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The Currency King

The dollar started the big rally in July last year and are getting stronger and stronger. The dollar Index Spot (DXY) is now trading at 94,7450. Up 0,31% today. It`s been a safe heaven so far while the precious metal is still in the bearish market, struggling to break out from its downtrend. Will the dollar remain strong?

It`s all about the world of global payment were one currency is growing, and it has increased in global payment over the last two years. The change in percent is +266%! That marks the distance between the currency and its leaders. What currency is that?

Stack of $100 bills

According to BIS (Bank for International Settlements), it has moved from No 13 where it accounted for 0,6% of the global payments. Now, it`s up to No 5 with 2,2% of payments of the same currency. What about the leaders? At the end of 2014, 40,2% of global payments were in euros and 33,5% of the payments were in U.S dollars.

A big distance up to the leaders which is 1,827,3% up the Euro and 1,522,7% to the U.S dollar. That`s not gonna happen any time soon, and the government doesn`t want that to happen anyway I think. The currency I`m talking about is yuan of course. Or…..

Many things can happen in this world, You`ll never know. Game-changers can be Ukraine, Russia, Greece or Fed`s interest rate hike to name a few. Historically, we know that currency shares could shift rapidly, as it did between the world wars. What we see happens in Europe now is not good.

If the demand for the yuan goes up it will kill the Chinese economy and their growth will stop. Chinese exports comprised 26,4% of Chinese GDP in 2013, according to World Bank. Five years ago it was 26,72%, so it haven`t changed much. This why it is important for China to control their currency, because a rising demand for yan would affect their export and make them sell less products to the rest of the world. They can`t afford that because selling their products is important for them.

But what about the U.S citizens? When the demand for a currency increase, the value of the currency will go up. Just like the dollar since July last summer. It`s good for the consumers in the country with the rising currency because they can buy foreign goods at a cheaper price.

On the other hand. It`s not good for the businesses in the country with the stronger currency because they will sell less of their goods to other countries, because their goods cost more when they are priced in other currencies.

This is a double-edged sword that makes this issue a political hot potato right now.

All the central banks are talking about this issue right now, and the Chinese government pegs its currency to the U.S dollar. In an effort to stabilize is exchange rate, everyday China sets the official rate at which yuan can be traded for dollars. The yuan is allowed to fluctuate within a 2% band around the official exchange rate.

This combination of a peg and a floating rate is meant to allow market forces to work, and not go overboard. The Chinese allow flexibility, but only on their terms, and that takes us back to the issue of a rising currency.

Export is very important for China, and if they want yuan to rise in global payments, they need to make yuan more available for foreign entities. But a rising demand for Chinese currency on the world market would lead to upward pressure on the exchange rate for yuan, which the Chinese government controls. Many people blamed China for being a currency manipulator a few years ago, but that would World Trade Organization set a stop for.

A rise in yuan will hurt the Chinese export, which account for a quarter of their GDP.

To make it worse. Once sufficient amounts of yuan were available away from China, more of their currency would trade outside of their governments control. Offshore yuan trading already occurs. In this unpegged environment, the yuan is free to move against other currencies based on market conditions without constraints.

More offshore trading will make the Chinese governments to lose control over the exchange rate, and thereby lose the ability to set one of the most important components of its very large export business.

While the Chinese might rail against the U.S dollar from time to time, and might even talk about how the yuan should occupy a more prestigious place among world currencies, it makes little sence for a country that uses a command economy to turn control of its currency over to international forces.

The yuan will not be the worlds currency leader tomorrow or anytime soon.

 


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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Shiny bull. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Shiny bull nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Shiny bull and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

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1% of the world’s population will own more wealth than the other 99% by next year

Did you say financial crisis? What crisis? Since the financial crisis the number of billionaires has more than doubled, according to Oxfam International. They has calculated that in 2014 the richest 85 people on the planet owned as much as the poorest half of humanity.

Last year the richest 85 people saw their wealth increase by half a million dollars every minute, and seven out of ten people live in countries where the gap between the rich and poor is worse than thirty years ago.

