Tag: Bank of Japan

May 15, 2018

Worthy Insights / Opinion Pieces / Advice

Economist – Faced with a housing crisis, California could further restrict supply 5/10

  • “Rent control sounds appealing but is counter-productive.”

Economist – The meaning of the Vision Fund – Leaders 5/12

  • “Succeed or fail, Masayoshi Son is changing the world of technology investing.”
  • “The fund is the result of a peculiar alliance forged in 2016 between Mr Son and Muhammad bin Salman. Saudi Arabia’s thrusting crown prince handed Mr Son $45bn as part of his attempt to diversify the kingdom’s economy. That great dollop of capital attracted more investors—from Abu Dhabi, Apple and others. Add in SoftBank’s own $28bn of equity, and Mr Son has a war chest of $100bn. That far exceeds the $64bn that all venture capital (VC) funds raised globally in 2016; it is four times the size of the biggest private-equity fund ever raised.”
  • “The fund has already spent $30bn, nearly as much as the $33bn raised by the entire American VC industry in 2017. And because about half of its capital is in the form of debt, it is under pressure to make interest payments. This combination of gargantuanism, grandiosity and guaranteed payouts may end up in financial disaster. Indeed, the Vision Fund could mark the giddy top of the tech boom.”

Economist – Will Argentina’s woes spread? – Leaders 5/12

  • “Argentina has much in common with yesterday’s emerging markets, but little in common with today’s.”

FT – Apple sows seeds of next market swing – Rana Foroohar 5/13

  • “Rapid growth in debt levels is historically the best predictor of a crisis. And this year the corporate bond market has been on a tear, with companies issuing a record $1.7tn last year, and over half a trillion already this year. Even mediocre companies have benefited from easy money. But as the rate environment changes, perhaps more quickly than is imagined, many could be vulnerable.” 

WSJ – In a Dollarized World, a Rising Dollar Spells Pain – Greg Ip 5/9

  • “Even as U.S. economic influence shrinks, the dollar’s clout in global trade and borrowing is growing, magnifying impact of its rise in value.”

Markets / Economy

Bloomberg – U.S. Tariffs Lead to Record Increase in Washing Machine Prices – Alexandre Tanzi 5/10

Bloomberg Businessweek – No, the U.S Economy Isn’t Overheating – Peter Coy 5/11

  • “Some indicators are flashing red, but there’s still a little slack in the system.”

WSJ – Company Costs Are Rising, but Getting Shoppers to Pay More Is Hard – Eric Morath, Heather Haddon, and Jacob Bunge 5/9

WSJ – Daily Shot: Bloomberg – Relative Hard Currency Reserves 5/14

Real Estate

WSJ – WeWork, the Workspace Giant, Wants to Be Its Own Landlord, Using Other Investors’ Money – Eliot Brown 5/13

  • “WeWork’s new investment fund aims to buy buildings where the company would become a tenant, raising conflict-of-interest questions.”

Energy

WSJ – Daily Shot: AAA Daily National Average Gasoline Prices 5/13

Finance

FT – Landmark bond sales hit by emerging markets downturn – Kate Allen 5/14

  • “Investors who bought some of the riskiest emerging market sovereign bond sales in the past year have been left nursing paper losses as a strengthening dollar has rattled sentiment for emerging markets.”
  • “JPMorgan’s emerging markets bond index has lost 5.1% since the start of this year.”

WSJ – Daily Shot: FRED – BOJ Assets YoY Change 5/13

Cryptocurrency / ICOs

howmuch.net – The Biggest Cryptocurrency Hacks and Scams – Raul 5/9

Agriculture

Bloomberg Businessweek – These Shipping Containers Have Farms Inside – Adam Popescu 5/9

Construction

WSJ – Daily Shot: CME Lumber (JuL) 5/11

  • “Lumber futures blasted past $600 per 1,000 board feet (mbf).”

