Nov 23

Ireland: What a Mess!

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But it might just create a chance to Buy Gold and other hard assets on the cheap…

WELL THIS should be interesting, writes Dan Denning in his Daily Reckoning Australia.

The EU/IMF bailout of Ireland is not going off without a hitch. The UK’s Telegraph reports that the Green party, which currently forms the junior half of Ireland’s coalition, might withdraw that support and call for new elections in January. This would call into doubt the ability of the current government not only to execute a deal with the EU and the IMF but also to pursue its four-year austerity program.

What a mess! We’ll get to how Ireland and Australia are similar in a moment. But first, please recall the words of the great philosopher of the New York Yankees, Yogi Berra. He once said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

Today’s fork in the financial road leads down two different paths. One path is continued US Dollar devaluation and a strategic migration to emerging market assets (under the assumption that the BRIICS nations will eventually have to allow for currency appreciation…or face rampant food and fuel inflation). This trade favors Buying Gold, commodities, and tangible assets in general.

But remember what happened in 2008? The Global Financial Crisis actually led to a massive rally in the US Dollar. Emerging markets got hammered. The "risk" trades financed with cheap greenbacks were reversed and commodities took a shellacking as well.

Could that happen again? The boys at Knight Research think it’s going to happen again, but even bigger and badder this time around. In a recent research note, they wrote:

"We believe the structural and cyclical terms of global trade have finally reached their tipping point. This will catalyse a wholesale change in sentiment and a historic repositioning of risk assets. The emerging market global growth story is over."

This is the fork Murray has been preparing for in the Slipstream Trader for our subscribers  It would mean falling indexes in Australia, which would of course mean falling components of those indexes. Knight Research elaborates on this fork:

"The game is over. Presently, we believe that the broad-based resurgence of investor confidence in the emerging market and secular bull market in commodities will end badly; proving that the rally which commenced in Q2 2009, was in fact an ‘echo bubble’ facilitated by massive-and unsustainable-stimuli from the Chinese government.

"We believe that the end of the Great Consumer Credit Cycle and the vast structural differences in the terms of trade between the United States, the EU, and China, have finally caught up with the secular bull thesis on emerging market and commodities.

"Quite ironically, the Fed’s aggressive policies will likely prove to be the catalyst which breaks China’s unbridled expansion of credit and non-economic growth, ushering in a wholesale rebalancing of risk assets."

This is not a lukewarm prediction. It would quite obviously be mega bearish for the Aussie Dollar and for commodities. And thus far, there’s not much evidence to support that giant reversal is afoot that is more bearish for emerging markets than it is for the US Dollar. It’s a fork in the road, though. So we have to take it and see where it leads.

There ARE a few factors supporting the "Game Over" theme. One is that Ireland’s woes are not the last o the Eurozone’s problems. There is Greece. There is Spain. And really, Ireland is not even done and dusted yet. To some extent, Euro weakness is dollar bullish and contributes to the "Game Over" theme.

But the bigger factor is Chinese tightening, or just your basic traditional popping massive credit bubble. There are early signs of that. Last week China raised reserve requirements on banks again. And Citigroup agrees with our assessment that rising food prices in China could be bearish for metals.

China’s State Council is talking a big game on controlling inflation. Does it mean China is quickly shifting away from a bias toward export growth toward an inflation fighting bias? That’s the big question. If it does mean that, you can expect lower commodity prices.

For example, three-month copper on the London Metals Exchange fell overnight. The news preceding the drop was that refined copper imports to China fell by a third last month. Comex December copper traded lower too, near $3.75/lb.

We’re going to have Dr. Alex what he thinks about this. But we can guess. He probably loves it. He just got back from another site visit in Africa to a copper project. If you’re a Diggers and Drillers reader don’t worry. You’ve already read about this company. It’s not a new recommendation.

Alex has done his homework on the companies he’s recommended. Weakness in the copper price invariably follows through to the shares. If you’re a secular metals bull, you believe this lowers your average purchase price on the shares most likely to benefit from rising prices.

If you’re a bear on copper, well…you’re a bear. Go dance. Alex, of course, has taken the other fork in the road. This fork is for those who’ve realized the end of the Dollar Standard in the global money system is likely to be bullish for real assets, despite your reflexive US Dollar rallies. Europe’s chronic and structural problems add an element of Dollar support. But the long term story on this fork is to favor "real assets" over paper money.

Which brings us back to Ireland and Australia. Irelands bank’s went all in on the Irish property market. When the bubble burst, the banks were left holding the bag (a huge mortgage book). The bag was so heavy, in fact, it broke their back. So the government had to pick them up. And the bag was too big for the government to pick up too, especially given rising borrowing costs for countries at Europe’s periphery.

