Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Another Fruitless Pilgrimage to Beijing

Marco Polo traveled the Silk Road to develop trade and cultural links between the West and China.  My, how things have changed.  Now the West's leaders head to China to kowtow before the Middle Kingdom:

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner embarked on a previously unscheduled trip to China as the world’s third-largest economy weighs letting its currency appreciate.


This trip was "unexpected" only to those who are willfully blind to Uncle Sam's unfundable debt burden.  China will entertain our Secretary and ask him which part of our empire we are prepared to surrender in exchange for the possibility of maybe allowing the yuan to appreciate just a teensy bit more.  China is moving its chess game along by raising the yield it offers on three-year bills:

China’s central bank will sell three-year bills for the first time since June 2008 at a yield of 2.75 percent, according to a survey of traders.
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Asian markets are responding in kind to this news by selling off.  Lots of Asian exporters are undoubtedly worrying about replacing the U.S. with China as their primary export market and eventual hegemon.

Nota bene:  Anthony J. Alfidi is long FXI (with a short straddle) at the time this post was published.