Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Do not trust this cat!
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
This is a two edged sword as it benefits both the bank’s earning statement as well as the deposed victim of the economic debacle.
Citigroup To Suspend Foreclosures For 30 Days
WASHINGTON (AP) — Citigroup will suspend foreclosures and evictions for 30 days. It’s a temporary break for about 4,000 borrowers during the holiday season.
The New York-based bank will halt foreclosure sales and stop evicting homeowners from properties it has already seized. The company projects it will help 2,000 homeowners with scheduled foreclosure sales and another 2,000 that were due to receive foreclosure notices.
The suspension will run from Friday through Jan. 17. It applies only to borrowers whose loans are owned by Citi. Borrowers who make payments to Citi but whose loans are owned by other investors are out of luck.
The head of Citi’s mortgage division says the company is working on "some long-term fundamental alternatives" to foreclosure, but has declined to be specific.
Meanwhile, the Treasury Department has backed out of plans to sell its 34 percent stake in Citigroup at this time.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
The Chinese talk their position. Two weeks ago Gold was a bubble according to Chinese comment.
Now as it gets within range of their purchase price the dollar rally is bullshit. So stinking is the dollar rally that they will have to curtail their purchases of Treasury instruments.
I have to agree with the second which is the dollar rally is bullshit and argue vehemently against the first as bubbles are not advertised as bubbles because if they are they are not bubbles.
Watch the Chinese take the rest of the IMF gold if they do not get front run again.
Chinese Central Banker Zhu Says Dollar Set to Weaken
By Bloomberg News
Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — Chinese central banker Zhu Min said that the dollar is set to weaken further and it will become more difficult for nations to buy U.S. Treasuries.
“When the U.S. has to fund its deficit through the combination of issuing more Treasuries and printing more dollars, it is inevitable that the dollar will continue to weaken,” Deputy Governor Zhu said at a forum in Beijing today.
China, the biggest foreign holder of Treasuries with $798.9 billion of the securities, expressed concern this year at the safety of its dollar assets and central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan called for moves toward an alternative global currency. Zhu’s comments, which he said were a personal view, focused on the twin U.S. deficits, fiscal and current account.
The U.S. can’t expect other nations to increase purchases of Treasuries to fund its entire fiscal shortfall, said Zhu, a former vice president of Bank of China Ltd. Efforts by the U.S. to cut its current-account deficit mean other nations accumulate fewer dollars through trade, leaving them with less money to buy Treasuries, he added.
The Dollar Index, which IntercontinentalExchange Inc. uses to track the currency against those of the U.S.’s biggest trading partners, has declined 4.4 percent this year. The currency climbed today to the highest level in three months against the euro after Standard & Poor’s downgraded Greece’s debt rating yesterday.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Here is the green light for the carry trade.
Do you really believe these professionals are just sitting long?
Not the successful ones. Tell it to the professor.
More upbeat Fed keeps lid on rates.
As expected, the Fed kept its overnight target at 0-0.25% and pledged to keep rates low for "an extended period," but expressed growing optimism on the U.S. economy as job losses slow and housing markets improve. "Economic activity has continued to pick up," the Fed said. "Deterioration in the labor market is abating." Underscoring confidence in credit markets, the Fed stood by plans to shutter most of its emergency lending facilities on Feb. 1. After the Fed’s decision, traders pared bets on a rate hike: just 48% expect a quarter-point raise by mid-2010, down from 58% before the statement.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
When have you ever seen the US Treasury mis-time a common share sale? That has to be a tad embarrassing.
When you have political rhino skin nothing transmits.
Citi’s embarrassing share sale.
Citigroup (C)confirmed late Wednesday it priced a massive 5.4B share sale at $3.15, generating net proceeds of $17B. The Treasury, which was slated to sell $5B in stock concurrently, shelved its plans after pricing was lower than the $3.25/share it paid, extended the lock-up period on its 7.7B share stake to 90 days from 45, and said it expects to exit its stake over the coming 12 months. Analysts said the disappointing showing casts doubt on the wisdom of Citi’s rush to exit TARP; Dick Bove called it "a terrible deal for shareholders," and said it proves the interests of Citi’s management team (removing pay restrictions) are not aligned with those of shareholders. Shares –8.1% to $3.17 premarket.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
All is well in the Middle East
US to drill Iranian attack scenario
By JPOST.COM STAFF
A top Pentagon official said Monday that a US missile defense drill would simulate an Iranian attack – a departure from the usual scenario of a North Korean attack – according to Reuters.
"Previously, we have been testing the [Ground-Based Midcourse Defense] GMD system against a North Korean-type scenario. This next test… is more of a head-on shot like you would use defending against an Iranian shot into the United States. So that’s the first time that we’re now testing in a different scenario," Lt.-Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, head of the US Missile Defense Agency, said at the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington.
According to O’Reilly, an Iranian attack would be more challenging than a North Korean attack because a missile fired from Iran would reach the US "more head-on than from the side," and therefore relatively faster.
The test, scheduled for January, is expected to cost about $150 million. During the maneuver the US will fire an interceptor missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at a mock-Iranian missile which would be fired from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