Could that ever happen in Australia? Could banks with massive over-exposure to domestic property be caught out by losses and unable to borrow from overseas except at much higher rates? And could the government be forced to step in and cover the bank at the cost of its own good credit?

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Nov 19

Banking Fungus, Inflation Virus

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Contagion risk is everywhere rightnow…

THERE’S A fungus among us. But is itthe banks? Or is it a caterpillar fungus that boosts sex drive and issoaring in price as China imports Ben Bernanke’s inflation virus? asks Dan Denning in his Daily Reckoning Australia.

You didn’t have to know there wasmore trouble coming from Ireland. Just have a pint at any of the pubshere in St. Kilda and you’ll hear a veritable symphony of Irishaccents. Most of the girls are behind the bar serving drinks. Most ofthe boys are at the bar drinking drinks. All of them seem to behaving a pretty good time, even if they are a long way from home.

Meanwhile, back in Ireland, a Europeandrama is playing out. It’s putting pressure on the Euro and justlike back in may, that word “contagion” is being thrown aroundagain. The U.S. dollar is moving ahead while commodities cool off.

But what about the Irish? Thegovernment has a deficit equal to 32% of GDP which it’s rapidlytrying to bring down through spending cuts. And if interest rates onsovereign Irish debt weren’t rising (they are) the governmentdoesn’t appear to be in any kind of immediate funding crisis.

Down the track though, investors arelooking at the Irish banks and realising the Irish banks are stillstuffed with heaps of toxic assets. Irish banks have been borrowingfrom the European Central Bank in order to refinance theirobligations to other lenders. But ultimately, Ireland’s governmentis on the hook for bailing out the banks (again). And if Ireland’sgovernment doesn’t have the money to do it (it doesn’t) then thetask falls to the ECB.

Of course it’s possible the Irishgovernment finally stops the madness and says to its banks, getstuffed. Based on the number of punch ups we’ve seen at pubs in thelast year, we know the Irish aren’t afraid of a fight or a littlerebellion now and then. But the rest of Europe—especially Greece,Spain and Portugal—are keen for Ireland to agree to an ECB plan andhalt an investor run on the euro and on European sovereign debt.

Does any of this really matter toAustralia? Well, aside from expecting even more Irish to invade St.Kilda if the Irish banks fold, the weaker euro is leading to arelatively stronger dollar. That’s causing carry traders whoborrowed in cheap USD to take profits on their “risk” trades inhigher yielding assets like the Aussie dollar, which you can now buyfor ninety six US cents.

Ireland “matters” in the largersense that it’s also a test of popular tolerance for socialisingthe losses of the banks. No one knows what the consequence ofallowing major Irish (or any other) banks to fail. But we are told,mostly by the bankers, that it would be such a disaster for theeconomy that the government simply must assume those bad debts andthe central bank must print more money to recapitalise the banks.

The problem is really the same now asit was two years ago—way too much bad debt that cannot be cancelledout by issuing more debt. The “solution” offered by theauthorities doesn’t really seem like a solution. It just seems likea get out of jail free card for the bankers and endless more debt asfar as the eye can see.

There’s no doubt there’d be somereal havoc in financial markets and the economy with a real reckoningin the banking sector. But the situation we have right now is prettylousy too. Could allowing the banks to fail be much worse? At somepoint the debt is going to have to be liquidated or restructured.

Closer to home here in Australia is thenews that China is trying to choke down inflation by reducing loansto property developers. Bloomberg reports that China’s four biggestbanks–Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., ChinaConstruction Bank Corp, Bank of China Ltd. and Agricultural Bank ofChina Ltd.—have all met their lending targets this year and won’tbe making any more loans. China’s M2 measure of money supply rose19.3% over the last year, according to figures released last month.

That kind of lending boom leadsto 15-story hotels allegedly being built in six days. Italso leads to politically destabilising inflation in the goods peoplebuy every day. For instance prices in Shenzhen are now growing muchfaster than prices in Hong Kong, which is a reversal of thetraditional relationship. “Shoppers report that certain food andgrocery items can be to 40% cheaper in Hong Kong,” reports ColleenRyan in yesterday’s Australian Financial Review.

“It is not just fresh fruit andvegetables. Even items like Dove soap, which is manufactured in Anhuiprovince in China, is 25% cheaper in Hong Kong…The increase hasbeen more than 300% for a small group of herbs. Caterpillar fungus,said to slow down the ageing process and boost sex drive, has beenone of the top performers.”

The other obvious inflation China is inthe share market. It’s turned down in the last two days, droppingover 4% Tuesday, with metals producers and property developers hitthe hardest. Note also that the Aussie market (the All Ords in thegold line) has pretty much tracked the Shanghai Stock Exchange. TheAussie Dollar looks pretty elevated compared to both.

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Nov 15

This Week on "States in Crisis"

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Ireland, Gold Futures, commodity speculation, and the rest of this week’s news – in advance…!

