ASIA: Japan cannot avoid crafting a supplementary budget for fiscal 2022 as part of measures to mitigate the impact of rising prices on the economy, former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Sunday. His successor, Fumio Kishida, is reluctant to compile an additional budget at an early date as the new fiscal year just started this […]

ASIA: Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua called on Saturday for greater efforts to stabilize foreign trade amid a complex external environment, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said in March that China’s economy faced multiple challenges at home and abroad this year, including “huge” pressure from uncertainty over global trade and […]

QUESTION: Hi Martin, What do you think banks will do with mortgages if we continue experiencing high inflation and/or hyperinflation? Do you think we might be able to pay off a mortgage with gold if things get bad enough? Marc ANSWER: No! The contract is in dollars and that cannot be altered. There won’t be […]

ASIA: China’s factory activity slumped at the fastest pace in two years in March, a private sector PMI showed, as the fallout from the Ukraine crisis and resurgence in domestic coronavirus cases hit external and domestic demand. The outcome was in line with Thursday’s official data showing activity in Chinese manufacturing and services simultaneously contracted […]

QUESTION: Is there any hope for the future? Between war, digital currency, authoritarianism, and financial collapse, it doesn’t seem like there is much hope for our children. Please let us know what Socrates says, is everyone doomed? Is there anywhere our children can go to escape this madness? B ANSWER: Yes! I know this can […]

ASIA:   The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today: NIKKEI 225 decreased 205.82 points or -0.73% to 27,821.43 Shanghai decreased 14.39 points or -0.44% to 3,252.20 Hang Seng decreased 235.18 points or -1.06% to 21.996.85 ASX 200 decreased 14.90 points or -0.20% to 7,499.60 Kospi increased 10.91 points or 0.40% to 2,757.65 […]

ASIA:   The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today: NIKKEI 225 decreased 225.17 points or -0.80% to 28,027.25 Shanghai increased 62.66 points or 1.96% to 3,266.60 Hang Seng increased 304.40 points or 1.39% to 22.232.03 ASX 200 increased 50.20 points or 0.67% to 7,514.50 Kospi increased 5.67 points or 0.21% to 2,746.74 […]

ASIA: Three of China’s largest banks have said that the country’s lenders face multiple headwinds this year that include the pandemic, global politics and domestic turmoil in the real estate industry. China’s banking industry is facing “a more complicated and severe business environment,” the country’s second-biggest lender by assets China Construction Bank Corp, said on […]

  I reported on the Private Blog that I had a copy of the legislation and I was told it would be introduced today – Monday 28th. That info was correct. Well, here it is!. Reps. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Jesús Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), all Democrats, have introduced the […]

ASIA: China’s financial hub of Shanghai launched a two-stage lockdown of its 26 million residents on Monday, closing bridges and tunnels and restricting highway traffic in a scramble to contain surging COVID-19 cases. It is the biggest COVID-related disruption to hit Shanghai and sent prices of commodities including oil and copper lower on fears that […]