Some folks are saying it’s “too quiet” out there on Wednesday morning, although European shares look to have picked up a little bit of steam.
Asia was flat because Xi Jinping spoke for eight straight hours with no water and without blinking at the 19th Party Congress. I’m just kidding. But he did speak for more than three hours and although it is impossible to “summarize” a three-and-a-half hour speech with bullet points, here’s Bloomberg’s best effort:
- Real economy needs to be improved
- China poised for modestly prosperous society
- China and world in period of complex changes
- Housing is for living not speculation
- Says “no country can afford to retreat into self isolation”
- China to expand middle- income group
- Chinese military to become world’s first-class force by 2050
- Markets reaction is muted with yuan guided a touch higher
- Shanghai Composite Index up 0.3 percent with environmental shares standing-out
There you go. Here’s a bit more:
Xi’s speech — officially known as the party work report, China’s most important policy document — included sections on politics, the economy, national defense, foreign policy and Hong Kong and Taiwan. He reiterated the goal of attaining “moderately prosperous society” by 2020, which has helped drive economic policy over the past five years.
Xi also laid out an ambitious plan to make China a “great modern socialist country” over two stages in the following 30 years — part of what he has called the “Chinese dream.”
By 2050, he said, China will become “a global leader in terms of comprehensive national strength and international influence” with the rule of law, innovative companies, a clean environment, an expanding middle class, adequate public transportation and reduced disparities between urban and rural areas.
North Korea sent over their congrats. “The Chinese people have made great progress in accomplishing the cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics under the correct guidance of the Communist Party of China in the past and we are greatly pleased over this,” a congratulatory message from The Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of North Korea reads.
After that, Kim said he wants to develop a more robust space program. And yes, I am serious about that one. “The respected Supreme Leader Comrade Kim Jong Un, chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK, stressed that space science and technology and space industry serve as an important criterion for measuring national power and we should manufacture and launch more satellites for various purposes by our own efforts and technology,” KCNA details.
That was Asia. Just the usual: China gradually taking over the world and Kim promising to launch himself into space on homemade satellites. Also worth noting: China’s holdings of U.S. Treasuries rose in August to the highest in more than a year.
“It’s the 30th anniversary of Black Monday, when rising rates, geopolitics and frothy asset prices combined to deliver a very sharp equity market correction,” SocGen’s Kit Juckes writes on Wednesday. “Two of those ingredients are in place today but monetary policy settings and the level of bond yields are at levels that suggest the market soufflé can rise a fair bit more before the inevitable happens,” he adds, before warning that “as for this morning’ ‘it’s quiet, too quiet’ is the only quote that comes to mind.”
Well, don’t worry, Kit. Because Donald Trump is up and he’s already tweeting about Comey and Clinton and Democrats and taxes and Senators – and the sun’s not even up yet.
No wonder China’s so confident they can take over the world.
“It’s the 30th anniversary of Black Monday, when rising rates, geopolitics and frothy asset prices combined to deliver a very sharp equity market correction”
Don’t forget another all-important factor. The dollar fell substantially back then after the G5 Plaza Accord. So more & more capital wanted to exit US. Fast forward 30 years and it’s another similarity between today and the prelude to black monday.