Tag Archives: China

Chinese Government Suspected of Stock Market Manipulation

After two days of massive losses that triggered worldwide economic downturns, the rally of the Chinese stock market is leading investors and analysts to suspect government manipulation of the market.

The Shanghai Composite Index has been in free-fall over the last three months.  The index fell 11.8% in August.  A five-session selloff drove the Chinese market so low that markets around the world tumbled in response.

Then suddenly Thursday, the Chinese market jumped 5%.

And again Friday.

Investors began to suspect government intervention in the market, with the government quietly buying up stocks with newly printed money from the Chinese Central Bank.  The Chinese government is promoting a big celebration for the 70th anniversary of World War II next week and analysts believe they wanted investors in a good mood ahead of the events.

The market is closed September 3-4 for a national holiday.

“If the government sustains buying there are terribly negative consequences, such as impact to [People’s Bank of China’s] credibility and yuan credibility…Any bank can create money out of thin air, which is why confidence is so important,” David Cui, a strategist for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, told Marketwatch. “So if they keep printing money to buy high valued stocks, it will damage yuan credibility.”

“What’s happening is an act of desperation by China and it starts dragging down other countries with it,” said Bill Stoops, chief investment officer with Dragon Capital, told the L.A. Times. ”China’s police state economic model is falling apart.”

Sinkhole Swallows Five People in China

A sinkhole opened under a bus stop in Harbin, China, pulling five people into the hole.

Bystanders helped the victims who fell 10 feet into the hole.  The victims suffered mostly minor injuries to the feet, legs, arms and shoulders.

Video of the incident was captured by the closed circuit camera of a nearby noodle shop showing one of the victims hanging on to pipes to avoid falling into the hole.  The bus stop sign also fell.

Chinese officials say they do not know the cause of the sinkhole.

Dow Snaps Losing Streak with Large Gain

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) snapped a six day streak of major losses with a huge gain in Wednesday, finishing more than 600 points higher than Tuesday’s close.

The index ended the day at 16,285.51, up 619.07 points or an increase of 3.96%.  The Standard & Poor’s 500 was 3.9% higher at 1,940.51 (up 72.90 points) and the NASDAQ was up 191.05 points, or 4.24%, to finish at 4,697.54.

The market actions also caused the policymaker for the federal reserve, William Dudley, to quietly backtrack on indications that an interest rate increase would be coming in September.  Dudley now is implying the rate is likely to increase in October.

The markets around the world were mixed, with Europe down Wednesday after increasing on Tuesday and China’s Shanghai exchange finishing 1.3% lower on a day of erratic trading.

Analysts are trying to play up what they call good economic news for the U.S. as an indicator a Chinese downturn will not impact the overall economy.  The Commerce Department announced orders for durable goods increased 2% in July and that consumer confidence and new home sales were also up during the month.

“People need to see that the U.S. economy is still okay and that China is not going to fall apart,” said Keith Lerner, chief market strategist for SunTrust, told the Washington Post.

The market losses have been crushing to most Americans who have invested in stocks.  Collectively, over $2.1 trillion in value was lost during the six day market decline, and it brought the largest selloff in 75 years.

The Economic Collapse Blog: BLACK MONDAY: The First Time EVER The Dow Has Dropped By More Than 500 Points On Two Consecutive Days

On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 588 points. It was the 8th worst single day stock market crash in U.S. history, and it was the first time that the Dow has ever fallen by more than 500 points on two consecutive days. But the amazing thing is that the Dow actually performed better than almost every other major global stock market on Monday.  In the U.S., the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both did worse than the Dow. In Europe, almost every major index performed significantly worse than the Dow.  Over in Asia, Japanese stocks were down 895 points, and Chinese stocks experienced the biggest decline of all (a whopping 8.46 percent). On June 25th, I was not kidding around when I issued a “red alert” for the last six months of 2015. I had never issued a formal alert for any other period of time, and I specifically stated that “a major financial collapse is imminent“. But you know what? As the weeks and months roll along, things will eventually be even worse than what any of the experts (including myself) have been projecting. The global financial system is now unraveling, and you better pack a lunch because this is going to be one very long horror show.

