Asia Channel: Latest Posts
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Asia
Worrying about the banking system
While Monday’s stock market, led by the banks, continued Friday’s big bounce back, rising 7.8% to add to Friday’s 9.5% surge, leaving us at a 2-week high (largely on buyback talk, I think), worries about the banking sector actually seemed to be deepening. Today, perhaps in response, the stock market was a lot more confused, [...]
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Asia
Some Random Thoughts on the Chinese Yuan
A few days after I posted “Should China depreciate Its currency?” (July 25), I was told that the Chinese yuan has slowed its rate of appreciation. It is a pure fluke – and I claim no sixth sense in predicting exchange rates. It is now more than a month after post, I find it quite [...]
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Asia
The Cure for the U.S. Financial System?
‘I don’t care if Monday’s black Tuesday, Wednesday – heart attack Thursday, never looking back It’s Friday, I’m in love‘ Goes a rock band The Cure’s 1992 hit “Friday I’m in Love.” Lots of love in the stock market on Friday after the Treasury announced a program to deal with the financial crisis comprehensively. Will [...]
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Asia
We’ve only just begun
I’ve had a couple of very enjoyable chats this week with Red Simon, on the ABC Breakfast Show in Melbourne, Australia, and some friends have been trying to get me to throw some old Skyhooks song lines into the conversation–such as “Horror Movie” and the like (for non-Australian and/or non-”Living in the Seventies” readers, Red [...]
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Asia
Sidelined sovereign wealth…
In the midst of the financial meltdown, many people have been wondering where the sovereign wealth funds are or rather what their long-term role might be in providing capital. The financial sector has been a major focus for sovereign investors in part because such investments dovetailed with domestic financial development goals – and investing in [...]
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Asia
Central Banks losing control of the margin?
Late last year on SBS News, when Stan Grant asked me which way the RBA would move rates in 2008, I replied “Up, and then down”, Stan quipped “Spoken like a true economist–an even handed answer!”–to which I replied “More down than up”. I expected the intial rate rises because of the RBA’s focus on [...]
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Asia
Who Will Be Japan’s Next Prime Minister?
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan is in the middle of election for the party leader to replace Yasuo Fukuda. This is important because the LDP leader is going to be the next Prime Minister. Prime Minister is chosen by elections by members in each of two Houses: House of Representatives and House of [...]
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Asia
The Terrible Lessons of Bear Stearns
As Lehman Brothers (LEH) became a single digit midget, on its way to zero, as Washington Mutual (WM) works its way towards a dollar, as Wachovia (WB) drops 80% over the past year, and as Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) — returning as divisions of the United States of America, priced now in [...]
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Asia
China buys, Norway sells
A few months ago, Chinalco — using funds borrowed from China’s Development Bank, which itself had recently received an infusion of foreign exchange from the CIC as part of its recapitalization — bought a large stake in Rio Tinto. At the time, Richard McGregor of the FT argued: “Chinalco’s purchase was funded by the China [...]
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Asia
China is slowing down—what is the right time to boost growth and how should it be done?
China’s economy is slowing down. After years in which growth seemed only to go up, the pace of growth is moderating, affected by the global slowdown and tightening measures introduced since the fall of 2007 to contain inflation. Nonetheless, data for August on investment and exports surprised on the upside and on current projections the [...]
