Financial topics

[vincecate]

The 10 year Treasury is up to 2.88% at the moment. My guess is things fall apart by the time it gets to 3.5%. However, since nobody else would venture any guess, I am bound to have the closest guess here and win this game.

http://finance.yahoo.com/bonds/composite_bond_rates

[gerald]

Smoke and mirrors will save the world!

Chinese Province 'Busted' For Fake Data; Exaggerated 2013 Output By Over 150%

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-0 ... t-over-150


Twenty-eight sampled local companies reported a total of 6.34 billion yuan (1.03 billion U.S. dollars) in industrial output value in 2012; however, the actual value was only 2.82 billion yuan, based on initial calculation, according to the report.

Similarly, 25 sampled local companies reported 2.74 billion yuan of industrial output value in the first half of 2013, but the NBS initially verified the actual value to be only 1.06 billion yuan.

Meanwhile, the county was also found to have faked investment data.

Companies complained that if they did not fraudulently report higher data, their reports would be returned by local government departments. They also said that fake reports would ensure they would enjoy favorable policies such as securing bank loans.

The NBS said that the misconduct has seriously affected the authenticity and independence of company data.

The NBS did not specify the reasons behind the county's faking of data but it is a well-known fact that local government leaders are assessed for their performances based on economic data. Nice-looking data sheets mean promotion opportunities.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sound familiar?

Investments? Who should you believe? It is appears that everywhere you look it is BS.

What can the small investor do? hmmmmmmmmmm

[vincecate]

The 10 year bond is up to 2.98% at the moment. At this rate it may get to my 3.5% in another month or two.

http://finance.yahoo.com/bonds/composite_bond_rates

[gerald]

The 10 year bond is up to 2.98% at the moment. At this rate it may get to my 3.5% in another month or two.

http://finance.yahoo.com/bonds/composite_bond_rates

Hmmmm
So I can get more interest on a US bond, and the money received will be worth less the the money paid, and yet get the privilege of paying tax on the "income".
What is not to like?

[vincecate]

The 5 year bond was at 0.5% and is now coming up on 2%. When interest rates go up inflation will go up. The wheels are coming off people.

http://howfiatdies.blogspot.com/2013/08 ... ation.html

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[John]

The puzzle of the euro’s shrinking share of the FX market

Reuters Breakingviews is commenting on the latest forex statistics
from the Bank of International Settlements, which show that the euro’s
share has shrunk to its lowest level since 1999. Swaha Pattanaik, the
author of the article, admits openly that this is a puzzle. The euro’s
share in spot and derivatives trading has fallen to 33%, down by a
seventh since 2010, and reversing all the gains made during the last
decade. The gainers were the yen and the dollar, the latter with a
share now of 87% (note that shares do not add up to 100% as there are
always two currencies involved in a transaction). The article makes a
number of guesses. One possibility is that most of the institutional
investors are based in the US and trade currencies against the dollar,
not the euro. (But is this new?) Another factor may have been
Switzerland’s cap on the franc’s exchange rate. And the euro is
clearly not a funding currency for carry trades either. (Again, this
is not new either?)

-- EuroIntelligence e-mail


http://www.ubs.wallst.com/ubs/mkt_story ... -1&first=0

8:01 AM ET September 06, 2013

BREAKINGVIEWS-Euro's shrinking FX market share is a puzzle

10:54 am -- (The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The
opinions expressed are her own.)

By Swaha Pattanaik

LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The amount of money coursing
through the foreign exchanges each day now surpasses the combined
annual economic output of Britain and France. But the euro's share of
this $5.3 trillion market has shrunk to its lowest since the currency
came into existence in 1999, according to the Bank for International
Settlements (BIS). It's a puzzle.

While its turnover grew in absolute terms, the euro's share of all
spot and derivatives currency fell to 33 percent, down a seventh from
2010 and reversing all the ground made in the past decade. Since two
currencies are involved in each trade, the sum of the market shares is
200 percent.

The euro's loss was the yen's and dollar's gain. Yen trading leapt as
markets anticipated the sea-change in Japanese monetary policy in
April, the month the data was collected. That helped lift the yen's
market share by a fifth to 23 percent. In contrast, traders had a less
clear-cut story to trade in the euro.

The dollar's share held up, rising a couple of percentage points to 87
percent. It may have something to do with the fact that so many
institutional investors, hedge funds and proprietary trading firms are
based in the United States and tend to trade currencies against the
dollar rather than the euro. Turnover fell or stagnated in most euro
zone countries but grew in the United States.

