Brazil is making a national commitment to develop energy resources located far offshore in the South Atlantic. Indeed, no nation has ever advanced such an ambitious plan for long-term comprehensive offshore development. And it's being bankrolled by China. Much of Brazil's South Atlantic development will require drilling wells in waters up ...read more

Recently, China announced that it favours the reinstallation of the Special Drawing Rights as conceived originally by the Bretton Woods System.  In its capacity as the present day largest holder of US bonds, it is in their interest to ensure the security of their investments. But on closer look, there ...read more

Sometimes you have to just stand back and admire the extremes a real bubble can produce. What you have now, as Bill explained a few nights ago at the Doomer's Ball, is the last greatest bubble of them all, the bubble in U.S. bonds. It's reaching staggering levels. How do you ...read more

“In my own case, the Depression brought a strange result,” writes Eddie Cantor in 1931. “Before the crash, I had a million dollars, a house, three cars and four daughters. Now all I’ve got left is five daughters.” Eddie Cantor (1892-1964) was a comedian, singer, songwriter and actor. “Banjo Eyes,” as ...read more

The Federal Reserve came out and pretty much said that we are going to sacrifice the dollar and attempt to inflate equities markets for just a little bit longer.  Is this a surprise?  Not at all, but the inevitable implications of the coming crash of the U.S. dollar have been set ...read more

“KNOW THE ENEMY, know yourself,” said Sun Tzu (“Master Sun”) in Chapter Three of his ancient work called The Art of War, “and victory is never in doubt, not in 100 battles.” Not in 100 battles? That is a lot of battles, and so this old martial prescription is ...read more

"CHINESE APPLAUD Ex-official's Execution," reads the headline in a recent edition of the Los Angeles Times. And in a place like Los Angeles, home to Hollywood and much of the world's entertainment industry, they know something about the meaning of applause. When something does not work for the moguls of ...read more

One of the big questions now being debated is, "What would happen if China were to dump its entire Treasury portfolio in one fell swoop?" Caroline Baum addressed that question in “China Doesn't Steer the U.S. Interest-Rate Ship” : “Like a highly contagious virus, fear that foreigners will dump all their ...read more

THE HEADLINE says a lot, so let’s start with that: “China ASAT Test Called Worst Single Debris Event Ever.” This is the lead into an article in the Feb. 12, 2007, issue of the authoritative McGraw-Hill publication Aviation Week & Space Technology. The term “ASAT” refers to the Chinese test ...read more