Submitted by Koos Jansen via BullionStar.com,
When there is no more gold left in London to export the gold price is likely to go higher on strong global demand induced by economic headwind. At the time of writing the spot gold price is $1,251.80 per ounce, up 18 % year to date, while the S&P 500 is down 9 % year to date.
The world let out a collective gasp of shock last night when the PBOC announced that in January, China had created an absolutely gargantuan CNY3.4 trillion in new total debt (Total Social Financing) - or about $520 billion - more than 50% higher than expected, of which CNY2.1 trillion was in the form of new loans.
The breakdown of that massive number is shown in the table below:
What happened? Here is Goldman's explanation:
One day after markets saw a violent return of optimism, which sent stocks around the globe and US equity futures soaring (the US was closed for President's Day) driven by terrible Japanese and Chinese economic data which in turn hinted at more central bank easing, animal spirits have cooled off despite some truly unprecedented Chinese credit numbers.
Yes, you read that right. Amid a tumbling stock market, plunging trade data, weakening Yuan, and soaring volatility, China's aggregate debt (so-called total social financing) rose a stunning CNY3.42 trillion (or an even more insane-sounding $520 billion) in January alone.
In fact, since October, China has added over 1 trillion dollars of credit... and has nothing but margin calls, ghost-er cities, and over-supplied commodity-warehouses to show for it... oh and even-record-er debt-to-GDP ratio.
Submitted by PandaHedge
Finally, China’s Alan Greenspan speaks out