Quote from Ivanovich:
Interesting report from IFR:
"The twin deficits drumbeat has subsided a bit in recent weeks as the US continues to suck in unprecedented amounts of foreign capital, far in excess of its monthly needs. But listening to the strategists and media, one would assume that the US is by far the biggest debtor in the world. In absolute terms it is, owing to the colossal size of its economy, but on a deficit to GDP basis, it comes off quite favorably compared with its European rivals. From this morning"s GDP report, our economists calculate the US deficit/GDP ratio at 2.9%. A year ago, the ratio was 3.8%. Compare that the France, Germany and Italy which have chronically missed the 3.0% cap for the last 3-4 years and will likely do so again next year. Just today, Italy announced a "goal" of 3.8%. All things considered, not too bad for the greenback."
And which "Long Term Trend" would you say is "sharply down"?
Lastly, can you please verify what source you use to determine that dollar shorts have all been cleared out?
Ivan,
all these threads are a perfect example of how "price makes news" and not vice-versa.
And those who happen to be on the right side of a move, look like geniouses. Like people being long TZOO during its parabolic run-up. Or oil longs 2 months ago. Or nowadays GOOG bulls (hint: wait until it finally gets into SP500 and see what happens next).
On the USD issue:
If those "unprecedented amounts of foreign capital" cited in IFR were "real" savings, then I argue that foreign central banks wouldn't have to absorb almost HALF all US debt issuance (go look at the auction results). Plus all the agency paper (FNM) which Fannie has been unloading. And do so by printing fresh counterfeit money (not all of it, but most of it).
And this artificial, government created, demand by FCBs is in addition to the fund flows due to tax-free corp profit repatriation of 2005.
What is private US capital doing? It's flowing out of US for several years now. Recent stats showed that 30-40% (depending on country) of EU stocks were held by US citizens.
And where exactly are those "unprecedented amounts of capital" being parked ? Both US stocks and bonds are flat or LOWER than 1yr ago. Compare this to e.g. the meteoric rise (15-30%) of EU stocks and EU bonds yields being at all time lows, which proves "real money flows".
Also, go look the projected new debt issuance by US for 1Q06. Go look at the savings rate in US (negative for several quarters now). Look at the savings rate in EU or Asia. And think about the consequences of having to pay back accumulated debt with more "valuable" dollars.
When comparing debt/GDP, keep in mind the US GDP data are imo in the same category with CPI, unemployment etc (i.e bogus gov stats, comparable only with itself through time).
Having said, with confetti currencies and politicians in the middle, it's very hard to make long-term projections.
But for such policies to work, sheeple cooperation is necessary:
E.g. USD/JPY touched 79 ten years ago and it's now almost 117. Commodity index in Yen is up over 60% YTD. Incredible erosion of the buying power of their savings. Talk about boiling a frog alive.