Infinite Unknown

- China Is Proud To Announce It Is Reflating The Bubble – Will “Actively Push” Investors Into Stocks (ZeroHedge, Jan 10, 2012):

We did a double take when we read the following lead sentence from a just released Bloomberg report on what is about to take place in China: “China’s stocks regulator will “actively” push pension and housing funds to begin investing in capital markets, and encourage long-term investors such as insurers and corporate pension plans to buy more shares.” To paraphrase Lewis Black – we will repeat this, because it bears repeating – “China’s stocks regulator will “actively” push pension and housing funds to begin investing in capital markets, and encourage long-term investors such as insurers and corporate pension plans to buy more shares.” And that is the last ditch effort one does when one has no choice but to push “long-term investors” into the last giant ponzi. Of course, this being China, “long-term investors” means anyone at all, and “pushing” ultimately involves either 9MM or a 0.44 caliber. And what was said earlier about mocking mainstream media spin – well, the first opportunity presents itself a few short hours later – when Bloomberg, the same agency that wrote the above report, tells us that “Asian Shares Rise Amid Global Economic Optimism.” Odd – no mention of the fact that China is now pushing habitual gamblers, which over there is another name for “investors” into what is openly an invitation (at gunpoint nonetheless) into the latest and greatest bubble. That said, we give this latest artificial attempt to boost stocks a half life of several days max before the SHCOMP plunges to new lows for the year.

More on this hilarious attempt at reponzification:

The China Securities Regulatory Commission will also allow the creation of sovereign debt futures and explore other new products such as high-yield corporate bonds and municipal debt, the regulator said in a statement on its website yesterday, citing Chairman Guo Shuqing’s comments during a national work conference in Beijing.

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Tags: Banking, Bonds, Bubble, China, Debt, Economy, Global News, Government, Politics, Ponzi schemes, Stock Market

YouTube Added: 20.11.2011

Tags: Bubble, David Stockman, Economy, Gerald Celente, Global News, Government, Herman Cain, Mitt Romney, Peter Schiff, Politics, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, Society, U.S.

“To be sure, when the implications of the $850+ billion student loan bubble blowing up spread through the financial markets, it will make subprime seem like a tame walk in the park.”

- The Fraud At The Heart Of Student Lending Exposed – The One Sentence Everyone Should Read (ZeroHedge, Oct. 18, 2011):

A key reason why a preponderance of the population is fascinated with the student loan market is that as USA Today reported in a landmark piece last year, it is now bigger than ever the credit card market. And as the monthly consumer debt update from the Fed reminds us, the primary source of funding is none other than the US government. To many, this market has become the biggest credit bubble in America. Why do we make a big deal out of this? Because as Bloomberg reported last night, we now have prima facie evidence that the student loan market is not only an epic bubble, but it is also the next subprime! To wit: “Vince Sampson, president, Education Finance Council, said during a panel at the IMN ABS East Conference in Miami Monday that lenders are no longer pushing loans to people who can’t afford them.“ Re-read the last sentence as many times as necessary for it to sink in. Yes: just like before lenders were “pushing loans to people who can’t afford them” which became the reason for the subprime bubble which has since spread to prime, but was missing the actual confirmation from authorities of just this action, this time around we have actual confirmation that student loans are being actually peddled to people who can not afford them. And with the government a primary source of lending, we will be lucky if tears is all this ends in.

More bullets from Bloomberg: Continue reading »

Tags: Bubble, Economy, Global News, Society, studen, U.S.

Following leaked (and confirmed) news that in March Chinese inflation came at 5.4%, the PBoC has once again decided to intervene, enacting its fourth Reserve Requirement Ratio hike of 2011. From Bloomberg: “Reserve ratios will increase a half point from April 21, the People’s Bank of China said on its website today. The move, taking the requirement to 20.5 percent for the nation’s biggest lenders, came less than two weeks after the central bank boosted benchmark interest rates. “Tightening will continue until there are signs that inflation has been effectively brought under control,” Shen Jianguang, a Hong Kong-based economist at Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd., said before today’s announcement. A surge in foreign-exchange reserves to $3 trillion last month and rebounding lending and money-supply growth have highlighted overheating risks in the fastest-growing major economy. Gross domestic product rose 9.7 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier and inflation accelerated to 5.4 percent, the most since July 2008, the statistics bureau said April 15.  Inflation has exceeded the government’s 2011 target of 4 percent each month so far this year. The increase in reserve requirements was the fourth this year.” Naturally, this also means that the plunge in real estate ASPs, confirmed everywhere, but most pronounced in the capital, is set to continue. This, according to JPM’s Jing Ulrich, means that with real estate no longer an attractive asset bubble, the “mass affluent” Chinese will be forced to invest in gold and alternative property investments. From Dow Jones: This group “has seen its investment options sharply affected by restrictive housing measures” such as property taxes, increases in down-payment requirements, and raised interest rates, “since these households possess sufficient capital to purchase investment property, but do not have the same degree of access to investment vehicles such as private equity funds and retail property” as the super-rich, she says, adding that equities, gold and alternative property investments are therefore the key beneficiaries.”