THIS WEEK’s episode of “The WelfareState in Crisis” features a guest appearance by the Emerald Isle,currently seeking about $110 billion in bailout money from theEuropean Union, writes Dan Denning in his Daily Reckoning Australia.

Actually, Ireland is not seeking that money, and that appears to be a part of the problem. The Irishgovernment is content that it’s managing its problems well,independent of European meddling.

But with 10-year Irish bond yieldsblowing out to a spread of 646 basis points over 10-year German debtlast week, European officials are worried that problems in Irelandare problems for the Euro. And if problems for the Euro get worse,that means problems for Portugal and Spain too.

No wonder the US Dollar quit fallinglast week. And no wonder commodities fell like a stone. Friday was anugly day for commodities speculators. The CRB Index in New York fell3.6%. Every single one of its 19 components was down. Sugar contractsfell 12% in London and corn and soybeans traded limit down.

Part of the shocking action incommodities futures markets is the raising of margin requirements byexchanges. It happened in silver last week. And it happened for sugartoo, when the ICE futures boosted margins on sugar contracts by 81%to shake out speculators. It will probably happen on Gold Futurestoo, and that might explain the $40 thud last Friday, among otherthings.

No one is forced to speculate, ofcourse. But this is what the Bernanke Fed has wrought. ItsQuantitative Easing action has put dollar owners in the position ofdoing nothing and losing money to inflation, or speculating intangible assets that go up in price relative to the dollar. And it’s not just commodities. It’s currencies too.

The G-20 summit in Seoul failed toproduce any result on competitive currency devaluations. No onereally expected it to. But what’s next? Since there is no quick andeasy solution to replacing a broken world currency system, the slow,difficult, and ugly scenario must take place. It will probably beslow, difficult, and ugly.

One thing you should expect more of isan escalating level of capital controls. Ironically, the firstmanifestation of this has been in export-oriented economies likeBrazil, where the government tripled a tax on foreign investment inlocal bonds from 2% to 6%. It was designed to prevent furtherappreciation in Brazil’s currency, which yields over 10% and is up35% in trade-weighted terms since last year.

China, South Korea and other countriesare taking similar measures. For big exporters, a stronger currencytranslates into a loss of competitiveness. And when capital marketsare wide open and you find yourself on the receiving end of hugeinflows, it can lead to rapid asset price appreciation and otherforms of less desirable inflation.

By the way, this shows you how everyoneis complicit in trying to return to the status quo ante GFC. Theexport-driven BRIICs want to pretend that the credit-financed Welfarestates don’t have real structural deficit and demographic issuesthat prevent a return to “normal” rates of consumption. They wantthe world be the way it was.

Here in Australia, other than houseprices being utterly unaffordable, it looks like things have neverbeen better. The rising Aussie dollar (up 17% since the end of Junealone) helps “contain” some of the inflation from booming coaland iron ore exports. That’s why the Reserve Bank of Australia isone of the only central banks in the world that does not appear to beactively trying to weaken its currency.

Maybe the RBA agrees with Bloombergthat on a purchasing power parity basis, the Aussie is trading at a30% premium to fair value. That makes it the most over-valuedcurrency in the world at the moment. If it’s a short-term trade(instead of long-term or secular trend in which the Aussie surpassesthe USD), the currency will weaken and not do any permanent damage toAustralia’s own export competitiveness by making Aussie exportsmore expensive than alternatives from Africa.

For now, the Aussie is the placeeveryone wants to be as well; a high-yield commodity currency from acountry with comparatively low public sector debt (although highhousehold debt), low unemployment, and economic growth correlated toAsia. What could possible go wrong when things can’t’ get anybetter?

Speaking of Asia, the other non-Irishnews that rocked commodity markets last week was that China againraised reserve requirements at key banks and may raise interest ratesto ward off inflation being poured into China from the U.S. Stocksand commodities fell hard.

What do you make of all this mess?

To us, it means that anxiety about theAussie being too strong for too long may be short-lived. China couldbe doing a dress-rehearsal for a much more dramatic fall in assetprices as the authorities try to prevent inflation from surging. Thishas obvious and bearish implications for commodity prices.

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Sep 21

Kate Winslet hits red carpet in gold earrings

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Kate Winslet accessorised her little black dress with a pair of gold earrings at a recent red carpet appearance.
Pictures in the Daily Mail show the Academy Award-winning actress making an appearance at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain in a short, slim-fitting asymmetric frock and a pair of peep-toe, nude heels.
The news feeds on this site are independently provided by Adfero Limited © and do not represent the views or opinions of the World Gold Council.

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Aug 22

Europe Trembles

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Europe seems bound for austerity.

