"The principal cause of the crisis was the dismantling of
the system of regulation and supervision in the financial sector which had for
much of the post-war period kept the most dangerous elements of that sector in
check. In the absence of an appropriate system of effective supervision and
regulation, what happens is that the actors in the system, who are intent upon
taking the greatest degree of risk — including actors who are intent upon using
fraudulent methods to increase their returns — come to dominate parts of the
system. As they do that, the general methods of assessing performance in the
market, specifically stock-market valuations, become counter-productive. That
is to say, they invariably reward the worst actors, while they force more
traditional actors, who are still respecting the old norms of conduct, into a
competitively disadvantaged position. Thus the bad actors, the fraudulent
actors, and the speculative extremists quickly take over.”
In the casinos, the
everything bubble is back, led by, wait for it, Nasdaq! Buy more, including
Tesla and bitcoin!
Thanks to the latest
bailout relief package due to be voted on later today, Americans are about to
rush out to the malls, well online malls anyway, and spend, spend, spend, like
there’s no tomorrow.
Of course, there is a
tomorrow and it’s likely to be very different from today which was like yesterday.
Tomorrow is likely to
be at best, a day of buyers remorse and stagflation, as the bill comes in for
all of the trillions of new dollars created out of nothing and largely spent on
indulgent lifestyle, casino gambling, and paying people not to work.
But for now, party
on, the US central banksters and President “bailout” Biden just topped up the
punch bowl (yet again.) We are all going to gamble our way to incredible wealth
and prosperity! Why didn’t previous generations think of this before?
What could possibly
go wrong on free money for all?
Asian Stocks Steady After Nasdaq
Surge; Bonds Rise: Markets Wrap
Nasdaq 100
advanced about 4%; China stock swings in focus
·Treasury auction aids sentiment; dollar edges up
from decline
Asian stocks were steady Wednesday as traders evaluated the
biggest jump in the Nasdaq 100 since November and whether a rout in China will
stabilize. The dollar pared some of its overnight losses and Treasury yields
held declines.
The Nasdaq 100 advanced 4% on a revival of higher-valuation
stocks such as Tesla Inc., which jumped 20%. The move snapped a rotation into
value shares based on optimism about an economic reopening aided by fresh
stimulus and vaccines. S&P 500 contracts and futures on the tech-heavy
gauge dipped.
In Asia, Chinese shares rallied from a slump on Tuesday
that evaded state efforts to slow the pace of losses.
Hong Kong’s benchmark rose and Japan fluctuated. Treasury yields steadied below
their recent peaks as the first in a string of U.S. auctions went off without disrupting
markets. Bitcoin dipped below $54,000 after reaching a two-week high.
The pullback in Treasury yields encouraged investors to
wade back into growth stocks, which suffered recently amid concerns about
valuations. The prospect of faster inflation as economies recover from the
pandemic has pushed up longer-term borrowing costs this year. In China, a
report showing surging producer prices highlighted
the risk of the nation exporting inflation as factories charge more for goods
sold abroad, and upcoming consumer prices data in the U.S. are expected to show
a slightly faster annual increase.
The recent rising trend in bond yields is consistent with
economic growth expectations, said Lauren Goodwin, portfolio strategist at New
York Life Investments. That backdrop still favors cyclicals over defensive assets
and “supports equities over bonds, and a weaker U.S. dollar,” she said.
The upcoming sales of U.S. 10- and 30-year government bonds
will test appetite for the safest debt after last month’s poorly bid seven-year
auction helped drive yields higher, sending tremors across risk assets
globally.
The Australian dollar declined after the central bank
governor suggested markets may be getting
ahead of themselves by pricing in an interest-rate increase within the next
couple of years.
Here are some key events to watch:
EIA crude
oil inventory report is due Wednesday
The U.S.
February consumer price index will offer the latest look at price
pressures Wednesday.
The U.S.
government auctions 3-, 10- and 30-year Treasuries this week.
The
European Central Bank holds its monetary policy meeting and President
Christine Lagarde is set to do a briefing Thursday.
U.S. prepares to send checks, but
big stimulus challenges loom
Tony
Romm, Jeff Stein and Rachel Siegel, The Washington Post
WASHINGTON - Congress is set to give
the final green light to a $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package
Wednesday, setting in motion a Washington-wide effort to administer one of the
largest economic relief packages in U.S. history.
Over the coming weeks, the Biden
administration may send another round of one-time checks to millions of
families, rethink vast portions of the U.S. tax code and dole out sums to help
cash-strapped Americans, seeking to swiftly blunt an economic crisis that has
left millions without jobs and falling further behind financially.
Biden and his aides have promised
that a large number of Americans could receive their $1,400 stimulus payments
before the end of March. But some of the other ambitious elements of the
soon-to-be law - including new child tax support, aid to local governments and
money to help families pay rent - could take much longer to disburse. The sheer
volume of new programs threatens to swamp federal agencies, including the
Internal Revenue Service, leaving some lawmakers fearful about early delays.
Congressional aid packages that
became law over the past year have proved instrumental in helping the country
rebound from one of the worst economic crises since the Great Depression. But
the federal bureaucracy at times has strained to deliver some of that support
in a tight time frame. Few Americans have benefited so far from the $25 billion
in rental and utility assistance that lawmakers approved in December, housing
experts said, and other programs to help workers and businesses pay their bills
have not yet fully come online.
"Implementation is the
ballgame. You can have the best priorities in the world, whether it's the
well-being of children [or] the needs of those who have been laid off of no
fault of their own," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the chairman of the
Senate Finance Committee. "It doesn't mean a whole lot if you can't get
the benefits out so people can make ends meet."
Following the markets on both sides of the Atlantic since 1968. A dinosaur, who evolved with the financial system as it was perverted from capitalism to banksterism after the great Nixonian error of abandoning the dollar's link to gold instead of simply revaluing gold. Our money is too important to be left to probity challenged central banksters and crooked politicians.
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