Below is Goldman’s take on the RRR hike:

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced today that the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) will be raised by 50 bp, to be effective April 21. After this hike, the official RRR for large banks will be 20.5% and 18.5% for small and medium banks. However, given the usage of the Dynamic Differentiated RRR, the actual RRR varies for different banks.

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Tags: Banking, Bubble, China, Economy, Gold, jpm, Politics, Real Estate

World’s biggest gold coin

From Sprott Asset Management, by Eric Sprott and Andrew Morris

Debunking the Gold Bubble Myth (PDF)

Gold’s continuous ten-year rise hasn’t sheltered it from controversy. Despite producing consistent returns in virtually all currencies year after year, some market pundits still question its validity as an asset class. It’s true that gold doesn’t pay any interest, and it’s also true that much of the gold produced throughout history still exists in some form today. But these characteristics shouldn’t inhibit it from performing as a monetary asset. Cash, after all, doesn’t pay real interest either, and there is more fiat money in existence today than ever before. So why does gold still receive such harsh criticism?

We believe much of it stems from a widely held misconception that gold is forming a financial bubble. It’s a fairly straightforward view – that gold buyers are merely foolhardy speculators buying on a whim with no rationale other than to sell to the ‘greater fool’ at higher prices in the future. It’s a view that assumes that gold has no intrinsic value and is simply a speculative asset that has captured investors’ imaginations.

We don’t take these views on gold lightly. We’ve seen bubbles before and fully know how they end. We have no interest whatsoever in participating in some sort of speculative frenzy – that’s a recipe for disaster in the investment business. Thankfully, however, our gold investments present no such risk. As our analysis has revealed, gold is actually a surprisingly under-owned asset class – and one that has generated far more attention in the media than it probably deserves. While its exemplary performance since 2000 is certainly worthy of discussion, gold simply hasn’t commanded enough investment to warrant the bubble fears it seems to have aroused among market pundits and business commentators. The truth about gold is that most people simply don’t own it…yet.

To be clear, a speculative bubble forms when prices for an asset class rise above a level justified by its fundamentals. For this to happen, increasing amounts of capital must flow into the asset class, bidding it up to irrational levels. Gold may be trading at all-time nominal highs, but a look at investment flows proves that it isn’t anywhere close to being overbought.

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Tags: Bubble, Economy, Global News, Gold

“The Biggest Scam in The History of Monetary Civilization”

Part 1:

Added: 2. December 2010

Part 2:

Added: 24. December 2010

Part 3:

Added: 9. January 2011

Part 4:

Added: 11. February 2011

More on gold and silver:

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Tags: Backwardation, Banking, Ben Bernanke, BIS, Bubble, COMEX, Dollar, Economy, Fed, Federal Reserve, Global News, Gold, Government, JPMorgan, Politics, Silver, U.S.

Just in case you still haven’t watched this:

- George Carlin: The American Dream

1 of 3:

2 of 3:

3 of 3:

An ABC – Four Corners documentary about the coming economic crisis, featuring Gerald Celente and Peter Schiff. Original air date: 23rd August, 2010.

See also:

- Prof. Nouriel Roubini: No Defence Left Against Double-Dip Recession

- American Deaths In Afghanistan Surpass Highest Annual Record

- US: Record 1 in 6 Americans in Government Anti-Poverty Programs

- California Delays $2.9 Billion School, County Payments In September Amid Budget Impasse

- US Home Sales in July: Record Drop Of 27 Percent, The Largest Monthly Drop On Record

- US Cities Sell Parking, Airports, Zoo To Help Closing Budget Gaps

- Nearly 50 Percent leave Obama Mortgage-Relief Program

- The No.1 Trend Forecaster Gerald Celente: And Now We’re Headed For The GREATEST Depression

- US: Jobless Claims Jump to Highest Level Since November

- US: Bankruptcies Reach Nearly 5-Year High

- US Cities Face Up To MASSIVE Cuts

- Why the US is as busted as a busted flush – IMF analysis suggests the US is fiscally bankrupt

