A fertilizer producer in north China defaulted on bond payments, which is a positive aspect as the state governments are not so eager to bail out failed companies. This will be a positive step forward in transforming China into a major capital market. For now, it is still not ready for prime time. Of course, […]

COMMENT: Dear Martin, Another element that strongly supports your view is that US equities will fly at some point in the future. If you take the trailing 10y avg real earnings yield from S&P500 (you can easily get them from Shiller’s site) and you normalise it by the 10 year US yield you get the attached […]

Within the US Federal Constitution, there is what many refer to as the Republican Guarantee Clause of Article Four; Section 4; Clause 1: Obligations of the United States Federal Government: The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government… This Republican Guarantee Clause has long been at the forefront of the […]

Asia did not provide much direction overnight as core indices were pulled in either direction. The Nikkei was the top performer, closing just under 1% better having spent most of the day in negative territory. The JPY strengthened as the day progressed but has just retraced much of that and is closing around mid-range for […]

The constructive comments provided by Fed Chair Janette Yellen last evening certainly helped Asian equities today. The Hang Seng performed best recording a 1.4% gain on the day whilst the main China Index managed just 0.1% gain which was a relief having spent the majority of the day in negative territory. The Nikkei saw a […]

A strong opening hour (+1%) for the Nikkei on the back of a better than expected data release (Wages and Services) but by late morning had fallen back to unchanged. The second half of the day saw all core indices edge higher to close around 0.5% across the board. All eyes will be on the US […]

The Nikkei (cash) really hit the tiles today (-2.3%) having received confirmation of the delay to the Sales Tax and its two year reschedule. The JPY saw the flight to quality resulting in a 1% rally to hit a 108.50 high. 10yr JGB’s traded from -10bp to -11.5bp. As stated yesterday it will not be […]

As rumored, Japan’s PM Mr. Abe announced today that the Sales Tax increase is to be delayed for the second time. This will very likely have an impact on Ratings Agencies who will be waiting more details in regards to any change on fiscal impacts and their possible reaction. As a result the JPY moved […]

All the Asian indices performed well today and mainly off the back of the rumors that China -Shares are to be included in the MSCI soon. These were only rumors but we did see a 3.3% rally on the beck of the story. Also, on the back of a better than expected Japan Industrial Output […]

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; I have been trapped by these gold promoters and they indeed are like used car salesmen, worse since they are not regulated. I listened how they were wrong because the bankers were suppressing gold. If the bankers were eliminated, gold would soar to anything like $25,000 to $100,000. Well, the bankers have all been […]