Pity the poor reporters covering the summit of “G-20” finance ministers and central bankers in Shanghai this weekend. They’ve got nothing to write about. On the first day yesterday, “China has sought to assure global finance ministers about the state of its slowing economy,” reports the BBC.
Yawn… stretch.
Well, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told us not to expect thrills ’n’ chills. There would be no crisis response at these sessions because… there’s no crisis.
Really?
Sounds like a fine entry point for this week’s edition of 5 Things You Need to Know — our Saturday countdown of the most important themes in the weekday 5 Min. Forecast…
If there’s no “crisis” per se… how about the precursors to one?
On the very day Secretary Lew pooh-poohed the suggestion of crisis, we got hints of crisis from the very sectors of the economy the mainstream was telling us were still in great shape. Here’s a reality check.
click2.dailyreckoning.com/t/DQ/jyI/l78/AAZ-0w/K4U/AAI0vQ/AQ/4vhu
Heck, even some of Secretary Lew’s fellow elites are worried.
The likes of Citigroup and the International Monetary Fund are wringing their collective hands. And their measured words belie a much scarier reality.
If cheap mortgages were the lubricant for the last financial crisis… what will grease the next one?
We got a hint one day six months ago. We unspooled the implications in Monday’s 5. click2.dailyreckoning.com/t/DQ/jyI/l78/AAZ-0w/K4U/AAI0wQ/AQ/1krc
Now they tell us: One of Wall Street’s most innovative strategies in recent years might go “horribly wrong.”
At the same time, traders with Ph.D.s and scads of computer power are performing the financial equivalent of picking up pennies in front of a steamroller. What happens when someone gets run over?
click2.dailyreckoning.com/t/DQ/jyI/l78/AAZ-0w/K4U/AAI0xg/AQ/JQDS
And finally…
What happens when the cops carry out an “inspection of business records” with a SWAT team?
In at least one case, tragedy. And it’s certain to happen again.
click2.dailyreckoning.com/t/DQ/jyI/l78/AAZ-0w/K4U/AAI0xw/AQ/b3so
Best regards,
Dave Gonigam
The 5 Min. Forecast