China

Autohred by Jim Rickards via The Daily Reckoning,

China is not only one of the world’s largest debtors, it is one of the world’s largest creditors.

China uses debt not in the customary financial manner, but as a political tool to generate employment and maintain social stability. Likewise China uses loans and investment as a tool to advance its strategic interests. This may be good geopolitics in the short run, but it will be a disaster economically in the long run.

In his latest weekend notes, One River Asset Management CIO, Eric Peters, picks up where BofA's Mike Hartnett left off on Friday when he said that the "QE Monster" will only end when "the Wall Street bubble" finally shocks the Fed. Yes, but what will "end it", or better yet, what will "shock" Yellen and company out of their complacency?

Back in 2014, a scandal erupted when media reports confirmed what many had previously speculated about China's banking system: namely that much of China's staggering loan issuance had been built (literally) upon air and that billions (or trillions) in loan collateral had been "rehypothecated" between two, three or many more debtors - or never even existed - forcing banks to accept that they would never recover much if any of the pledged collateral - in most cases various commodities - if the economy were to suffer a hard-landing resulting in mass defaults.

The day after Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord, stocks are set for new all time highs with S&P futures up 0.2%, boosted by green markets across Europe and Asia, where the Nikkei rose above 20,000 for the first time since 2015. World stocks are set for new record highs, having already gained 11% so far this year, ahead of today's US nonfarm payrolls which are expected to increase by 185,000 jobs after surging 211,000 in April.

Authored by Byron King via DailyReckoning.com,

China is currently modifying the terms of its oil trade with Saudi Arabia. Specifically, China is working on a deal to pay for Saudi oil using Chinese yuan. This effort poses a direct threat to the security of the dollar.

If this China-Saudi deal happens — yuan for oil — it’s another step closer to the grave for the petrodollar, which has dominated global finance since 1974. You can revisit Jim Rickards article about the Assault on the Dollar, here.