Our world has not seen a day quite like Monday in a very, very long time. Let’s start our discussion where the carnage began…

The Economic Collapse Blog – The Economic Collapse Blog: BLACK MONDAY: The First Time EVER The Dow Has Dropped By More Than 500 Points On Two Consecutive Days

Wall Street Ends the Day Down Despite Early Gains

Investors were hopeful on Tuesday as U.S. stock seemed to have early gains, but those gains were reversed and U.S. stocks ended down within the final 30 minutes of trade.

Trading on Wall Street was voluminous . S&P 500 was down 1.4% even after a late selloff that gained them 2.9% earlier today.

The day ended with the Dow Jones industrial average falling 204.91 points, or 1.29%, to 15,666.44.  The NASDAQ Composite lost 19.77 points and S&P 500 was down 25.59 points, it’s biggest loss since 2011.

“You saw a knee-jerk drop and a knee-jerk recovery and now people are thinking about it,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial in Waltham, Mass.

The Chinese central bank cut interest rates by 0.25%, making the one-year lending rate 4.6%. The reason was “aimed at lowering corporate borrowing costs and to ensure enough liquidity for stable credit growth.”

“I think it’s a real good start, but it’s on the low end of what the markets were looking for. It indicates China has stepped off the idea that markets will go it alone, and instead the government will support them. It’s not a question about how much assistance there is, now that they’ve made the commitment, it will be enough [to quell market sentiment],” McMillan stated.

Despite these efforts to boost China’s equity markets, the Shanghai Composite lost 7.63% and Japan’s Nikkei fell 3.96%.

The price of oil barely rose, but the slowdown in China kept prices from rising significantly. The price of copper rose 2.3%, but the values of both gold and silver fell.

Stock Market Rebound Falls Short; Down Over 500 Points

The attempted rally in the stock market after opening 1,100 points lower eventually ran out of steam and led to a loss of over 500 points.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed the day 588.47 points lower, or a 3.6% decline, to finish at 15871.28.  The S&P 500 fell 77.68 points, or 3.9%, ending at 1893.21.  The Nasdaq Composite fell 179.79 points, down 3.8%, to 4526.25.

The Dow at one point rallied more than 800 points after the largest one-day decline during intraday trading but ran out of steam at the end of the session.  Mutual funds and hedge funds began to scoop up cheap stocks that led to the initial rally and moderation of market bounce-back.

“When a big selloff comes, it tends to be herd mentality,” said Ryan Larson, head of U.S. equity trading for RBC Global Asset Management, told the Wall Street Journal. “But once that herd gets out of the way, there can be some very good buying opportunities.”

One investment advisor tried to downplay the significance of the fall by saying the U.S. economy is strong.

“Stock prices have dropped sharply and fears have increased sharply,” said Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones. “But it’s really important to keep in mind while stock prices have changed and obviously emotions have changed, fundamentals for the U.S. haven’t changed. Even with China selling sharply and emerging markets selling off, we’re still seeing solid U.S. economic growth.”

Although one market advisor says fear is now in control.

“Fear has taken over. The market topped out last week,” said Adam Sarhan, CEO of Sarhan Capital, told CNBC. “We saw important technical levels break last week. Huge shift in investor psychology.”

The markets were heavily impacted by China’s massive 8.5% decline which sent the market into negative territory for the year.  Other world markets were rocked by the action:  Japan’s Nikkei fell 4.6%, the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 fell 5.3%, Germany’s DAX fell 4.7% and is now 20% below an April peak.

The Dow had entered what is considered a market correction on Friday, falling 10 percent from a recent peak.

The stock that drew the biggest attention at the market opening today, Apple, rallied from falling below $100 a share to finish at $103.07, just over $2.00 a share lower from Friday’s close.

