FN: China is dumping dollars, but far more cleverly than you might think.
Immobilienblasen has noticed a rather curious tendency for China to overpay in "China Inc." Deal Premiums. What exactly is that all about?
Well, imagine you had a bunch of money… err… US dollars for example. You’ve also got a bunch more of these US dollars coming in daily. You don’t believe they will hold their value. So you don’t really want them. That is quite a problem.
The first trick is to get rid of them… without actually seeming to get rid of them. The second trick is to get rid of them in such as way as to not destroy their value…. yet.
The single best way to do this of course is to use your US dollars to buy hard assets. This looks "normal". It isn’t nearly as obvious as "diversifying" your currency reserves. China is doing exactly that. The "China recovery" story is nothing of the sort. The Chinese demand for commodities is not a function of economic growth but rather a function of hoarding. There are Consequences to this Phantom Commodity Bull Market which will become apparent soon enough.
China has been buying into oil with size and at a premium. This has analysts puzzled:
"Sinopec’s offer is equivalent to $34 a barrel of proved reserves and $14 a barrel of proved and probable reserves. The African transaction average in 2007, when the average crude price is similar to current prices, was $14.40 a barrel for proved reserves and $9.90 for proved and probable reserves, respectively. On a proved basis, the 2007 average suggests $3.1 billion total value for the deal. Therefore, $7.2 billion implies a 135% premium."
But when it becomes obvious to investors the world over that a US dollar devaluation is the only possible way to manage the kind of debt burden the US has accumulated, those premiums will vanish instantly. Oil quoted in US dollars could easily make new highs beyond $147 in such a scenario. China will not only have safe guarded the wealth of its
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Philip R. Davis is a founder Phil's Stock World, a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders...
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