Education

NYT – Education Department Unwinds Unit Investigating Fraud at For-Profits – Danielle Ivory, Erica L. Green, and Steve Eder 5/13

South America

Economist – How chavismo makes the taps run dry in Venezuela 5/10

  • “Plentiful rains plus Bolivarian socialism equals water shortages.”

WSJ – Venezuela’s Oil Meltdown Is Getting Worse – Spencer Jakab 5/13

  • “A rush of creditors trying to seize assets has disrupted Venezuela’s oil exports at a time when they already are plunging.”

Other Interesting Links

Cannabis Benchmarks – Weekly Report 5-11-18

October 13, 2017

Perspective

NYT – Rohingya Recount Atrocities: ‘They Threw My Baby Into a Fire’ – Jeffrey Gettleman 10/11

  • Deeply disturbing.

WSJ – Daily Shot: OECD – Global Obesity Rates (2015) 10/12

FT – The 30-second ad has had its 15 minutes of fame – Shannon Bond 10/11

  • “The 30-second television ad has been dethroned. As US television networks face growing digital competition for marketing dollars and viewers’ attention, they are selling shorter ads. The result? Thirty-second spots, long the industry standard, now make up fewer than half of all US TV commercials.”

Worthy Insights / Opinion Pieces / Advice

WSJ – Say Goodbye to the China Bid – Aaron Back 10/12

  • “China’s seemingly insatiable demand for foreign assets has driven up prices for everything from U.S. Treasury bonds to global companies to luxury real estate. Now, a combination of market forces and capital controls are choking off the flow of Chinese cash. Asset markets around the world will have to adjust.”
  • “As Chinese exports boomed starting in the early 2000s and foreign investment flooded into the country, the central bank recycled these inflows into foreign government bonds, mostly Treasurys, to keep the yuan from rising. The buying persisted for over a decade, driving bond prices up and driving yields down globally.”
  • “The form of China’s foreign buying shifted in 2014, when the U.S. began exiting quantitative easing and China’s growth slowed. Ordinary Chinese feared that the yuan, which had steadily risen for years, would fall as growth slowed. Both individuals and companies rushed to get money out of China, snapping up trophy assets and luxury real estate around the world.”
  • “The China bid, or at least the expectation of one, sent prices of luxury properties soaring, fueled real estate bubbles from Vancouver to Sydney and pushed up prices of companies seen as desirable for Chinese buyers.”
  • “Alarmed by the outflow, Beijing began to tighten capital controls in 2015 and 2016, but the deal-making persisted until this year when the government cracked down on money transfers by individuals and discouraged companies from pursuing ‘irrational’ deals abroad. So far this year, outbound mergers and acquisitions by Chinese companies are down 27% from the same period a year earlier, according to Dealogic.”
  • “Now, pretty much the only thing the Chinese government encourages its companies to buy abroad are high-tech companies such as computer chip makers. But these strategic assets are precisely the kind that Western governments increasingly don’t want to fall into Chinese hands.”
  • “In real estate there is no way to say for sure how much Chinese buying drove up prices, but governments from Canada to Australia have moved to control foreign buying to rein in property bubbles.”
  • “Nor is China set to return as a big buyer of U.S. Treasurys. Indeed, if the Federal Reserve keeps tightening, China could be a seller of bonds as it fends off depreciation pressure on the yuan.”
  • “In the years ahead, financial markets around the world will have to live without the ever-present China bid. Whether China was a savvy investor or the dumb money, asset prices will likely be lower.”