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Today there are 16 billionaires in sub-Saharan Africa, alongside the 358 million people living in extreme poverty. Every year, 100 million people are pushed into poverty because they have to pay for health care.

The executive Director of Oxfam International, Winnie Byanyima released the new report «Richest 1% will own more than all the rest by 2016» yesterday, and she says;

Extreme inequality isn`t just a moral wrong. We know that it hampers economic growth and it threatens the private sector`s bottom line.

The combined wealth of the richest 1 percent will overtake that of the other 99 percent of people next year unless the current trend of rising inequality is checked. Oxfam warned today ahead of the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.

Byanyima will use her position at Davos to call for urgent action to stem this rising tide of inequality, starting with a crackdown on tax dodging by corporations, and to push for progress towards a global deal on climate change.

Wealth; Having it all and wanting more; a research paper published yesterday by Oxfam, shows that the richest 1 percent have seen their share of global wealth increase from 44 percent in 2009 to 48 percent in 2014 and at this rate will be more than 50 percent in 2016. Members of this global elite had an average wealth of $2.7 million per adult in 2014.

Of the remaining 52 percent of global wealth, almost all (46 percent) is owned by the rest of the richest fifth of the world’s population. The other 80 percent share just 5.5 percent and had an average wealth of $3,851 per adult – that’s 1/700th of the average wealth of the 1 percent.

Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Oxfam International, said: “Do we really want to live in a world where the one percent own more than the rest of us combined?

Twenty percent of billionaires have interests in the financial and insurance sectors, a group which saw their cash wealth increase by 11 percent in the 12 months to March 2014. These sectors spent $550 million lobbying policy makers in Washington and Brussels during 2013. During the 2012 US election cycle alone, the financial sector provided $571 million in campaign contributions.
Billionaires listed as having interests in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors saw their collective net worth increase by 47 percent. During 2013, they spent more than $500 million lobbying policy makers in Washington and Brussels.
Oxfam is concerned that the lobbying power of these sectors is a major barrier in the way of reforming the global tax system and of ensuring intellectual property rules do not lead to the world’s poorest being denied life saving medicines.

Pope Francis and Christine Lagarde (IMF) are among those warning that rising inequality will damage the world economy if left unchecked, while the theme of Thomas Piketty`s best selling book «Capital» was the drift back towards late 19th century levels of wealth concentration.

Oxfam made headlines at Davos last year with the revelation that the 85 richest people on the planet have the same wealth as the poorest 50 percent (3.5 billion people). That figure is now 80 – a dramatic fall from 388 people in 2010. The wealth of the richest 80 doubled in cash terms between 2009-14.

It`s not easy to be rich. Like Jack Ma (Alibaba) said; If you own 1 million you are the luckiest man in the world. If you own 100 million you got headache. If you own 1 billion you have a huge responsibility for the society. Most of the rich end up being philanthropists.

World Economic forum in Davos starts tomorrow.

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Shiny bull. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Shiny bull nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Shiny bull and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

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Low oilprice is good for oil tankers

The oil price continue to decline and brent oil is now trading at $47, and that is bad for someone and good for others. The supply in the oil-market are pushing the prices down and China will profit from that drop.

China said that the first phase of its oil inventory buildup is over. They revealed that they have 91 million barrels stored at four different sites, and it doesn`t stop there. Now they have a second phase of oil inventory accumulation, and has already stockpiled an additional 80 million barrels.

They have revealed that they want to have a reserve of at least 500 million barrels of oil in the next five years. USA`s oil reserves has a capacity of 700 million barrels. It`s good to know their strategic oil reserves because someone will benefit from that.

Oil tanker companies are happy for the declining oil prices and only a few months ago many of them couldn`t even cover their operating cost which is about $20,000 a day. Rates on the Asian route have gone straight up, trading at an average near $100,000 per day. Spot rates is about $60,000 to $70,000 a day.

