QUESTION: The sales pitch seems to be that there is this $2 quadrillion in global debt that overhangs everything. Paper assets, therefore, will all implode!  They seem to be saying that everything has risen due to this debt bubble and it was all created with Zero interest rates. Now that they are going up, the debt […]

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has made it clear that he sees higher interest rates ahead in his battle against inflation and their unrealistic 2% target. Many traders are now scrambling talking about how Powell said the Fed will probably raise rates more and possibly faster than previously anticipated. They are now taking that as a […]

ASIA:   Retail sales of vehicles in India jumped 16% to around 1.8 million units in February, helped in part by strong demand during the wedding season, an industry body of automobile dealers said on Monday, adding that festivals could push the sales higher in March. Sales have picked up in the last two months […]

ASIA:   U.S. President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the World Bank, ex-Mastercard Chief Executive Officer Ajay Banga, said he plans to travel to Europe, Asia, Africa and potentially Latin America in coming weeks to hear from donor countries and borrowers on challenges facing the global institution. Biden last week nominated Banga, to head the […]

ASIA:   South Korea’s producer price inflation slowed for a seventh straight month to its lowest in 22 months, central bank data showed on Thursday. The producer price index rose 5.1% in January from a year earlier, while it had climbed 5.8% in December, according to the Bank of Korea. It was the slowest annual […]

ASIA:   BlackRock Investment Institute raised U.S. short-term government bonds as well as Chinese and other emerging market stocks to “overweight” on Tuesday, saying investors were realizing that the U.S. Federal Reserve may have to become more aggressive in its campaign to subdue inflation. BlackRock also said it was going “overweight” on Chinese and other […]

Due to the NYSE closing for Presidents’ Day, Market Talk will resume on Tuesday, Feb. 21.   ASIA:   Singapore’s economy grew slightly less than initially estimated in the fourth quarter from a year ago, official data showed on Monday, and the government kept its forecast for annual growth to come in at 0.5% – […]

ASIA:   The Agricultural Bank of China, one of the country’s largest commercial lenders, has pledged stronger financial support for spring farming. The bank said it will strive to issue more than 160 billion yuan ($23.48 billion) in loans for spring farming preparations this year and will improve the efficiency of financial services. The financial […]

ASIA: Taiwan will speed up the development of drones for military use, considering the lessons of the war in Ukraine and the threat posed by China, the island’s defense ministry said on Tuesday. Unmanned aircraft have played a crucial role on both sides since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year. […]

ASIA:   Singapore and Malaysia have agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation and jointly seize opportunities in the digital economy and green economy, and to work closely on data protection and cyber security. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim witnessed the signing of three agreements covering these fields on Monday, during […]