WSJ – China’s Next Five Years – Squeezing the People to Feed the State – Nathaniel Taplin 10/11

  • “China achieved its economic miracle by unleashing the entrepreneurial private sector. With President Xi Jinping poised to further consolidate power at the Communist Party’s twice-a-decade leadership shuffle kicking off Oct. 18, the narrative of the next five years is becoming clear.”
  • “The state is pushing back.”
  • “The logic is straightforward. Nominally communist China relies on its vibrant private sector for growth, but state-owned companies are indispensable tools for political patronage, social control and economic policy. Any financial rot in the state sector could weigh on the economy and weaken the Communist Party’s grip.”
  • “With private business already commanding around 70% of the economy, Mr. Xi and his allies have decided to strengthen key state-controlled companies by boosting their market power and easing their debt burdens.”
  • “For investors, the implications are significant: higher global goods prices because state-owned companies are notoriously inefficient, and a smaller chance of the long-feared Chinese debt crisis. Corporate debt, which is largely in the state-owned sector, ticked down as a percentage of GDP in the second quarter, according to J.P. Morgan—the first decline since 2011. The trade-off is slower Chinese growth. Chinese banks, whose shares are currently on a tear, will need to keep subsidizing bloated state enterprises. And those enterprises’ need for a deep pool of capital inside China means a free-floating yuan will remain a distant dream.”
  • “For investors, the tilt back toward the state means that innovative privately owned tech and consumer companies may continue to outperform—but probably less so than in the past. Hulking state-owned titans, enjoying newly privileged market positions, may reward investors more reliably: The state-dominated Shanghai stock market has roundly outperformed the technology-and-consumer-focused Shenzhen market this year.”
  • “Deng Xiaoping, the grandfather of China’s economic reforms, famously said that it was acceptable to let ‘some people get rich first.’ The people are far richer than they were three decades ago. Now it’s the state’s turn once again.”

Forbes – How Blockchain Can Stamp Out China’s Fake Diplomas 10/8

NYT – We’re About to Fall Behind the Great Depression – David Leonhardt 10/12

Markets / Economy

WSJ – Daily Shot: Moody’s – U.S. States General Obligation Debt Ratings 10/12

Real Estate

FT – Airbnb teams up with developer to launch branded apartments – Leslie Hook 10/12

  • “Airbnb is stepping up its challenge to traditional hotel operators, launching branded, purpose-built apartments in Florida in a tie-up with a US real estate developer.”
  • “The partnership with Newgard Development Group marks the first time the San Francisco-based home-sharing group has worked with a property developer. It underscores how Airbnb is expanding beyond simply booking accommodation, its core service that has already hit hotel operators in cities across the world.”
  • “The 300-unit rental complex in Kissimmee, Florida, near Orlando, will be built and owned by Newgard but carry a new brand: ‘Niido powered by Airbnb’.”
  • “Harvey Hernandez, chief executive of Miami-based Newgard, said the company planned to build 2,000 Airbnb-branded units in the next two years. Tenants who rent the apartments can choose to sublet them through Airbnb for up to 180 days a year.”
  • “The Kissimmee apartment building, due to open early next year, includes features such as keyless doors and secure storage that will make it easier for long-term tenants to rent out their rooms when they are away. Through an app, tenant hosts can manage their Airbnb guests’ stay and even co-ordinate services such as changing bedsheets.”
  • “It will have human touches as well. A ‘master host’ will be on site, and all apartments will have a mandatory cleaning service, in the style of a serviced apartment.”
  • “’The demographic that we are targeting are travelling more than ever before,’ said Mr Hernandez. ‘So when that property is empty, they can be making money with it.’”
  • “Newgard, Airbnb and the tenant will all derive revenue from the short-term rentals, with Newgard taking 25% of the nightly room rate, Airbnb taking 3% (the same commission it charges hosts anywhere), and the tenant receiving the remainder.”
  • “Marriott operates serviced apartments whereby it does not own the property but the building carries its branding and Marriott provides hospitality services. Unlike Marriott, Airbnb will not operate the hospitality services and nor is it charging Newgard for the use of its brand.”

