Usually we select shorter articles to highlight or illustrate a point that’s new and relevant for investors. But occasionally we select a much longer article that does a deep dive into some fundamental market phenomena critical to unlocking the future. This is one of those. The writer, Jeff Snider, is widely regarded as one
The great Chinese growth slowdown has been proceeding in stages for the past two years. The reason is simple. Much of China’s “growth” (about 25% of the total) has consisted of wasted infrastructure investment in ghost cities and white elephant transportation infrastructure. That investment was financed with debt that now cannot be repaid. This
Warnings about China’s debt burdens and a potential debt crisis there are nothing new. China has a higher debt-to-GDP ratio than the U.S., and China’s central bank has printed more money since the 2008 financial crisis than the Federal Reserve. Much Chinese debt is denominated in dollars, which get harder to repay as the
Here’s the lay of the land. The Senate is currently divided between 51 Republicans and 49 Democrats (including two Independents who caucus with the Democrats). A change of two seats in favor of the Democrats will give Democrats control of the Senate under the leadership of Chuck Schumer of New York. For more of this
Dear Investor, We’re watching replays from our 1st Annual Hedgeye Investing Summit and the investing insights keep flooding in. Consider this: 1998 … Wall St banks bailed out hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management 2008 … central banks bailed out the Wall Street banks In the next financial crisis … the IMF will bail out the central banks (according to Strategic Intelligence editor
I’ve written for a while about how trade wars follow currency wars as night follows day. Both types of economic competition arise in a condition where there is weak growth and excessive debt. The economy does not grow fast enough to service the debt, so countries are forced into more debt. They try to increase
What is money? It’s a simple question with no simple answer. Most Americans assume money is the U.S. dollar, which they may hold in paper form or digitally in a bank account. For now, that’s true, although every paper currency in the history of the world has failed sooner or later. It was not long
Who are the “Five Eyes”? The Five Eyes are one of the most important and secretive intelligence agency collectives in the world. The Five Eyes are the intelligence services of the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand. Intelligence services hold their information closely and are reluctant to share it with other intelligence
The Chinese have a saying: “Kill a chicken to scare the monkeys.” The idea is that when you have powerful enemies, you can single out a weak player for severe public punishment. The enemies conclude that they could be the next one singled out and they decide to keep their activities at a low
