Economy & Banks

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/barclays-makes-500m-betting-on-food-crisis-8100011.html

commodities trading ... been going on since the dutch tulip bubble of 1637

they have made a rather startling headling out of it though !

Outrage as bank revealed to be major speculator while millions face starvation

or they might have actually have kept wheat prices down

^ +1

Slightly annoyed that you summarised my thoughts so well.

The problem with commodities trading these days is that when someone gets too much control on a single commodity they can set the price as they please.
Cocao is a recent example.

looks like the dude has already eaten about £300mn's worth

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1295608/Choc-finger-Meet-real-life-Willy-Wonka-Anthony-Ward-whos-just-bought-incredible-658m-cocoa-beans-.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

The purchase has surprised commodity dealers because, in a highly unusual move, Mr Ward’s firm has actually taken delivery of the beans.
It's like Trading Places all over again. Lets hope he gets screwed like Mortimer and Randolph

The problem with commodities trading these days is that when someone gets too much control on a single commodity they can set the price as they please.
Cocao is a recent example.

Pfft! Dan Ayckroyd and Eddie Murphy did that back in 1983 with Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice (FCOJ).

#moviesarereal

he did, of course...

Some interesting points from an RBC bond strategist...

While everyone stares at Frankfurt and the last ditch effort of Mr. Draghi there have been other events which are part of this play and merit your attention. Austria has come out and stated quite succinctly that no more Austrian money will be used for other countries; any other countries. Yesterday the Netherlands stated in absolute terms that no more of their money will be used for Greece. If the condition of any ECB funding is to be the approval of the EU and the use of their Stabilization Funds then what the Mario Draghi is proposing may never come to pass, may never happen and may just be a rhetorical exercise in wand waving. If the EU refuses to fund Greece, Spain, Italy et al then under the current apparent plan, the ECB would do/could do nothing but sit and flail in the wind. I suppose that the ECB could step-up and buy all of the debt of Europe and declare the nations of Europe a “Debt Free Zone” and perhaps the markets would rally on a $100 trillion ECB but then Germany, being accountable for 22% of the ECB would have a liability of $22 trillion with an economy of $3.55 trillion but the number would never get counted in Europe because it is a contingent liability except that those who fund are not quite that dumb and some have gotten the punch-line earlier than others and are not funding now. The “condition” of all of this promised ECB funding may prevent it being actualized and this seems to be something that almost no one is taking into account.

A Frightening Possibility

To me, the world seems askew at present. China is in serious decline, Europe is in recession. The markets rally based upon the supposed three Saviors of the world, the central banks of the United States, Europe and China and so the worse that it gets the larger the rally as the central banks will ease and ease again until some kind of wall is hit. The financial markets rest upon two tenets which are the focus of the market and the perception of those funding. The Great Depression is largely thought to have been sparked by the failure of an Austrian bank. We have watched Dexia, Bankia and several Austrian banks go by the wayside already and so far the markets have ignored the pattern of warning. Spain is going to be forced to the till and if funding is cut off and then if Italy arrives in the same line and various nations refuse to fund then we have arrived at the place where the rock meets the hard place and where hopes and prayers run dry

us national debt now ............... $16,159,487,013,300.35.

$ 64,637 USD per head of population approx.

http://www.zerohedge.com/

And what's the annual cost of servicing that debt, per head of capita? Terrifying. Even with a 1.613pc yield on 10-year bonds, that's got to be costing them dear.

the answer ironically is σεισαχθεια (seisactheia)

Wouldn't work:

The seisachtheia laws immediately cancelled all outstanding debts

yikes my calculator just doesn't have enough 0's !

calculators for the 21st century need loads of noughts don't they

When is China going to buy the US?

Do you reckon they'd let me have some of the nicer bits to ride my bike around?

If things carry on as they are then China will be in no position to buy much of anything. Many people think that the US could step in to become the factory of the world once more. Firms are beginning to make things again, and the outlook is far from rosy red in China. The world is skint, isn't buying things, so China can't make and sell them - so it doesn't have the cash anymore to keep constructing unnecessary cities.

Well someone has all the money.. if it's not China then maybe Ill Kim or his brother/sister/mother might

Russia.. they were always keen on the US..

The money's still out there, but it's not circulating, not being spent.

If things carry on as they are then China will be in no position to buy much of anything. Many people think that the US could step in to become the factory of the world once more. Firms are beginning to make things again, and the outlook is far from rosy red in China. The world is skint, isn't buying things, so China can't make and sell them - so it doesn't have the cash anymore to keep constructing unnecessary cities.

Plus China is becoming more expensive, and the other nations with a lower cost base are starting to take the manufacturing projects.

Interesting times.

Who are cheaper than China now? India? Middle East? Liverpool?

africa ...... as always

how come they don't get involved in bubbles / new technology / anything to do with economics ?

all they seem to do is minerals / raw materials and as we all learnt at school there isn't a huge amount of money to be made from raw materials ... it's the processing of raw materials where the moneys at and anglo american / xtrata / glencore and china seem to be taking all that profit

Do they have much going in the way of manufacture? Like, I imagine China to be one giant factory and Africa to be a giant safari park. Not having been to either, you see?

Thailand, Brazil, India for some stuff I think