Bloomberg – Kushners’ Manhattan Tower on Track for Its Worst Year Since 2011 – Caleb Melby 10/12

Energy

FT – Why the US east coast imports oil despite shale boom – Gregory Meyer 10/11

  • “The US has been shipping its shale oil riches to different parts of the world, including Canada and India, inspiring White House officials to muse about American ‘energy dominance’. But one place that is buying very little of this crude is the officials’ backyard.”
  • “Last week as the US reported a record 2m barrels a day in crude oil exports, refineries located up the highway from Washington on the east coast imported about 900,000 b/d, mainly from Africa.”
  • “A big reason is the Jones Act, a 97-year-old US law that requires all ships starting and ending their voyages on US coasts to be American-flagged, built and crewed.”
  • “What animates critics in the oil market about the Jones Act is that it increases the cost of shipping crude from the Gulf coast to the east coast above the rate charged by foreign-flagged carriers. That helps incentivize exports from Texas oilfields and imports by refiners in the east. The reliance on shipping reflects the fact that no crude oil pipelines link the oilfields of the central US to the east coast.”
  • “’It’s basically a constraint on the efficient operation of the oil market,’ says Sandy Fielden, director of research for commodities and energy at Morningstar.”
  • “US lawmakers liberalized trade in crude oil in December 2015, allowing unfettered exports after years of tight restrictions for every destination but Canada. They let the Jones Act stand, though they gave some refiners temporary tax relief related to oil transport costs.”
  • “The effects are plain to see. In 2015, tankers laden with crude oil from the US gulf coast delivered an average of 50,000 b/d to ports on the US east coast, according to ClipperData, a vessel tracking service. The volumes nearly halved in 2016 and have halved again this year, the data show.”
  • “Ending the export ban has caused shipments to soar to countries previously blocked from buying US oil, including long hauls to Asia. Crude oil exports to countries other than Canada are averaging about 325,000 b/d this year, ClipperData’s records show, more than treble the levels of 2015.”
  • “Meanwhile, US east coast refineries near Philadelphia and New York have been importing nearly 1m b/d from countries such as Nigeria and Angola, about 50% higher than two years ago.”
  • “The increased imports to the east coast come despite falling rates to hire a Jones Act tanker as the industry struggles with a surplus of ships built before the export ban was lifted. The US fleet of Jones Act tankers and tugboat-barge units totals 94 vessels, according to Overseas Shipholding Group, one of the biggest operators in the sector.”
  • “Sam Norton, chief executive of OSG, estimates the cost of hiring one for crude service is about three to four times higher than using a foreign-flagged vessel. Some shipping consultants say it is even higher.”
  • “The Jones Act is unlikely to abolished, despite the longstanding efforts of politicians such as Senator John McCain of Arizona.”
  • “’Since people have been living with it for so long, it’s difficult to say what it would be like if they changed it or if it were repealed,’ says Mr Fielden of Morningstar.”

Environment / Science

NYT – 10 Hurricanes in 10 Weeks: With Ophelia, a 124-Year-Old Record is Matched – Maggie Astor 10/11

  • “With Tropical Storm Ophelia’s transition to Hurricane Ophelia on Wednesday, 2017 became the first year in more than a century — and only the fourth on record — in which 10 Atlantic storms in a row reached hurricane strength.”

China

FT – Wanda’s Wang Jianlin dethroned from top of China rich list – Tom Hancock 10/11

WSJ – Six Reasons Why China Matters – Justin Lahart 10/11

NYT – China to Debtors: Pay Up or Be Shamed – Keith Bradsher and Ailin Tang 10/11

  • “Troubled by huge debts run up by big state companies and politically connected local governments, China is taking steps instead to go after the little guys.”
  • “Chinese officials have ordered provincial governments to establish online platforms naming those who do not pay their obligations, official media reported this week. The lists should be maintained by local news organizations as well as courts and regulators, the report said, with an aim of exposing deadbeats and pressuring them to pay up.”
  • “The new effort is unlikely to affect big borrowers, like major state-owned companies and other big firms, whose debts are almost never called in. But it could intensify and centralize officials’ broader moves to assign ratings to individuals based on creditworthiness and other criteria; practices like credit scoring are only just now taking off in the country.”

