ASIA: Japan’s central bank forecast inflation would exceed its target this year in new forecasts on Thursday but kept interest rates ultra-low, signaling its determination to remain an outlier in a wave of global central bank policy tightening. BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda brushed off the chance of policy tightening in the near future, saying he […]

ASIA: An iPhone manufacturing plant in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen is being forced into a seven-day “closed-loop” lockdown by Chinese authorities, along with 100 other companies, to limit COVID-19 infections, Bloomberg reported. The “closed loop” system will mean that only employees who live on site will be able to work, blocking outside access […]

ASIA: Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC reported steady returns for the year but warned of “deep uncertainties” as investors face concerns over inflation, pandemic risks and geopolitical challenges. The fund’s portfolio posted an annualized nominal dollar return of 7% over the 20-year period ending March 31, 2022, GIC said in its annual report released on […]

When the Allies crossed the border to invade Germany as WWII came to an end, the German population hung white sheets from the windows to signify their surrender. Just a few years before, the German people were told to celebrate the prospect of dominating Europe as retribution for the punishment they endured because of the […]

ASIA: Ant Group executives are no longer part of Alibaba Partnership, a body that can nominate the majority of the e-commerce giant’s board, Alibaba’s annual report released on Tuesday showed. as both companies parted ways after China’s sweeping regulatory crackdown. The terms now allow only Alibaba employees to be part of the partnership. Seven Ant […]

Governments have a way with words. Namely, they can change the definition of a word at the stroke of a pen. The definition of “vaccine” changed under the CDC’s guidance from “a product that stimulates a person’s immune system to produce immunity to a specific disease, protecting the person from that disease” to “a preparation […]

ASIA: China’s new household deposits grew more than a third year on year to a record USD 1.5tn in the first half of 2022, while individual bank borrowings plunged more than half over the same period, official data showed. The inversion in savings rates followed an increase in bank deposits as Chinese savers raced to […]

QUESTION: Hi Martin, thank you as always for your incisive explanations of what’s going on in the ever-roving mind’s eye of SOCRATES. In your July 24 interview with Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog, you started to explain that a form of “Great Reset” is necessary–because taxpayers’ $ has been spent hog-wild and wilder for 90 years, […]

ASIA: Industry body FICCI on Thursday said India’s economy is estimated to grow 7% in the current fiscal, lower than the earlier projection of 7.4%, mainly due to the ongoing geopolitical uncertainties. FICCI’s Economic Outlook Survey (July 2022) also said the policy rate of the Reserve Bank of India is expected to touch 5.65% by the […]

While authorities have accused a private financial group of misleading members of the public with promises of high-return wealth management products, what is not being said publicly is the fact that the rise in the dollar is a significant factor undermining emerging markets in which China participated. The Chinese government warned the provinces and private […]