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Asian shares fall as panic grips world markets

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It was about time for a correction.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Yes long overdue, but still annoying . Just closed a bunch of equity market shorts and went long dollars. timing really poor.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

JeffLee

It was about time for a correction.

Right. What goes up comes down.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

as they await news of more intervention from Beijing to rescue its free-falling markets

Let the free-falling markets fall, then they will be free markets. That's what is needed. Investment shouldn't be directed by how much money governments are borrowing and spending, or central banks are printing.

Then we might even see the world return to more decent rates of growth, for a change.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Let the free-falling markets fall, then they will be free markets. That's what is needed. Investment shouldn't be directed by how much money governments are borrowing and spending, or central banks are printing.

Good luck with that, a junkie will give up his heroin long before the government will give up their checkbook, they can't get enough of spending other people's money. There will never be a free market, because people are too chicken$hit or too stupid to value freedom, they trade their freedom for safety and security, and end up with no freedom, no safety, and no security.

It was about time for a correction.

What if it is more than a "correction"?

Umpteen trillion dollars, yen, and euros deficit-spent to pump up the world's economies, and what has come of it? Almost no economic growth, stagnant wages, and the world's number two economy carrying world's largest burden of private debt, which has been spread throughout the world's markets. China is the largest consumer of Japanese exports, what happens if that dries up? China is a huge buyer of foreign property and assets, what if they stop buying?

We see the same conditions which fueled the housing bubble before 2008. The financial crisis was caused by easy money to high risk buyers fueling an overpriced housing market. How we have easy central bank money and low interest rates pumping up stock markets to record levels despite nearly neutral growth. And please, no BS about companies "sitting on piles of cash". I am not sitting on piles of cash, and my company is one of the few I know which is profitable.

Oil prices are a good indicator of economic performance. When economies are strong, they produce, transport, consume, and travel, all of which require energy. Oil prices are often the voice of the market, and can give us a more reliable picture of what is going on that the politicians and bureaucrats with their carefully massaged numbers reporting GDP growth and unemployment. Oil prices are painting a pretty bleak picture right now. And though prices have been lower for some time, it has still not resulted in increased consumption. It is alarming.

If another financial crisis occurs, what will our fearless leaders do? Interest rates are already at near-zero rates, and Keynesian "pump-priming" has resulted in immense amounts of public debt. They of course will never do what should be done, and that is to get their sticky and incompetent hands out of our economies, which are quite capable of running without their interference. But that is the last thing they will ever do.

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

At least here in the USA, three things need to be done:

The income tax is in dire need of a drastic overhaul. We need a tax system that is easy to understand, far less costly in terms of yearly compliance and economic opportunity costs, and encourages savings and capital formation staying in the USA.

Business regulations need to be simplified. There are too many regulations on the books that are unneeded and/or obsolete and need phasing out.

Re-impose the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act to effectively shield bank assets from the mercurial stock market. After all, the 1987 US stock market crash and 1997-1999 Asian financial crisis didn't faze the US economy, mostly because banks were still safe.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

There will never be a free market

I remain optimistic! Politics is like a pendulum, it sways back and forth (except in Japan, where they follow whatever politicians are doing overseas). We'll see freer markets again.

Oil prices are a good indicator of economic performance.

True, but in the short term there could be some degree of speculation built into the price, which might be unwound, no?

The US is producing more of its energy needs by itself, which is a factor.

They of course will never do what should be done, and that is to get their sticky and incompetent hands out of our economies, which are quite capable of running without their interference.

China is a different story, but fortunately elsewhere we have elections (although again, I'm not claiming voters in Japan have a clue about any of this).

0 ( +3 / -3 )

London FTSE 100 is up 2.27% morning trade, Aus ASX up 2.6%, But Shanghai comp down 7.1%, there appears to be little or no control over oil and commodity prices. The notes being spoon fed from China market regular pin the blame on quote China's surge in 'irrational selling' and 'panic sentiment', imposing swingeing caps and restrictions on share selling, large scale exit selling have been banned for 6 months.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

China's market is like a black box - there's no transparency; nobody knows what exactly is going on! (Except maybe only the C-government knows.) That's what frightens the other markets - people are afraid of things they can't understand; they just have to take the C-government's word on what's happening.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Some intervention from BofC, B/mark interest rates cut by a 0.25 of one %, single year lending rate to 4.6%, single year deposit rate to 1.75%. BofC has also lowered the Reserve Requirement Ratio, the liquidity banks can funnel into the economy.

Oh what a difference a day makes Europe equity markets have made their biggest gains since 2011. A side effect is the Euro has been thrown off a cliff. Markets are just about to wake up in the US, it eye down for a full house. intervention from the

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Sorry missed a whole sentence brain in neutral, Dow +2.57. Nas +3.35, S&P +2.72%, she who hesitates is lost, when to take the plunge, I brough/auto the UK tech stocks last night, BT (BT.A) leading the pack this morning... FX wise Yen/dollar is sill ¥119ish headaches for Taro Aso, toys off the table time there..... "I would say they are rough, rather than rapid, for the economy to grow stably, it's better for (currency and stock price) moves to be gradual and steady, rather than rough".....That was Taro san opening gambit at today's cabinet meeting.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Mark my words, Nikkei will be back up to 19,500 by the end of the year. Time to invest and make a quick profit.

I am not sitting on piles of cash, and my company is one of the few I know which is profitable.

How many employees to you have?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

True, but in the short term there could be some degree of speculation built into the price, which might be unwound, no?

Steel production is also significantly down, and steel production is an even stronger indicator of real market conditions than oil or other commodities.

The "correction" we are seeing is probably not significant, at least not yet, but the seeds for a larger scale collapse are there.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

When is everyone going to learn, the banks and stock markets are a controlled system by the system. It's all about making a profit, you can be sure a lot of people are going to make a lot of money, and sure a lot of little investors will lose out, in this so called panic. One quarters results in China are supposed to have started this, a slow down by their economy ??? they haven't even tapped into their domestic market yet. Stock market panics and bank recessions are a manipulated process. Commodity market prices are falling and thats not good for the big business giants, so lets take a step back, relax, things are never going to change, for the banks and the stock markets its just business as usual. Because your world governments and politicians are never going to put regulations in place to prevent this merry go round of manipulation.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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