Japan

WSJ – Daily Shot: BOJ asset purchases and pace of purchase 10/12

  • “The BoJ is quietly slowing its securities purchases (as part of ‘yield targeting’).”

October 6, 2017

If you were to read only one thing…

NYT – Payday Lending Faces Tough New Restrictions by Consumer Agency 10/5

  • “A federal agency on Thursday imposed tough new restrictions on the so-called payday-lending industry, which churns out billions of dollars a year in high-interest loans to working-class and poor Americans.”
  • “The rules announced by the agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, clamp down on, and could largely eliminate, loans that are currently regulated by states and that critics say prey on the vulnerable by charging usurious fees and interest rates. The lenders argue that they provide financial lifelines to those in desperate need of short-term cash infusions.”
  • “The terms of a typical payday loan of $400 require that $460 be repaid two weeks later — the equivalent of an annual interest rate of more than 300%, far higher than what banks and credit cards charge for loans. Because most borrowers cannot repay their debts quickly, the loans are often rolled over, incurring more fees in the process.”
  • “Some 12 million people, many of whom lack other access to credit, take out the short-term loans each year, researchers estimate. Payday loans — so called because they are typically used to tide people over until their next paychecks — often entangle borrowers in hard-to-escape spirals of ever-growing debt, according to the consumer bureau.”
  • “The new rules limit how often, and how much, customers can borrow. The restrictions, which have been under development for more than three years, are fiercely opposed by those in the industry, who say the rules will force many of the nation’s nearly 18,000 payday lenders out of business.”
  • “Until now, payday lending has been regulated by states, with 15 already having made the loans effectively illegal. In more than 30 other states, though, the short-term loan market is thriving. The United States now has more payday loan stores than McDonald’s outlets. They make around $46 billion a year in loans, collecting $7 billion in fees.”
  • “The payday-lending rules do not require congressional approval. Congress could overturn the rules using the Congressional Review Act, which gives lawmakers 60 legislative days to nullify new regulations, but political analysts think that Republicans will struggle to get the votes needed to strike down the regulations.”
  • “Under the new rules, lenders will be allowed to make a single loan of up to $500 with few restrictions, but only to borrowers with no other outstanding payday loans. For larger or more frequent loans, lenders will have to follow a complex set of underwriting rules intended to ensure that customers have the means to repay what they borrow.”
  • “The restrictions would radically alter the short-term lending market. The number of loans made would likely fall at least 55%, according to the consumer agency’s projections.”
  • “That would push many small lending operations out of business, lenders say. The $37,000 annual profit generated by the average storefront lender would instead become a $28,000 loss, according to an economic study paid for by an industry trade association.”

Worthy Insights / Opinion Pieces / Advice

Bloomberg Businessweek – Fighting the Toxic Nightmare Next Door – Susan Berfield 9/28

  • “A radiation-riddled landfill in St. Louis, Trump’s EPA, and two moms who won’t let it go.”

NYT – Thoughts and Prayers and N.R.A. Funding – David Leonhardt, Ian Prasad Philbrick, and Stuart A. Thompson 10/4

FT – The price of paid news may not stay high – John Gapper 10/3

  • “Google could soon bundle information like a cable television company.”

FT – Lloyds and the HBOS time bomb – Jonathan Ford 10/4

  • “When Lloyds took over its rival bank in 2009, it also inherited the legacy of massive fraud. Its response? To dismiss the victims and any evidence of wrongdoing.”

Markets / Economy

Bloomberg Businessweek – Springsteen Tickets Hit $10,000, and Wall Street Gets Scalped – Laura J Keller, Eben Novy-Williams, Bob Van Voris, and Katherine Burton 9/25

Health / Medicine

Vox – I was skeptical that the anti-vaccine movement was gaining traction. Not anymore. – Julia Belluz 10/3

  • Texas K-12 nonmedical exemptions.