The rise of the Chinese renminbi and Mexican peso, which entered the
list of the 10 most traded currencies, also favours the dollar,
against which they are most widely traded.

Policy may have played a part. Switzerland's cap on the franc's
exchange rate against the euro depressed its trading. And anyone
funding carry trades was unlikely to use the euro since U.S., Japanese
and British interest rates were lower than the euro zone's in April.

It's unclear whether these factors fully explain the drop in the
euro's market share. And trends can't be extrapolated from a snapshot
survey. But these trading shifts matter to those who hire and fire
traders and decide which FX businesses to grow.

CONTEXT NEWS

- Daily turnover in the foreign exchange market averaged $5.3
trillion a day in April 2013, up from $4.0 trillion three years
earlier, according to the Bank for International Settlement's
triennial survey published on Sept. 5.

- The foreign exchange survey has been conducted every three years
since 1989. Central banks and other authorities from 53
jurisdictions took part in the 2013 survey, collecting data from
about 1,300 banks and other dealers.

- Reuters: BIS 2013 survey of global forex trade

- Reuters: Global FX trade jumps more than a third in 3 years to
$5.3 trln a day -BIS

(Editing by Chris Hughes and Sarah Bailey)

[gerald]

This should help the markets

Friday Humor: G20 Ends Abruptly As Obama Calls Putin A Jackass

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-0 ... in-jackass

From The Borowitz Report

G20 Ends Abruptly as Obama Calls Putin a Jackass

Hopes for a positive G20 summit crumbled today as President Obama blurted to Russia’s Vladimir Putin at a joint press appearance, “Everyone here thinks you’re a jackass.”

The press corps appeared stunned by the uncharacteristic outburst from Mr. Obama, who then unleashed a ten-minute tirade at the stone-faced Russian President.

“Look, I’m not just talking about Snowden and Syria,” Mr. Obama said. “What about Pussy Riot? What about your anti-gay laws? Total jackass moves, my friend.”

As Mr. Putin narrowed his eyes in frosty silence, Mr. Obama seemed to warm to his topic.

“If you think I’m the only one who feels this way, you’re kidding yourself,” Mr. Obama said, jabbing his finger in the direction of the Russian President’s face. “Ask Angela Merkel. Ask David Cameron. Ask the Turkish guy. Every last one of them thinks you’re a dick.”

Shortly after Mr. Obama’s volcanic performance, Mr. Putin released a terse official statement, reading, “I should be afraid of this skinny man? I wrestle bears.”

After one day of meetings, the G20 nations voted unanimously on a resolution that said maybe everyone should just go home.
---------------------------------------------------

What an idiot, you dont fuc* with Russians, The "O" has meet to many PC Americans, the Russians are not PC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMjnQ1dvlJM

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -AXES.html

[vincecate]

It is sort of funny that anyone would think the Fed was going to be able to keep interest rates near zero for a long time they have never kept interest rates near any other number for a long time. Mean reversion with overshoot is coming.

bonds30years.jpg (45.82 KiB) Viewed 3417 times

[Higgenbotham]

The 5 year bond was at 0.5% and is now coming up on 2%.

Thanks for continuing to show this chart as most don't pay much attention to the 5 year. It's those out of the way observations that sometimes are the most important. To me, this means it is beginning to be recognized that the US financial system is not going to last 5 years. People are scurrying away from the 5 year as if it's junk debt, which it now is. Also, with the Fed not bothering to prop up the 5 year it is becoming quite telling as to what would be happening if Bernanke weren't counterfeiting money to buy the 30 year and what is going to happen soon anyway. Yes, the wheels are starting to come off.

[John]

The 5 year bond was at 0.5% and is now coming up on 2%.

Thanks for continuing to show this chart as most don't pay much attention to the 5 year. It's those out of the way observations that sometimes are the most important. To me, this means it is beginning to be recognized that the US financial system is not going to last 5 years. People are scurrying away from the 5 year as if it's junk debt, which it now is. Also, with the Fed not bothering to prop up the 5 year it is becoming quite telling as to what would be happening without Bernanke counterfeiting money to buy the 30 year and what is going to happen soon anyway.

I suspect that it's more a fear of the start of tapering, rather than a fear
that the United States won't exist five years from now.