Quote from darkhorse:
One way or another, China's currency, bad debt and growth issues are going to have a massive effect on EVERYone's economy. The US has a debt leverage problem of similar scale.
This is why intermediate term forecasting is so tough; we don't know which variable is going to dominate and for how long.
The worse the scenario gets, the crazier extremes governments and central bankers will take to stop a meltdown. If the risk is averted or bypassed, you have the leftovers of mass stimulus juicing the market. It happened with the preemptive Y2K liquidity rush and it's happening again now w/ Asian buying of US treasuries.
If China's currency and economic situation starts looking ready to wreak havoc, we could see a "blowoff top" in terms of coordinated government intervention - or no holds barred government brawling - that could make currencies and metals go insane (gold and silver are already getting warmed up).
If it ends badly, LTCM and Argentina will look like kid stuff in comparison to the grand spectacular.