This is a level not seen since 2008, and some of the world largest oil traders are hiring supertankers to store crude at sea, Reuters reports. In 2009 at least 100 million barrels of oil ended up being stored at sea. Some of the biggest trading firms have booked crude tankers for up to 12 months.

Storage

Some shipping sources consider the flurry of long-term bookings unusual and suggest that traders could use the vessels to store excess crude at sea until prices rebound. A strategy that was popular in 2009, trading gambit when prices last crashed.

The oil is floating at sea and it`s all stored on oil tankers that is waiting for the oil prices to go up again. When will the oil price turn up again and how long will those tankers wait out there in the sea?

Frontline (FRO) is up 243% in just three months amid speculation that a plunge in crude prices is spurring demand for the vessels to store cargoes. Nordic American Tankers (NAT) is up 65,1%, which owns 20 Suezmax crude oil tankers.

fro

If you think that the oil prices will go up again, then you must set a stop-loss on your Velocity Shares 3X Inverse Crude ETN (DWTI), which is up 380,5% in three months. An ETN you should buy in July last summer, trading at $22,25. It`s up 2,38% so far today, trading at $185,32. This is one of my favorite ETN`s.

Frontline Ltd is a shipping company that is engaged in the ownership and operation of oil tankers and oil/bulk/ore, or OBO, carriers, which are configured to carry dry cargo. It operates oil tankers of two sizes; VLCC`s and Suezmaxes. The stock is down -11,23% so far today, so when to jump in is the big question.

It can be too early right now. The selloff in oil was sparked in part by lower estimates from Goldman Sachs, which slashed its 3 and 6 months Brent forecasts to $42 and $43 a barrel respectively from $80 and $85. Goldman also cut its longer-term estimates on Brent.

Goldman sees crude bottoming in Q2, which means jumping in now could be too early. In a report, they said $2 trillion of future oil investments are threatened due to falling crude prices. That`s up 100% from December 2014.

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Shiny bull. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Shiny bull nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Shiny bull and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

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Merry Christmas and happy new year!

Shyinybull.com will be back on January 2015. Don`t forget our Fan Fund; https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fan-fund-tickets-13539614351

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Cyber Monday Sales – Biggest E-Commerce day ever!

Cyber Monday is a marketing term for the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. The term «Cyber Monday» was created by marketing companies to persuade people to shop online. It all started on November 28, 2005.

Cyber Monday online sales grew to a record $2,68 billion, compared to last year`s $2,29 billion. However, the average order value was $124, down slightly from last year`s $128.

Online sales on Monday climbed to a new record high, and the sales came in at $2,68 billion, and that is the best online spending day ever. It is also the first to surpass $2 billion in sales.

The weekend after Thanksgiving was popular for online shopping too. The sale was up 26% compared to the same time last year. It seems like this online shopping will continue to post new historical highs, and that reflects the ongoing strength of online shopping.

IBM says that the online sales jumped only 8,5% this year compared to last on Cyber Monday. This is less than last year when online sales jumped more than 20% by its measure.

Some belive it`s a change in shopping behavior and not a lack of consumer demand. It is a larger shift toward online buying as mobile phones spur the practice known as «showrooming». People tend to go to the store to see the products and buy them, or a similar product online. Price is a very important trigger here. Why spend some time to go to the shop if the price is lower online?

Cyber Monday is the busiest U.S online shopping day of the year, and that title is held since 2010. Walmart said it received the most online orders in its history on Cyber Monday. Mobile made up about 70% of the traffic to its website between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.

This is called Cyber Monday, so how is the online marketing? Is it working?

Social Media did very little to boost sales this year driving only 1,5% of sales. According to IBM, Facebook referrals drove an average of $109,94 per order compared to $100,24 for Pinterest. Facebook referrals converted online sales at more than twice the rate of Pinterest.

What really works better is e-mail marketing which was the primary driver of sales on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday beating the usual winner; search. Companies sent out 11% fewer e-mails this time, but the e-mails were more targeted.

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Shiny bull. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Shiny bull nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Shiny bull and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

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