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Re: Yes Virginia...It's a Bubble...
given the coming demographic problems, perhaps the empty cities are full of nursing homes.
given the coming demographic problems, perhaps the empty cities are full of nursing homes.
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Re: Yes Virginia...It's a Bubble...
That elastic band tied to the brick on the tabletop got stretched a bit more this morning...Originally posted by jk View Post
CHINA: INTEREST RATES RISE BY 25 BASE POINTS
14:51 05 APR 2011
(AGI) Beijing - China's central bank raised interest rates by 25 base points on one-year deposits and loans, to 3,25 and 6,31%. It represents the fourth increase this year and will be effective from tomorrow. It was decided in order to bring inflation back under control, after it rose by 4.9% in February, which was well above the government target of 4%. . .
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Re: Yes Virginia...It's a Bubble...
I've been tempted:Originally posted by GRG55 View Post
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...812076888.html
Do You Need a Chinese Bank Account?
- By BRETT ARENDS
We're perfectly happy eating in a Chinese restaurant. But will we start banking in a Chinese bank?
It's not as crazy as it sounds. As The Wall Street Journal's Lingling Wei reported Wednesday, the Bank of China here in the U.S. has started allowing American customers to open an account and to invest up to $4,000 per day—and a total of $20,000 a year—in Chinese yuan, or renminbi. Until now, you had few options to hold money in yuan, which is a "closed" currency managed, and protected, by Beijing.
Brett Arends explains why he thinks opening a Chinese Bank Account isn't as crazy as it sounds for American investors.
The bank has three U.S. branches—two in New York, and one in Los Angeles. You'll have to fill out paperwork to open an account and provide two forms of ID. And there's a minimum deposit of $500.
Is this a good idea? You may wonder why anyone would do this. Investing in Chinese currency may sound like something best left to speculators.
But in reality this may be no more exotic than, say, Peking duck. Holding some of your money in Chinese currency—as part of a diversified portfolio, as they say—might be a very sensible move for all of us.
AFP/Getty Images China solidified its financial might in 2010, becoming the world's second-largest economy.
Why? Five reasons.Comment
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Re: Yes Virginia...It's a Bubble...
I have been using the Singapore Dollar, which is quite easy to buy and sell, as a proxy for the yuan...Originally posted by Jay View PostComment
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Re: Yes Virginia...It's a Bubble...
wouldnt one be better served by putting ones money into CEF ?Originally posted by Jay View Post
or is this one now nearing bubble land too?
Today 5d 1m 3m 1y 5y 10y
52wk high: 23.46 52wk low: 14.03 EPS: N/A PE: N/A Dividend: 0.01 Yield: 0.044783 Market Cap: 5.34 b Volume: 626.35 k Comment
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Re: Yes Virginia...It's a Bubble...
Just be careful to watch the premium over NAV if one decides to buy or sell CEF [and sister closed-end fund GTU].Comment
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Re: Yes Virginia...It's a Bubble...
cef's premium is very low right now [around 4% and change last i looked], and gtu's even lower. [cef is issuing more shares to buy more bullion. that lowers the premium.]Originally posted by GRG55 View PostComment
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Re: Yes Virginia...It's a Bubble...
Reasonable diversification is a good hedge for the unforeseen. The right foreign currencies are a very smart play in my mind. G, how do you play the the Singapore Dollar?Originally posted by lektrode View PostComment
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Re: Yes Virginia...It's a Bubble...
Just remember: China is the roach motel of money: it goes in, but it doesn't come out.Originally posted by Jay
I don't follow these at all, but normally I'd expect premiums to decrease with rapid underlying price increases but then increase as money flows increase/price increases level off/reverse.Originally posted by jk
The net effect is to then force you to either buy high or pay a high premium.
Is this a wrong understanding?Comment
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Re: Yes Virginia...It's a Bubble...
The main reason I haven't pulled the trigger...Originally posted by c1ue View PostComment
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Re: Yes Virginia...It's a Bubble...
Does not CEF price change on supply and demand? Being 50/50 gold/silver esp at a premium under 4% earlier this AM seems to make CEF more compelling-especially with long awaited breakout of gold this AM.
On a tech chart basis, CEF fell back to its daily trend line at low 22. Upper targets are 25 and 28 in next six months. I like that upper target better than slv at 45.Comment
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Re: Yes Virginia...It's a Bubble...
the premium tends to expand as metal prices rise, and contracts on sell-offs. the current situation with cef is rare- they're issuing new stock in order to buy more bullion. the increase in supply lowers the premium.Originally posted by c1ue View Post
btw, the premium is also a reflection of the different tax status- cef is NOT an etf, it's a closed end mutual fund for tax purposes, and thus eligible for capital gains treatment. [but there's a special form, passive foreign investment form, to file in the first year you hold it, iirc, in order to do this.]Comment
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Re: Yes Virginia...It's a Bubble...
Chairman of Wisdom Tree tells it like it is on CNBC- gotta love this guy
http://www.cnbc.com/id/42432108Comment
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Re: Yes Virginia...It's a Bubble...
To some degree. As jk mentioned, CEF is issuing new units, and this has depressed the premium.Originally posted by jpetr48 View Post
More compelling than what? Gold alone?Originally posted by jpetr48 View Post
Silver has always struck me as driven more by the euphoria of abundant liquidity and expected consequent economic expansion, versus gold which is ultimately a vote of "no confidence"...Last edited by GRG55; April 05, 2011, 08:48 PM.Comment
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Re: Yes Virginia...It's a Bubble...
Another dot to connect. This is something the Japanese used to do all the time back in the 1980s. Initially it was in the belief that they had the negotiating advantage and could force desperate suppliers to keep cutting price and terms, but later it was because their own bubble economy had blown up...by then most North American suppliers had already weaned themselves off their overdependence on Japanese customers.
My guess is that a somewhat similar cycle has been repeating, but at a faster pace compared to three decades ago.
A contract is a contract. Maybe...
AMSC warns of Q4 loss as top customer refuses shipments
Tue Apr 5, 2011 6:34pm EDT
April 5 (Reuters) - American Superconductor Corp , which makes electrical systems for wind farms, said it will post a loss in the fourth quarter, as a slowdown in China's wind power market forced its top customer to refuse shipments.
Shares of AMSC tumbled about 50 percent in after-market trade, after China's Sinovel Wind , the world's third-largest wind turbine maker, refused to accept contracted shipments of some wind turbine components.
AMSC also said it is reviewing its books after Sinovel failed to pay for certain contracted shipments worth about $56 million, which it has already accounted for...
...China's wind turbine sector, a stable source of growth for AMSC, experienced explosive growth in the past few years aided by hefty government subsidies. However, it is expected to be flat in 2011.
"They (AMSC) are still going to have to remain very focused on China, but obviously they are going to continue to diversify to more components with this market slowing down so significantly," Gleacher & Co analyst John Hardy told Reuters.
AMSC has been trying to diversify its customer base away from Sinovel, which accounts for about 75 percent of its revenue, through new wind turbine orders and emerging power grid opportunities...
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