World Trade

All you need to know.

All you need to know.

China has a list of demands. German industry refuses to cede ground. People shudder at becoming dependent on money from the communist regime. Clearly, the debt crisis isn’t deep enough yet.

All you need to read.

All you need to read.

All you need to read.

Today, at around 5:30 pm, the Senate will pass currency legislation squarely targeting alleged Chinese "currency manipulation" (which as a reminder is pegged to the USD, which begs the question just who is manipulating their currency). And while the PBOC pegged the USDCNY at a new all time low last night in what appears to be an attempt to placate US lawmakers, it may have been premature. As Goldman explains the likelihood of anything real happening as a result of this legislation, which will not pass Congress in its current form, is virtually negligible. That said, here is what the Senate in theory is attempting to achieve: "The bill would impose new penalties on countries whose currencies are found to be "misaligned," including tariffs on goods imported from those countries and an eventual WTO complaint. Like previous legislative efforts on this front, the likelihood of enactment seems low. House passage of the Senate bill seems unlikely, though it is clearly possible that the House could pass its own version of the currency bill instead." Bottom line: much ado about nothing, although China will probably not be too happy either way.

All you need to read.

Some thoughts and Pics from OWS

All you need to read.

Wake up as many people as you can.

A few hours ago, the maniac simians at the Senate finally did it and fired the first round in the great US-China currency war, after they took aim at one of China's core economic policies, voting to move forward with a bill designed to press Beijing to let its currency rise in value in the hope of creating U.S. jobs. As Reuters reports, "Senators voted 79-19 to open a week of Senate debate on the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011, which would allow the U.S. government to slap countervailing duties on products from countries found to be subsidizing their exports by undervaluing their currencies. Monday's strong green light for debate on the bill bolsters prospects it will clear the Democrat-run Senate later this week, but prospects for action in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives are murky. If the bill did clear both chambers, it would present President Barack Obama with a tough decision on whether to sign the popular legislation into law and risk a trade war with Beijing, or veto it to pursue a more diplomatic approach." The response has been quick and severe: "China's foreign ministry said it "adamantly opposes" a bill pushed by the U.S. Senate that will allow the United States to impose duties on countries that undervalue their currencies." And just because China is now certain that the US will continue with its provocative posture, most recently demonstrated by the vocal response in the latest US-Taiwan military escalation, we would not be surprised at all to find China Daily report that China has accidentally sold a few billions in US government bonds... just because.

All you need to read.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
- Scientist and writer Arthur C. Clarke

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