ASIA / AUSTRALIA: Some positive news for US-Chinese relations as Tesla has started to take pre-orders on it cheaper Model 3 cars from its Gigafactory based in Shanghai. The construction of the factory only started at the beginning of January and is expected to open later this year. The former governor of the People’s Bank […]

Asia: China has added a new fiscal stimulus package in order to prevent a sharp slowdown. Local governments will be allowed to issue up to 320 billion USD in special purpose bonds to fund infrastructure projects, which is an increase of over 59% from last year. Sony released “S.Ride,” an app which could become Uber’s […]

QUESTION: Hi Mr Armstrong, Thank you for continuous education. I hope to get your view on cashless societies. There are worries that nations will move to cashless transactions in the near future. Do you think this will actually happen? My guess is it will be a failure and there will be “black” markets where transactions in […]

Asia: As for the U.S.–China trade deal, there seems to be a disparity (or at least perception of disparity) between the original and current U.S. approach to the deal. President Trump had initially focused on a reduction of U.S. trade deficit by requiring China to purchase more goods from the U.S., whereas now U.S. officials […]

QUESTION: There are a few people coming out claiming the stock market will crash so buy bonds even though you will lose money. How can people keep calling for a mega-crash so long with constantly being wrong since 2010? Thank you for your reason NR ANSWER: These people are still living in a world that […]

QUESTION: These economists who propose this MMT claim that since the U.S. borrows in its own currency, it can print dollars to cover its obligations, and can’t go broke. The theory has won converts among freshman Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a way to finance such social policies as the Green New Deal and Medicare […]

QUESTION: Marty; Are there any cycles dealing with the trade dispute with China that are relevant? OP ANSWER: Actually, yes. The United States created a two-tier monetary system in 1873 to accommodate trade with China who was on a silver standard rather than gold. The actual timing is 17 intervals if the 8.6-year frequency of the […]

Most of yesterdays gains were reversed today as early currency performance tended to replace equities. Selling in the Nikkei ahead of year end was somewhat counterbalanced by the Yen’s 1% appreciation. Selling of auto’s, industrials and steel producers weighed on the Nikkei which also led to renewed buying of JGB’s. In late US trading the […]

QUESTION: What mechanism prevents banks from creating fraudulent electronic deposits of currency? As an IT systems admin, I have the ability to add / subtract / adjust ERP systems inventory / costing outside the normal users ability. I could add widgets to the system at will, but fraud can’t be sustained very long, as the […]

A mixed session in Asia with most players watching the oil price decline which tended to unnerve many markets. The Shanghai index climbed from early negative prices to manage a 1%+ close for the day. The talk remains centered on trade and the negotiations both are expected to have at the G20 later this month. […]