Success will not distract Germany from its austerity program…

IT’S NOW BEEN 65 years since Europe’s last major war, writes Bill Bonner in his Daily Reckoning from Ouzilly, France.

Still, when Germany gets up off its knees, the continent trembles. And last week, the Berlin government announced the best results since the wall fell in ’89. From the first quarter to the second one the republic’s GDP rose 2.2%.

At that rate – about 9% a year if it continues – Germany is running neck and neck with China. Compared to France and the US, Germany is flying nearly 4 times as fast. Greece meanwhile is backing up. Its economy shrank 1.5% last quarter.

Histocially, the Teuton tribes were an aggressive lot. The Usipetes, Tenchteri, Batavi, Cherusci, Chatti, Vandals, Goths, Franks, Alans, Suebians – all jostled each other for centuries. They must have gotten a taste for competition. And when Rome wheezed her last gasps they fell on her like French tax collectors on a widow’s estate. The Vandals pushed all the way across Gaul and Iberia, crossed to North Africa, and from their new base in Carthage, continued to tickle the old Empire until it rolled over on them.

Everybody has his elbows out. But competition takes many forms. Better to build Audis and Mercedes than Tigers and Messerschmitts. Better to race for market share than for the Champs Élysée. Whatever form it takes, competition isn’t likely to stop. Happily, most of the time, it is a boon to everyone – even to the losers. That’s why Germany’s current success is only a threat to the economists and commentarists who’ve been giving her advice. The rest of us hold our breath and hope for more.

It was only a month ago that Martin Wolf led a “great debate” on how governments should react to the financial crisis. Of all the ideas to come out of financial crisis of ’07, Wolf proposed one of the most remarkable. He illustrated it with the fable of the ant and the grasshopper. He saw two types of economies. There were those that produced and those that consumed. The trouble, according to Wolf, was that the two didn’t compete at all. Instead, they lived in a kind of symbiotic parasitism. The grasshoppers lived off the labors of the ants. Not only did the grasshoppers make the things that the ants used, the ants took the grasshoppers’ money and lent it back to them, so they could buy more. The grasshoppers were ruining themselves. But the ants were making a mistake too. They were building up capital, but what could they do with it? There was no point in expanding output capacity; arguably, they already produced too much. And what could they buy? The grasshoppers had nothing to sell.

That was not the worst of it. When the grasshoppers had spent too much, said Wolf, both bugs were trapped. If the grasshoppers in Spain and Greece were forced to spend less, the ants in Düsseldorf were condemned to sell less. Their economies were doomed to go down together, like galley slaves chained to a sinking ship.

In any case, it looked like the sort of thing the fixers could fix. Germany is all make. Greece is all take. The system was out of whack. Trade flows must balance out to zero, so Wolf et al concluded that the problem could be corrected on either side. Germany could stop working so hard and exporting so much stuff it didn’t want. Or, Greece could stop spending so much money it didn’t have. Since any slowdown in spending threatens the “recovery,” it would be better for Germans to do more spending themselves. They should raise wages and encourage their own people to buy more Audis…more ouzo…and more pointy shoes with curled up toes. This was no time for austerity.

They misunderstood the problem. Imagine two men marooned on an island. They barely survive. One works hard, hunting, gathering, and planting. The other dances on the beach like Zorba, depending on the kindness of his companion for his daily rations. The problem is not the lack of balance. The problem is the slacker. You could redress the balance between them by getting the productive one to slack off too. But then, they’d both starve.

The Euro was seen as part of the problem, too. It was either too low for Germany or too high for Greece, said analysts. In the good old days, Greece could have pulled a fast one, devaluing its currency to make its citizens poorer, and their labor and exports cheaper. But now, there is no cheap and easy solution.

Which set us to a-wondering about how the world possibly got to where it is. For the hundred years from the end of the Napoleonic Wars to the beginning of WWII, Europe was rarely happier, more prosperous…or more at peace. Yet during that time, money was even more inflexible than the Euro. Governments did not commit premeditated murder of their own currencies. Instead, the value of paper money was protected by gold. People competed by working harder, saving more, and figuring out how to produce more with less – just as the Germans are doing now.

This week, the Merkel team followed up. “The lady’s not for turning,” Ms. Merkel might have said, taking a line from Margaret Thatcher’s Brighton conference speech of 30 years ago. With the pressure off its budget, the commentators thought the Germans might be tempted to ease up on their austerity program. Instead, the German government will continue to pursue cuts to military and social spending, she said.

Success will not distract Germany from its austerity program. Whether failure will send it off the rails is a question to be answered later.

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Feb 11

Gold Gains on Commodity Rally Amid Euro Fears

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Gold climbed alongside the dollar after a deal was struck to help Greece. Also, the same concerns on Greece. Spain and Portugal which has seen the dollar increase against the euro by 5.1% this year are driving the gold price up. Read more in Business Week.

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