Entertainment

Bloomberg Businessweek – Hollywood Is Scrambling to Replace Chinese Funding – Anousha Sakoui 9/26

  • “In the past six months, Hollywood has seen film financing deals worth more than $1 billion unravel as Chinese investors and some hedge funds move away from funding movies.”

China

Bloomberg Businessweek – China Unleashes Its Farmers – Kevin Hamlin, Dexter Roberts, and Pi Xiaoqing 9/26

  • “To boost the earnings of China’s 230 million rural households, Beijing is rolling out reforms that allows farmers to profit from their land, even while barring private ownership.”

Europe

FT – Spain courts suspend planned Catalonia parliament session – Michael Stothard 10/5

  • “The Spanish courts have ordered the temporary suspension of a special session of Catalonia’s parliament scheduled for next Monday where regional officials were expected to vote on making a unilateral declaration of independence.”
  • “While the session may still happen in defiance of the courts, the move highlights how Madrid is doing everything in its power to prevent the region from making formal its promises to break away from Spain following Sunday’s referendum.”
  • “If independence is declared on Monday, Spanish prime minster Mariano Rajoy will likely be forced to resort to the so called ‘nuclear option’ of using article 155 of the constitution, which allows them to suspend the region’s autonomy and remove officials from office.”
  • “Mr Rajoy has so far been reluctant to use this powerful device, despite pressure by hawkish members of his own party. On Thursday, however, he promised ‘greater evils’ on the Catalan government if they go ahead with declaring independence.”

Japan

WSJ – Daily Shot: Deutsche Bank Bank of Japan Ownership of Japanese ETF Market 10/5

September 25, 2017

Perspective

BBC – ‘Monster’ fatberg found blocking east London sewer 9/12

  • “A 250-metre long fatberg weighing 130 tons has been found blocking a sewer.”
  • “The solid mass of congealed fat, wet wipes, nappies, oil and condoms formed in the Victorian-era tunnel in Whitechapel, London.”
  • “Thames Water described it as one of the largest it had seen and said it would take three weeks to remove.”
  • “The company says fatbergs form when people put things they shouldn’t down sinks and toilets.”

VC – Which Cities are Fueling America’s Craft Beer Boom? – Nick Routley 9/23

Worthy Insights / Opinion Pieces / Advice

WSJ – Americans Are Richer; Why Are They Still Cautious? – Justin Lahart 9/21

  • “Getting richer doesn’t make people spend like it used to. That should give the Federal Reserve less to worry about when it comes to consumers, but more to worry about when it comes to asset prices.”
  • “Lifted by rising home prices and a buoyant stock market, U.S. household net worth reached a record $96.2 trillion in the second quarter, the Fed reported Thursday, up $1.7 trillion from the first quarter. That compared with $68.2 trillion a decade earlier, just before the recession hit. The wealth-to-income ratio hit a new high of 670%.”
  • “But if households are feeling flush they aren’t acting like it. Consumer spending has been tepid, and people have been far less willing to tap wealth to fuel spending than they used to be. Bank of America Merrill Lynch estimates that for each dollar gain in housing wealth, people increase their spending by just two cents, versus five cents in the mid-1990s. For stock gains, the figure has slipped to one cent from four cents.”
  • “There are few likely reasons for the change in behavior. First, people don’t put as much trust in the staying power of wealth gains. The big stock market drops following the dot-com bust and the financial crisis are hard to forget, and the housing bubble ended the old notion that home values are safe. Second, a greater share of U.S. stock market and housing wealth is concentrated in the hands of the rich, who don’t boost their spending in response to wealth gains as much as other people do. Finally, tighter lending standards have made it more difficult to tap into housing wealth than it was before the financial crisis.”

Finance

WSJ – Daily Shot: Goldman Sachs – BOJ Slowing Purchase of JGBs 9/22

China

WSJ – Daily Shot: Natixis – Relative Scale of China Investment in the Middle East 9/22

WSJ – Daily Shot: Natixis – China Capital Projects in the Middle East 9/22