- John Williams: ‘Times That Try Our Souls’ (U.S. Bankruptcy – Hyperinflation – Great Depression), Preparedness Can Save Your Life:

The government is effectively bankrupt. Using GAAP accounting principles, the annual deficit is running in the range of $4 trillion to $5 trillion. That’s beyond containment. The government can’t cover it with taxes. They’d still be in deficit if they took 100% of personal income and corporate profits. They’d also still be in deficit if they cut every penny of government spending except for Social Security and Medicare. Washington lacks the will to slash its social programs severely, to change its approach to ever bigger government. The only option left going forward is for the government eventually to print the money for the obligations it cannot otherwise cover, which sets up a hyperinflation.

Tags: Barack Obama, Bubble, Bush administration, Debt, Depression, Documentary, Dollar, Economy, Fed, Federal Reserve, George Bush, Gerald Celente, Global News, Government, Great Depression, Obama administration, Peter Schiff, Politics, U.S.

‘A Bubble in China’ (Would be a nice title for a book.):

- Marc Faber: China May ‘Crash’ in Next 9 to 12 Months (Bloomberg):

May 3 (Bloomberg) — Investor Marc Faber said China’s economy will slow and possibly “crash” within a year as declines in stock and commodity prices signal the nation’s property bubble is set to burst.

People walk in front of advertisements outside a department store in the Xidan district of Beijing in April. (Bloomberg)

May 11 (Bloomberg) — China’s inflation accelerated, bank lending exceeded estimates and property prices jumped by a record, increasing pressure on the government to raise interest rates and let the currency appreciate.

Consumer prices rose 2.8 percent in April from a year earlier, the fastest pace in 18 months, and property prices jumped 12.8 percent, the statistics bureau said in statements today. New lending of 774 billion yuan ($113 billion), announced by the central bank, was more than any of 24 economists forecast.

Asian stocks fell, with the local benchmark index entering into a bear market, and oil and copper slumped on concern the government will move to cool the fastest-growing major economy. China should focus on preventing excessive increases in asset prices and liquidity after Europe’s almost $1 trillion loan package reduced the risk of another global slump, central bank adviser Li Daokui said yesterday. Continue reading »

Tags: Bubble, China, Economy, Government, Inflation, Politics, Real Estate, Yuan

“I Have 80% Of My Assets In GOLD.”

Added: 7. Mai 2010

If Nostradamus were alive today, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente.
– New York Post

When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.
– CNN Headline News

There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about.
- CNBC

Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute.
– The Wall Street Journal

A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties.
– The Economist

More from Gerald Celente:

- Gerald Celente: Obama’s Financial Reform Is Just A Show

- The No.1 Trend Forecaster Gerald Celente on ObamaCare, Dollar Devaluation And Gold

- Gerald Celente: This time they will close the Banks & Wall Street (03/27/10)

- Gerald Celente: ‘It’s the greatest bank robbery in world history and the banks are doing the robbing.’

- Gerald Celente: ‘The Crash is Coming in 2010.’

- The No.1 Trend Forecaster Gerald Celente: Financial Mafia Controlling US and Wall Street

- Survivor, America: ‘It’s Only Going to Get Worse,’ Gerald Celente Says

- The No.1 Trend Forecaster Gerald Celente: The Terror And The Crash of 2010

Tags: Bailout, Banking, Bubble, Central Bank, China, Crash, Debt, Dollar, Dow Jones, Economy, EU, Europe, Fed, federal r, Gerald Celente, Global News, Gold, Greece, India, Japan, Keynesianism, Meltdown, Politics, Quantitative Easing, Stock Market, U.K., U.S., Wall Street

May 3 (Bloomberg) — Investor Marc Faber said China’s economy will slow and possibly “crash” within a year as declines in stock and commodity prices signal the nation’s property bubble is set to burst.

The Shanghai Composite Index has failed to regain its 2009 high while industrial commodities and shares of Australian resource exporters are acting “heavy,” Faber said. The opening of the World Expo in Shanghai last week is “not a particularly good omen,” he said, citing a property bust and depression that followed the 1873 World Exhibition in Vienna.

“The market is telling you that something is not quite right,” Faber, the publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report, said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Hong Kong today. “The Chinese economy is going to slow down regardless. It is more likely that we will even have a crash sometime in the next nine to 12 months.”

Continue reading »

Tags: Bubble, China, Commodities, Economy, Global News, Marc Faber, Stock Market