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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: TobagoJack who wrote (70758)2/1/2011 8:56:47 PM
From: Cogito Ergo Sum  Respond to of 218649
 
If so.. and so and so...and Mr. O get's a second term... realise maybe we get repeat of Reagan wall coming down boom :O)



To: TobagoJack who wrote (70758)2/1/2011 10:55:51 PM
From: Cogito Ergo Sum  Respond to of 218649
 
– The Federal Reserve’s average holdings of longer-term Treasurys have passed the $1-trillion mark. Prior to the financial
crisis, the Fed tended to hold up to $700 billion in Treasurys, two-thirds of which typically had a longer term than a year. But
thanks largely to its $600-billion bond-buying program...Treasury holdings have ballooned. Earlier in January, total Treasury
holdings, including short-term bills, passed the $1-trillion mark. Last week, the Fed’s holdings of longer-term U.S. debt, notes
and bonds – those with a term of more than a year – averaged $1.022 trillion. (The Wall Street Journal)


Message 27136933



To: TobagoJack who wrote (70758)2/2/2011 12:08:13 AM
From: carranza2  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 218649
 
I doubt we will see more Tunisian contagion except perhaps in Jordan.

SArabia is too rich. Any revolutionaries can be bought off. They have already been shipped off to some ungodly places, mainly Afghanistan, where they can help the Taliban and such and not be too bothersome. Plus, there is genuine cachet in the Saudi royal family being the keepers of the holy places. No one wants to mess too much with that.

Iran is ripe for contagion but they just went through a spell of it and not much happened. The Mad Mullahs seem to wield a winning hand.

Syrians still no doubt remember what Assad's father did the last time there was a revolt - he used his artillery to level a city. About 25K were killed. If I recall, that was in the '70s, but I am sure the memory is there.

Jordan might get a whiff of contagion but the Hashemite royals are fairly popular.

If you want contagion, I think it can be found in Europe. I think the real contagion is in Spain and Ireland, esp. Eire, where elections will take place soon. They are off media radar for now, but not for long.

I still maintain the action is in the EuroZone. It seems very, very odd that the Euro is so high against the USD.



To: TobagoJack who wrote (70758)2/2/2011 12:24:43 AM
From: Cogito Ergo Sum  Respond to of 218649
 
From: russet 2/1/2011 6:10:11 PM
of 1570

China Central Bank Advisor Urges Increase In Official Gold And Silver Reserves
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/30/2011 21:14 -0500

zerohedge.com

And so the long anticipated incursion by the PBOC, whose holdings of gold are behind even those of GLD, begins. Bloomberg has just reported, that "China central bank adviser Xia Bin said the country should increase its gold and silver reserves, the Economic Information Daily reported today, citing an interview with Xia." But how can this be: after all China has trillions in USD-denominated reserves, and any indication that it believes these are based on a currency that may actually be impaired will be an act of Mutual Assured Destruction. Well, yes and no. China is merely taking the next defection step in what is already failed Nash equilibrium. The first? The Fed's gross monetization of all US debt. The observant ones will realize that Chinese holdings in November were lower than they were in June of 2009! Who has picked up the slack? Why the Federal Reserve of course. Simply said, the Fed is explicitly making China's creditor status increasingly less relevant. Zero Hedge has long been wondering how much longer China will take this direct defection in what previously had been a stable equilibrium balance in which China provides the US vendor financing, while the US imports China's crap. As the Criminal Reserve is increasingly taking away the leverage that China used to enjoy as Creditor numero uno, it is only a matter of time before China fires back. And it may have just done that.

More from Bloomberg:

China should encourage foreign companies to list in the yuan-denominated market, the report said, citing Xia. The nation should slow the overseas listings of Chinese companies, especially resources related, strategic and monopoly firms, the report said, citing Xia.

For now this is still merely sabre ratling. However, one day soon, a report will come out confirming that the PBOC has purchased anywhere between 10 and 100 tonnes of gold (which it is rumored to be doing now in the form of stealth accumulation). That's when things for the gold shorts, especially those whose massive position shorts have been grandfathered by the C(riminal)FTC, will get ugly.



To: TobagoJack who wrote (70758)2/2/2011 8:00:56 AM
From: carranza2  Respond to of 218649
 
The power of unintended consequences or how the Fed, by exporting inflation, is causing the riots. This blogger gets it:

jackhbarnes.com

The World needs a new Louvre Accord.
Posted on February 1, 2011 by Jack H Barnes 0

The US dollar, as the world’s reserve currency, has a very important role in the exchange of value between nations. It is currently estimated that 70% of all global trade is transacted in US Dollars. It is the volatility in the value of the US dollar compared to its trading partners, which is driving fears of a global trade war.

The FX rates between nations are bouncing up and down based on global macro market dynamics. The price of most commodities is skyrocketing, with the grains regularly limiting up currently. The US is continuing to see an increase in food exports, as US Farmers book nominal historic prices.

The exporting of inflation to third world nations is now causing catastrophic results in nations historically ran by autocrats with strong ties to the United States foreign policy. The events in Tunisia and Egypt have unleashed a rising tide of anti-Americanism in the region.

If the current administration is intentionally destabilizing dictators & autocrats, the region should expect the policies of the Federal Reserve to continue. The current course of action by the Federal Reserve is directly feeding the populous revolutions with public anger at rising food costs.

The invisible hand of the market is directly pulling the strings of the people rioting. This will continue until the Federal Reserve decides that it has inflicted enough inflation on the globe. This is economic war, even if professors of Government are unaware of the implications of their actions.

However, if the current administration is in fact surprised and worried by these events, it should address the cause of the problem. The decline in the purchasing power of the US dollar is the driving force behind the demonstrations.

The cost of food is increasing while the economy itself is not keeping pace. This has poor disadvantaged families feeling the real impact of inflation, in the cost of calories. This is what drives unrest in nations without the safety nets that westernized nations have.

In the past, when the US dollar was too strong, or too weak, a group of nations would meet and design a response to the situation at hand. In 1985, the Plaza Accord was signed by France, West Germany, Japan, England and the United States.
It was designed to lower the value of the US dollar by depreciating it against the Yen and Deutsche Mark by intervening in the currency markets. The exchange rate on the US dollar fell by 51% between 1985 and 1987, when it was felt that the Dollar had fallen too far.

In 1987, a new accord was called together in Paris. The Louvre Accord of February 1987 was agreed to by the G-6 nations to stop the US dollar depreciation. The dollar had fallen too far, too fast.

While the Plaza Accord was a trade agreement, reached by adjusting the exchange rates between nations, the Louvre Accord was different. It was an attempt to bring together monetary policy and Global Macro based fiscal results for all nations.
The international export markets today are in need of a new Louvre accord, to stabilize the drop in the US Dollar and the currency rates of its major trading partners. The Louvre accord attempted to address these issues in 1987, as emerging markets felt the pain of rising commodity prices, inflation and instability.

The world needs a new Louvre accord, to stop the intentional devaluation of the global reserve currency by the Federal Reserve. This type of action would stabilize the effects of inflation in emerging markets, at the expense of slowing down US exports.

The only way this could happen is if China agreed to let the Yuan rise against the US dollar, while the worlds central bankers stabilized the exchange rates between nations. Until Central Banks decide to play together using a single script for the world to listen too, we will have continued examples of popular uprisings. Food inflation is no joke, and strong man governments around the worlds are fearing its affects.