Saturday, April 10, 2010
As Greek Bond Rates Soar, Bankruptcy Looms
With the rate on 10-year Greek bonds reaching as high as 7.5 percent on Thursday, up from 6.5 just three days ago, the cost of insuring against a Greek default hit a record high.
The message from the market could not be clearer: artfully worded communiqués from Brussels will no longer suffice. To avoid bankruptcy, analysts said, Greece needs a bailout from Europe, and fast. (more)
China on ‘Treadmill to Hell’ Amid Bubble, Chanos Says
The world’s third-biggest economy may need to keep up the pace of property investment because up to 60 percent of its gross domestic product relies on construction, said Chanos. The bubble may begin to “run its course” in late-2010 or 2011, he said in an interview on “The Charlie Rose Show” that will air on PBS and Bloomberg TV.
China is “on a treadmill to hell,” said Chanos, who said in January the nation is Dubai times a thousand. “They can’t afford to get off this heroin of property development. It is the only thing keeping the economic growth numbers growing.” (more)
Analyst Rubin: Oil to Hit Triple Digits, Set New High
By the fourth quarter of this year, oil prices will be back in triple-digit range, and by next year oil prices will rise to record highs, taking out the high-water mark of $147 a barrel set before the recession began in 2008, Rubin says.
Oil fell to around $85 a barrel on Friday, retreating further from an 18-month high reached on Tuesday, after a credit agency cut Greece's debt rating and investors focused on healthy oil supplies.
"We’re barely out of the recession, and already we face prices that, just a few years ago, our government, our oil industry and our economists told us we would never see," he wrote in the Globe And Mail. (more)
China's Gold Quest
"This forecast seems reasonable," says Frank Holmes, "and it lines up with what I've long been saying about the profound evolution in China's economy -- domestic consumption is replacing exports as the growth engine as more poor Chinese move up into the middle class and from there into the ranks of the wealthy.
"China has a centuries-long cultural affinity for gold, so it makes sense that more middle class and wealthy would mean more gold sales.
"Over the same period, China's GDP roughly tripled. The Chinese are famous for their high savings rate, and the chart shows how important gold has become as a store of their growing wealth."
The Coming European Debt Wars
To the US Department of Justice! (The World's Biggest Fraud!)
1. What are the names of companies, individuals, or organizations that are involved?
The CFTC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is withholding the names, with the excuse given that they cannot reveal the names, because of statute. But, a statute, which may violate other laws, is no excuse for obstruction of justice, dereliction of duty, misprison of fraud, or conspiracy to defraud the United States.
The COMEX, owned by the CME Group, also has the data on who is primarily involved, as the antitrust violaters trade on their exchange. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cme
China may raise rates soon, revalue yuan by Oct
Another one-off currency revaluation looked unlikely, said Zhu Baoliang, chief economist at the State Information Center (SIC), a think-tank that comes under the National Development and Reform Commission, China's powerful planning agency.
"I believe a band widening is possible but another one-off revaluation is unlikely. The yuan might be pegged to a basket of currencies," he told Reuters. (more)
U.S. Stocks Rise as Inventories Point to Strengthening Economy
Chevron Corp. led the Dow’s gain after saying its oil refineries returned to profitability. Dish Network Corp. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. rallied at least 3.5 percent on analyst upgrades. Equities also advanced as European officials said they’re ready to bail out Greece if needed, assuaging concern a default by the nation will stifle the global economic recovery.
The S&P 500 gained 0.7 percent to an 18-month high of 1,194.37 at 4 p.m. in New York and rose 1.4 percent over the past five days for a sixth-straight weekly gain, its longest streak in a year. The Dow increased 70.28 points, or 0.6 percent, to 10,997.35 and reached as high as 11,000.98. (more)