China

During the Party Congress, even China’s somewhat watered down versus of the free markets was suspended so as not to disturb the glorification of Xi Jinping as the nation’s greatest leader since Mao. Returning to “business as usual”, some commentators have been disturbed by the continued rise in government bond yields with the 10-year hitting 3.93% earlier this week.

Bloomberg described it this morning as a “tumultuous few days”.

The moment Apple geeks were waiting for arrived this morning with the launch of the iPhone X aroudn the world. The new phone went on sale and was greeted by huge crowds outside Apple stores in some Australian and Asian cities. What a difference a month makes when we reported in "This Is Embarrassing": 2 People Show Up For iPhone 8 Launch in China.

Fortunately for Apple, which yesterday smashed expectations and reported strong guidance, the iPhone magic appears to be back as the Wall Street Journal reports:

Authored by Valentin Katasonov via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

We know... there are several candidates to choose from. For example…

It might be Anbang - the acquisitive insurance behemoth – see “Anbang Just Became A ‘Systemic Risk’: Revenues Crash As Its Chairman Is “Detained”

It might be China Evergrande – the developer of “ghost” properties and described by J Capital’s, Anne Stevenson-Yang as “the biggest pyramid scheme the world has yet seen” – see “Stevenson-Yang Warns ‘China Is About To Hit A Wall”.

Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Saker blog,

The 19th Party Congress has made it very clear that “socialism with Chinese characteristics” – as codified by President Xi Jinping – is China’s road map ahead. Not only does the strategy graphically eschew those much-lauded “Western values”; it will, in Xi’s own words, offer “a new option for other countries and nations who want to speed up their development while preserving their independence.”