilantes have already woken up in the periphery of the Eurozone. They have not woken up yet in the U.S., or U.K and Japan."

In Bloomberg TV

Related: ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasuries (ETF) (TBT), iShares Barclays 20+ Yr Treasury Bond (ETF) (TLT)

Apr 29, 2011

No Country Can Be Productive Enough To Reinvest Half Of GDP In New Capital Stock

No country can be productive enough to reinvest half of GDP in new capital stock without eventually facing immense overcapacity and a staggering non-performing loan problem.

Continuing down the investment-led growth path will exacerbate the visible glut of capacity in manufacturing, property and infrastructure, and thus will intensify the coming economic slowdown once further fixed-investment growth becomes impossible. Until the change of political leadership in 2012-13, China’s policymakers may be able to maintain high growth rates, but at a very high foreseeable cost. - in Project Syndicate

Related: iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (ETF) (FXI), Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund, Inc. (CAF), PowerShares Gld Drg Haltr USX China(ETF) (PGJ), Aluminum Corp. of China Limited (ADR) (ACH), PetroChina (PTR), China Mobile (CHL)

Apr 28, 2011

The United States Has The Most Manageable Fiscal Issues Of Any Major Advanced Economy

The United States has the most manageable fiscal issues of any major advanced economy because federal, state and local revenues as a share of GDP are very low, for cyclical and other reasons. Therefore, fiscal balance can be restored by fiscal adjustment without major economic difficulty in the near term. - in Business Insider

Related: ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasuries (ETF) (TBT), iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond (ETF) (TLT)

Apr 25, 2011

A Bond Market Revolt Is Not At All Easy To Engineer In The US

A bond market revolt is not at all easy to engineer in the United States” as “there is no safer asset destination on the planet than the United States, which has the third-longest-running system of government in the world, despite being a young nation. - in Forbes

Related: ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Trea (ETF) (TBT), iShares Barclays 20+ Yr Treas.Bond (ETF) (TLT), iShares Lehman 7-10 Yr Treas. Bond (ETF) (IEF), US Treasuries 10 Year Futures (ZN Futures)

Apr 22, 2011

China Is Rife With Over Investment In Physical Capital

China is rife with over investment in physical capital, infrastructure and property. To a visitor, this is evident in sleek but empty airports and bullet trains (which will reduce the need for the 45 planned airports), highways to nowhere, thousands of colossal new central and provincial government buildings, ghost towns and brand-new aluminium smelters kept closed to prevent global prices from plunging.

Eventually, most likely after 2013, China will suffer a hard landing. All historical episodes of excessive investment – including East Asia in the 1990s – have ended with a financial crisis and/or a long period of slow growth. - in Project Syndicate

Related: iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (ETF) (FXI), Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund, Inc. (CAF), PowerShares Gld Drg Haltr USX China(ETF) (PGJ), Aluminum Corp. of China Limited (ADR) (ACH)

Apr 19, 2011

The S&P Downgrade Of The US Government Debt Outlook

The landmark S&P downgrade of its U.S. government debt outlook reinforces what we have been saying since 2010: The United States is on an unsustainable fiscal path from which it cannot exit without political consensus. - in Roubini.com

Related ETF`s: SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY), iShares Russell 2000 Index (ETF) (NYSE:IWM), ProShares UltraShort S&P500 (ETF) (NYSE:SDS), ProShares UltraShort QQQ (ETF) (NYSE:QID), SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE:DIA)

Apr 18, 2011

Greece, Portugal And Irish Banks

The issue of Greece is not whether there will be debt restructuring, but when it will be done, and whether it will be an orderly market-oriented debt exchange or disorderly like in Argentina. One can make the same argument for Portugal’s government and Irish banks. - at a conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s financial center

Related: Bank of Ireland (ADR) (IRE), Allied Irish Banks, plc. (ADR) (AIB), iShares MSCI Spain Index (ETF) (NYSE:EWP)

Apr 13, 2011

US 1st Quarter Growth Is Now Tracking 1.5 Percent Or Lower

"Based on latest data US Q1 GDP growth is now tracking 1.5% if not lower. Optimists call is a Soft Patch. Realists call it near Stall Speed." - in Twitter

Related: SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY), iShares Russell 2000 Index (ETF) (NYSE:IWM), ProShares UltraShort S&P500 (ETF) (NYSE:SDS), ProShares UltraShort QQQ (ETF) (NYSE:QID), SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE:DIA)

Apr 11, 2011

Ireland: Bank Losses And Government`s Balance Sheet

Taking all of the losses of the banking system and putting them on the balance sheet of the Government doesn't make sense. Eventually, the back of the Government will be broken. - in Irish Independent

Related stocks: Bank of Ireland (ADR) (NYSE:IRE), Allied Irish Banks, plc. (ADR) (NYSE:AIB)

Apr 8, 2011

China: Short Term And Medium Term Economic Performance

I’m writing on the heels of two trips to China during which I met with senior policy makers, bank executives and academics, just as the government launched its 12th Five-Year Plan, intended to rebalance the long-term growth model.

My meetings deepened my own impression and RGE’s long-standing house view of a potentially destabilizing contradiction between short- and medium-term economic performance: The economy is overheating here and now, but I’m convinced that in the medium term China’s overinvestment will prove deflationary both domestically and globally. - in Business Insider