The Institutional Risk Analyst

The difference between the Western markets that settle predominantly in cash and Asian markets where physical delivery is the norm is fundamental. A growing number of global central banks are moving their physical gold out of the US because of the erratic behavior of Donald Trump. They fear expropriation of their gold by a future government in Washington.

We took some of our profits in gold last month, but will be adding to our positions in silver and related miners not dependent upon acid leaching to produce metal. We'll leave the second and third-tier arbitrage trades to the big research houses. In addition, we'll also be updating the WGA Bank Top 100 this weekend.

The latest turn of events in Washington has left the Saudis and Israelis profoundly annoyed. The US kicked over the hornets nest in Iran, but now Washington is seeking peace even as the Iranians continue to attack the Gulf states. A few ships carrying LPG for Pakistan have been allowed through the Strait after paying Tehran the extortionate sum of $1 per barrel, payable either in Chinese yuan or bitcoin.

Whenever you hear the magic words "blockchain" and "digital tokens," it's a good guess that whatever follows is nonsense.

Now let’s take a look at how some members of the banking and fintech sector are doing in the first month of 2024.

Our view is that China has been caught in a debt deflation for the past five years.

The world of secured finance is still coming to grips with the idea of several more increases in the federal funds rate this year.

A nation of 1.5 billion souls is being held hostage by a criminal gang called the Chinese Communist Party.

China and American are more linked than ever and despite the bluster of President Trump...

In the case of both Uncle Xi and President Trump, we should remember the words of George Orwell in his 1944 classic, Animal Farm: A fairy story: “Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

In December this past year, Chinese lender Citic Bancorp warned that the high-flying HNA Group was having trouble paying its considerable short-term debts. After building a $40 billion pile of investments around the world largely funded with debt, HNA seems to have reached the end of its ability to grow further, both in financial and political terms.