ASIA: China’s official index of manufacturing purchasing managers slipped to 50.8 in April from 52.0 in March, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Pandemic triggered recessions around the world have made Chinese manufacturers pessimistic about export demand. Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to the United States, has said the two countries need to look beyond […]

  ASIA: The former governor of the Reserve Bank of India Raghuram Rajan has said that India can beat the virus with the right resolve and priorities by focusing on immediate needs and delaying less important expenditures. He also said that it will be hard to lockdown the country entirely for much longer periods as […]

  ASIA: Chinese economic data from last Friday showed that industrial company profits dropped 2% in August from a year ago. It reversed a 2.6% gain in the previous month, indicating growing pressure on the corporate sector as the economy slows further. President Xi of China paid his respects to the founder of the Communist […]

Asia: A mixed day for the major Asian stock markets; Shanghai led the way after adding 57.13 points (+1.92%, 3027 close), followed by SENSEX (+382.67 points, +1.04%, 37,054 close). Hang Seng and NIKKEI 225 increased 274.88 points (+0.97%, 28,503 close) and 103.16 points (+0.49%, 21,122 close) respectfully. HOSPI and ASX200 took the opposite route, losing […]

  Asia: The markets had a stronger sense of direction today compared to yesterday with the majority of the markets in the green. After Trump’s comments alluding to the 1st of March as being a date which wasn’t necessarily set in stone, the Nikkei 225 rose 60 bps and the Shanghai added 20 bps more. […]

  Asia: The following country’s markets are closed for the national holiday: China, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Singapore. The Chinese Yuan increased 16 bps against the dollar despite the market being closed. The Japanese stock market increased +0.14%. The YoY for the Nikkei is still negative, slipping -3.56%. The same cannot be said for […]

  The largest public pension fund in the United States is the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) for civil servants. California is in a state of very serious insolvency. We strongly advise our clients to get out before it is too late. I have been warning that CalPERS was on the verge of insolvency. I […]

QUESTION: Powell is from the Carlyle Group which people say you advised. Do you know Powell? What do you think of his agenda? Will you be advising him? PD ANSWER: No, I never met Jerome Powell. Our contacts with the Carlyle Group I am not at liberty to confirm or deny with regard to any […]

The sell-off continued in some of the Asian markets, with the Nikkei, in particular, losing an additional -0.85% today. Commodities heavily influenced values today, after we saw manufacturing and miners weigh on sentiment. Although the index has fallen 4.55 this month, it remains narrowly positive for the year. The weakness cam in the final hours of trading, after […]

We saw a bit of a rebound in Asia today, after yesterdays decline. Shanghai and Hang Seng both up around 1%, Shanghai outperforming the HSI. Markets were keen to see rallies for the US markets and especially ahead of the much expected FED rate rise, due later today. We are seeing yields in US treasuries […]