The oil and business press is abuzz with predictions of an imminent Venezuelan financial collapse, as a prelude to its political implosion, which should oust President Maduro and erase the Hugo Chaves ambitious experiment. Continue reading “Venezuelan Collapse? Wishful Thinking?”
Tag: China
US Steps on Chinese Toes
DAILY BASKET – NEWS COMMENTARY
US Steps on Chinese Toes
MARSAL COMMENTS: The US announcement that it will sell Taiwan $ 1.42 Billion of weapons has China hopping mad. This is not what Trump tacitly agreed with Xi, China’s leader.
Taiwan is a red line for China, and using it to pressure China whether on North Korea, South China Sea or world trade, is rather crass of the US. It seems diplomacy has been put to sleep. Continue reading “US Steps on Chinese Toes”
US Trade War?
DAILY BASKET – NEWS COMMENTARY
US Trade War?
MARSAL COMMENTS: President Trump seems determined to “Make America Great Again”. One obvious step is to reduce the trade deficit with the world. The US imports far more than it exports. The simple and fast way to do that may be to levy import tariffs on products from the main US trading partners; China and Germany. Continue reading “US Trade War?”
Russia And China Setting Up An Alternative To The Dollar?
DAILY BASKET – NEWS COMMENTARY
Russia And China Setting Up An Alternative To The Dollar?
MARSAL COMMENTS: On March 14th, Russia opened a branch of its central bank in Beijing, and earlier, China had opened a clearing bank in Moscow. Their objective is to facilitate trade settlement in Rubble, Yuan and of course, gold. Continue reading “Russia And China Setting Up An Alternative To The Dollar?”
China’s Balancing Act
DAILY BASKET – NEWS COMMENTARY
China’s Balancing Act
MARSAL COMMENTS: Saudi Arabia’s King has signed US$ 65 Bill of joint projects with China during his visit. Saudi is already the biggest or second biggest supplier of oil to China and it has many investments and joint Continue reading “China’s Balancing Act”
CHINA TO ADJUST ITS ECONOMY
DAILY BASKET – NEWS COMMENTARY
CHINA TO ADJUST ITS ECONOMY
MARSAL COMMENTS: China monetary policy will become tighter. Higher interest and less lending is expected, especially for the over-leveraged businesses such as steel, coal, non-ferrous metals and construction materials. The objectives are to gradually deflate the bubbles that have Continue reading “CHINA TO ADJUST ITS ECONOMY”
China flexes it muscles when it is unhappy
DAILY BASKET – NEWS COMMENTARY
China flexes it muscles when it is unhappy
MARSAL COMMENTS: China is unhappy with South Korea’s acceptance to deploy THAAD missiles. Although they are theoretically deployed against the North Korean threat, it is not a secret that their real purpose is to pressure and if necessary target China, and Russia. Continue reading “China flexes it muscles when it is unhappy”
Daily News Basket – March 3, 2017
US Fed indicates likely interest rate rise soon
MARSAL COMMENTS: The Fed (US Central Bank) is making noises that it may raise interest in its meeting scheduled for March 15th. The US market has been expecting this for some time and did not react too badly, but remained flat and choppy (Friday March 3, 2017). While world markets Continue reading “Daily News Basket – March 3, 2017”
Kuwait and NATO
Kuwait and NATO
We had discussed in an earlier article the theoretical options available to weak nations, listing among them: an alliance with one Strong nation, with multiple Strong nations or with a large group of non-aligned nations. We had then discussed the pros and cons of each option. Continue reading “Kuwait and NATO”
‘TIS THE SEASON, FOR CHINA BASHING
DAILY BASKET OF COMMENTARIES
‘TIS THE SEASON, FOR CHINA BASHING
While the Russian hunting season continues separately, China bashing has increased pari passu with the rise in military tensions in the South China Sea.
So far, the bashing has concentrated on media assassination by a continuous stream of news highlighting the negative or weak side of China – regardless whether it is true or not. This stream of false or biased news is passed from one news media to the other, as in a relay race, so as to ensure it is nonstop.
ECONOMIC DOLDRUMS?
One mass media organization recently wailed the deepening of China’s economic slowdown describing it as being in the “doldrums”. All this, because industrial output and retail sales were below expectations for July 2016. It attributed the poor showing to the difficulties China is facing in transforming its economy away from pure production. It then went on to name a number of other woeful results including Chinese cinema ticket sales. Continue reading “‘TIS THE SEASON, FOR CHINA BASHING”