U.S. Stocks Attempting to Rally after 1,100 Point Plunge

U.S. stock markets are attempting to rally after a massive 1,100 point plunge at the opening of today’s market attributed to the crashing of the Chinese stock market.

After opening to the biggest one day loss in the history of the economy, investors are starting to buy back in an attempt to save the market.  As of noon central time, the Dow has rallied back to 16,325.00, a drop of 134.55 points, or a 0.81% decline.

The massive drop at the opening was attributed to the sell-off in China that has crashed their stock market.  The Shanghai Composite Index fell 8.5 percent, the worst one day fall since October 2007.

The drop was so significant that the official Chinese news agency used the term “Black Monday.”

The drop in China is causing significant amounts of civil disorder.  Millionaires who flew into Shanghai over the weekend for meetings were attacked by crowds as they tried to leave their hotel.  The head of an exchange that trades in metals was captured by angry investors and brought to police as they demanded their money be unfrozen.  Police later released him without charge.

“China is definitely the No. 1 cause for concern globally and Europe is not far behind,” Peter Kenny, chief market strategist at Clearpool Group, told fox Business. “The speed at which this market has moved sharply lower is an indication panic is driving all investment decisions. If you haven’t positioned yourself for volatility and seasonal weakness, you’re behind the 8 ball.”

The selloff in America was driven in the tech sector.  Facebook fell 7% at the opening, Twitter, NetFlix and clean car maker Tesla Motors all tumbled at the start.  Many are rallying through the day.

Historic Drop on Wall Street at Opening Bell

Investors are bracing for an incredibly ugly and volatile day on Wall Street today as China closed to their own version of a “Black Monday” and the Dow dived over 900 points at the opening bell.    Oil Prices plunged below $40 a barrel. At this moment we are down 6% and have lost 1000 points on the DOW.  

Experts agree that the market in China, the uncertainty on the interest rate and the effect of cheap oil are causing this slide.  Many are stating that there must be something more happening to cause this type of market descent.  

China’s market last dropped this low in 2007.  And is down more than 40% in the last two weeks.  This is being called a Market Crash by most of the financial community.  

Jim Bakker & Team Go Live Today at 8:00 AM CT

Due to breaking news in China this morning and what they are calling their “Black Monday”, the Team and I will be going Live on the Internet at http://jimbakkershow.morningsidechurchinc.com/watch-us-live/ and on the PTL Network on ROKU this morning beginning when the stock markets open.   You can also stay tuned all day on our web site at Jimbakkershow.com where we will keep you informed on what we feel will be an incredibly volatile day on the international markets around the world.  

God Bless you!

Jim Bakker   

Stocks Fall on Concerns over Oil Prices, Fed Minutes

The stock markets fell more than one percent under pressures from low oil prices and the uncertainly from the Federal Reserve over the raising of interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was over 300 points lower Thursday after a 163 point drop on Wednesday.  The pace means the DJIA will have its worst day since losing 350 points on June 29th.

Markets around the world were impacted as well.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 0.9%, the Hang Seng index in Hong Hong off 1.8%, the Shanghai composite in mainland China down 3.4%, Germany’s DAX off 2.3% and the CAC 40 in Paris off 2.1%.

“I think the oil and the geopolitical problems are the real problems for the market because we’re looking at lower global economic growth, and lower global growth is going to weigh on the U.S. as well,” Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital, told CNBC.

Some analysts, however, say that the movement by China last week to devalue the Yuan over two consecutive days is also impacting the market.

“There is heightened uncertainty that began with yuan devaluation last week, while overall China’s growth is slowing faster than thought. This is weighing on confidence,” Randy Frederick, managing director of trading & derivatives at Schwab Center for Financial Research, told CNBC.

(Update 8/20/1015 at 4:48PM CT: Since this story was originally reported the dow has dropped 2% and is currently at 358.04.)