China Destroyed Its Stock Market in Order to Save It

When you run out of magical intervention tricks in your bag the best way to handle the inevitable is a controlled demolition. Although the crisis is far from over, it alleviates the pain for the short-term time being. You know the situation is dire when the Communist Capitalists force investors to stay in by banning all selling of stocks for months, forcing you to shoulder the loss, in order to stem the tide.

 

Last week, China destroyed its stock market in order to save it. Faced with a crash in share prices from a bubble of its own making, the Chinese government intervened ruthlessly, and recklessly, to turn those prices around. Its heavy-handed approach seemed to work, for the moment, but only by severely damaging far more important goals and ambitions.Prior to the crash, China’s stock market had enjoyed a blissful disconnect from reality. As China’s economy slowed and corporate profits declined, share prices soared, nearly tripling in just 12 months. By the peak, half the companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges were priced above a preposterous 85-times earnings. It was a clear warning flag — one that Chinese regulators encouraged people to ignore. Then reality caught up.

At first, when prices began to fall, the central bank responded by cutting interest rates and bank reserve requirements — measures to inject more money that had never failed to juice the market. But prices continued to fall. Then the government rallied the major brokerages to form a $19 billion fund to buy shares and waded directly into the market to buy stocks too. A few stocks rose, but most fell even further.

Steve Wynn: Economic recovery ‘pure fiction’

If you’d like to get a better idea of what the true level of unemployment is, check out this U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics table… ‘U-6’ is what you want to see. Please also note, the methodology for coming up with these numbers was changed some years ago and still do not represent the true rates, which as Wynn says, are around 15% – 20% unemployment. Definitions have changed and some factors have been left out. For the foreseeable future, this is likely the most truth you’ll get from the government.

You can see the worthwhile 26 minute Steve Wynn’s KNPB interview HERE.

 

Las Vegas icon says don’t believe government stats on jobs, inflation

One of America’s most astute businessmen, known for having expanded the Las Vegas strip of resort hotels and casinos in the 1990s, says the U.S. remains mired in an economic funk and any talk of a broad recovery is “pure fiction. A lie.”

Steve Wynn,  the 73-year-old founder and CEO of Wynn Resorts, made the comments in a televised interview with Jon Ralston of PBS’ “Ralston Live.” He opened the Wynn Hotel and casino in Macao, China, in 2006, and is known as an international gaming and casino magnate.

Swiss Franc ‘Nuclear Explosion’ Spreading, Credit Suisse, Saxo Hurt

Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) and Saxo Bank A/S joined an increasing number of European financial companies warning that the Swiss central bank’s surprise decision to abolish its currency ceiling may dent earnings.

Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-biggest bank, indicated Monday that currency swings may hurt profit. Denmark’s Saxo Bank said some clients might not be able to settle unsecured amounts, which might cause undisclosed losses.

The full force of the decision won’t be known for months and is “closer to a nuclear explosion than a 1,000-kilogram conventional bomb,” Javier Paz, senior analyst in wealth management at Aite Group, said in an e-mail Tuesday. “The aftermath is like a black hole that can suck massive amounts of credit from currency trading as we have known it.”