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 […]

There is a common misconception that the United States has the highest rate of inflation in the world. I see it questioned in numerous emails The United States does have a major problem when it comes to inflation, but its currency has not depreciated to the point where it is weak. Let us compare data […]

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 […]

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 […]

ASIA: Asian Development Bank (ADD) in its “E-Mobility Options for ADB Developing Member Countries,” which both forecast and recommended the quick shift to electric vehicles in the region to stem both climate change issues and the rising cost of fuel. The report noted how in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) focused on EV production […]

We spend too much on the military, but we should give all our money to Ukraine. Make it make sense! Sweden and Finland made their grand debut in NATO this week. The Democrats helped push that into law in a vote that passed 394-18. Only 18 dissenters, all Republicans, saw the flaw involved with expanding […]

ASIA: Chinese authorities on Sunday violently dispersed a peaceful protest by hundreds of depositors, who sought in vain to demand their life savings back from banks that have run into a deepening cash crisis. Since April, four rural banks in China’s central Henan province have frozen millions of dollars’ worth of deposits, threatening the livelihoods […]

ASIA: China’s banks have detailed 2.11 billion yuan ($312 million) of loans at risk to the increasing number of homebuyers refusing to pay mortgages on unfinished homes, as fears grow over a potential spillover into the wider financial sector. State-owned Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. said Thursday it held 660 million yuan of overdue loans […]

ASIA: Overseas investors disposed of a combined net total of $5.08 billion in Indonesian, Thai, Malaysian, South Korean, and Indian bonds last month, marking the biggest monthly outflow since March, regulatory data and bond market associations showed. The emerging Asia bonds were hit by a surge in U.S. yields and a jump in the U.S. […]