Art Cashin, of UBS, interview.

On Chinese growth and the massive fraud driving the economy:

China is very perplexing because it's not just your debate about what do we know about the Chinese banking numbers. What do we know about the Chinese numbers as a whole? There is a great deal of cynicism about how valid some of these numbers are. The feeling is in the regional districts, they don't want to look bad in front of the powers that be. So if they're supposed to come in with certain numbers, those numbers come in. This has the potential to be Enron-esque on a national level. Is it so? I hope not. But I will tell you there are enough people around looking and saying this number doesn't actually add up with that. I mean, Japan is no slouch. But they're not showing exporting at anywhere near the level that China's showing. So there's an inconsistency in the region as to what's going on.

ZeroHedge.com article

What was the Empire State Building thinking???

Honor China, Not Its Communism

The Empire State Building this week will illuminate red and yellow, celebrating China's 60 years of communist rule. There are many things to appreciate about China, but communism isn't one of them.

What was the Empire State Building thinking in lighting up in celebration of China's long communist rule?

article

China says US is dumping those chickens!

China: complaints on US chicken dumping justified

BEIJING (AFP) – China said Sunday it had grounds to start a formal anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation into American chicken meat imports, as tensions persist following President Hu Jintao's visit to the US.

The Commerce Ministry announcement said an initial examination that began two weeks ago into domestic chicken producers' concerns had grounds and officials would now formally investigate the US imports.

"The ministry had carefully evaluated the applications... and decided to start an investigation into unfair trade practices such as dumping and subsidies of chicken products imported from the United States," it said.

Oaktree Capital Management to Receive $1 Billion from China Investment Corp.

A Los Angeles investment firm has come out a big winner in the battle among some of world's best-known money managers vying for a slice of cash from China's sovereign-wealth fund.

China Investment Corp., which is doling out billions of dollars as it tries to profit from a global economic recovery, has committed to invest about $1 billion with Oaktree Capital Management LP, people familiar with the matter said. The big allocation comes as the Chinese fund stands poised to make a wave of investments directly into hedge funds around the world.

WSJ Article

Oaktree Capital

Obama slaps tariffs on Chinese tire imports for 3 years

President Barack Obama has decided to slap punitive tariffs on all car and light truck tires entering the United States from China.

Accordingly, Obama sides with the United Steelworkers and against free trade interests within and outside the government.

This is a risky economic and foreign policy strategy. Increasing Chinese imports of American chicken meat already have been mentioned by Chinese state media as a possible retaliatory target. Also, Beijing could sell some of its extensive holdings of U.S. Treasury debt.

A recent Washington Post editorial opposed Chinese tire sanctions.

China no longer likes the risks associated with the derivatives markets

China delivered a blow to some of the world’s biggest investment banks on Monday as it declared its support for legal efforts by some state-owned companies that want to break loss-making oil derivatives contracts with foreign institutions.

The state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council said it was investigating a number of derivatives deals and would help companies find ways to “minimise losses”.

The move is the latest by Beijing to clamp down on the over-the-counter derivatives market after a number of state companies made disastrous bets on commodity prices and foreign exchange movements, losing billions of dollars.

But it will be greeted with dismay by foreign financial institutions, already reeling from a July decision by China’s banking regulator that sought to prevent state-owned enterprises from accessing the overseas derivatives market through domestic intermediaries.

Financial Times article

Markets hit by China commodity default

A report that Chinese state-owned companies will be allowed to walk away from loss-making commodity derivative trades provoked anger and dismay among investment bankers on Monday as they feared it may set a damaging precedent.

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the regulator and nominal shareholder for state-owned enterprises (SOEs), told six foreign banks that SOEs reserved the right to default on contracts, Caijing magazine quoted an unnamed industry source as saying in an article published on Saturday.

While the details of the report could not be confirmed, it was Monday's hot topic in financial circles from Shanghai to Singapore as commodity marketers feared that companies holding underwater price hedges could simply renege on the deals, costing banks millions of dollars in profit.

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