Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
So far this weekend.
Bank Closing Information – November 12, 2010
These links contain useful information for the customers and vendors of these closed banks.
Copper Star Bank, Scottsdale, AZ
Darby Bank & Trust Co., Vidalia, GA
Tifton Banking Company, Tifton, GA
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Roubini discovers Tanzania:
Roubini Favors Africa Over ‘Crowded’ Emerging Markets
By Murray Coleman
Economist Nouriel Roubini said in an interview out today that investors should stop chasing “crowded” trades in emerging markets.
He believes that African markets such as Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania are better bets.
The distinction is that such African countries are most often categorized as so-called frontier markets, even smaller and less-developed than emerging markets.
You can get plenty of exposure to Africa (about 16%) taking a more diversified approach through the Guggenheim Frontier Markets ETF (FRN).
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
South Korea sees the best opportunity outside of minerals.
South Korea to farm Tanzania site
2010/11/12
TANZANIA expects South Korea to begin farming 15000 hectares of land in the east African country early next year for food production and processing.
Aloyce Masanja, director-general of Tanzania’s State-run Rufiji Basin Development Authority (Rubada), said yesterday that the initial cost of the Korea Rural Community Corp (KRC) project was estimated at 50 million (about R340m).
State-run KRC signed a memorandum of understanding in August and will develop the land in partnership with Rubada over the next five years.
“A feasibility study is ongoing, which means the final cost of the project could change once the study is completed. We expect to start working on the land in the next farming season that starts in March 2011,” Masanja said.
Countries like China, South Korea and the arid Gulf states are buying large swathes of land in Africa and Asia to secure food supplies.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
From our three favourite brothers.
Quantitative Easing Explained:
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Put away your razor blade, get out of the bathtub and turn off you gold quote machine.
What is it that Martin Armstrong said? It is Only Time.
California is the dollar’s Ireland and Greece put together.
Schwarzenegger Declares Emergency, Calls Special Budget Session
November 12, 2010, 12:22 AM EST
By Michael B. Marois
Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) — California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, citing a $25.4 billion budget gap over the next 19 months, declared a fiscal emergency and called lawmakers to a special session next month to begin dealing with the problem.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican whose term ends in January, late yesterday ordered the session to start Dec. 6, the day newly elected legislators are sworn in. He wants to take steps to erase an officially estimated $6.1 billion gap that has already emerged in the budget enacted last month.
In addition to the gap forecast for the fiscal year through June, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office yesterday projected a $19 billion gap in the following 12 months. By Jan. 10, Governor-elect Jerry Brown, a Democrat who will be sworn in Jan. 3, must propose a plan to erase the next year’s deficit.
“The LAO’s estimate is a sobering reminder that California’s economy is still struggling,” Schwarzenegger, 63, said in a statement. “I have spoken to all four legislative leaders and they know what we are up against. They know it won’t be easy, but they also know they cannot wait to take action.”
The authority to declare a fiscal emergency comes from ballot measures Schwarzenegger championed in 2004, when he won approval to borrow $15 billion to fill that year’s budget gap.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
What he is talking about is currency induced cost push inflation destined to go to critical mass in the West. This is not yet understood by any expert.
Think about that with QE attached.
Expert: China has no inflation problem
By Gao Yuan (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-11-12 10:43
China has no inflation problem because the current commodity prices hike were caused by supply shortage and not by an excessive amount of currency being issued, said Wang Guogang, head of institute of finance and banking at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, at the academy’s annual forum held on Thursday.
"If a country’s consumer price index (CPI) is higher than three percent in six successive months, it can be defined as inflation by Western standards," Wang said. "But the price changes of agricultural products are not included when Western countries calculating their CPIs."
Agricultural products account for one third of the goods used to calculate China’s CPI, he said, adding that the high prices of agricultural products were caused by this year’s frequently occurring natural disasters.
Hu Xiaolian, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, said that the country’s short-term inflation pressure is not so bad.
The central bank will continue to monitor the market and implement more flexible measures to stabilize the prices, and hasn’t ruled out the possibility of increasing the interest rates again, she said.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
The major question is whether or not a rider to some innocuous bill will trample all over state’s rights and legalize illegal seizure of property.
I think so.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
"Almost 3 million Americans, including 140,000 Floridians, are losing federal benefits."
140,000 Floridians losing federal unemployment benefits
By Holly Gregory, Reporter
Last Updated: Thursday, November 11, 2010
TAMPA – Three federally funded unemployment programs are ending soon.
The programs are the additional compensation pay program, the emergency pay, and extended benefits.
Unless lawmakers intervene with another emergency package, the federal benefits will begin to expire starting Nov. 30 through Dec. 11.
Almost 3 million Americans, including 140,000 Floridians, are losing federal benefits.
For some people searching for work, these benefits are their last safety net.
It’s a position Camisha Kemp never expected to be in.
Earlier this year, the mother of four re-married. Her husband, Antoine, was working for the state. She was running an at-home-daycare. Then the bottom fell out.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
These guys will never stop.
Hong Kong H-Shares Tumble After Goldman Advises Exit
Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) — China’s Hong Kong-listed shares fell after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. recommended clients exit a bet the stocks will gain, citing concern the central bank will raise borrowing costs to tame inflation.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of 40 companies slumped 3 percent to 13,663.14, the most since May 25, at the 4 p.m. close in Hong Kong. Investors who followed the New York- based firm’s advice would have earned a return of 11.3 percent as the index rose above 14,000 from 12,616.01 since April 1, when the trade was initiated, analysts Robin Brooks and Dominic Wilson wrote in a research note yesterday. The recommendation was among the nine “Top Trades” Goldman Sachs made for 2010.
China’s annual inflation rate jumped to a two-year high of 4.4 percent in October while retail sales rose 18.6 percent from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said yesterday. China increased reserve requirements for some banks twice this week, taking the total increase to 100 basis points, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation.
Inflation is above policy makers’ “comfort zone” and more “tightening” will likely occur, the New York-based analysts wrote in the report. “The near-term risk-reward for this position also looks unappealing as we approach the year-end ‘roll-off,’” they said.
