Swiss May Ban Electric Cars- Credit Suisse Rescue- Banks Can’t Lose?- US Bans Chinese Tech Imports - Chinese in WEF- Comfortably Numb — Trapped by Psychopaths - [12-03-2022]

Direct from BOOM Finance and Economics at the links below - Note - BOOM uses American English whereas AP uses British English

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THIS WEEK’S EDITORIAL

SWITZERLAND MAY BAN ELECTRIC CARS:  Switzerland has poor energy security, receiving up to 40% of its electricity supply from external sources, especially France and Germany. If that supply is threatened (as it currently is), the Swiss have indicated that they may ban the use of electric cars (EV’s).

Under the proposed action plan, the use of EVs in the country could be banned except in cases of “absolutely necessary journeys.” This would presumably be only a temporary measure to cope with energy shortfalls.  However, it is a dramatic illustration of the need to recharge electric vehicles from either nuclear or fossil fuel sources. Windmills and solar panels cannot possibly fuel all of Europe, especially in harsh winters.

CREDIT SUISSE RESCUE:  Credit Suisse (CS) is Switzerland’s second largest bank. It desperately needs capital to survive. Last Wednesday, Credit Suisse shareholders approved a 4 billion Swiss franc ($4.20 billion) equity placement. As a result, Saudi National Bank will end up with 9.9% of the company. SNB is the largest commercial bank in Saudi Arabia as measured by total assets.

Current shareholders also agreed to a rights offer that gives existing investors the option to buy 889 million shares at 2.52 francs per share. Their investment rights will be linked to the size of their present holding.

Saudi National Bank shareholders include the Public Investment Fund of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (37.57%), The Vanguard Group (1.93%) and Blackrock (1.41%). All other shareholders hold less than 0.5% of the company. The General Public is the biggest shareholder block (56.0%). Institutions hold only 6.4% and individual insiders hold 0.05%.

The bank operates through 506 branches in Saudi Arabia, as well as four overseas branches in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and the Republic of Singapore. The company was formerly known as The National Commercial Bank and changed its name to The Saudi National Bank in April 2021. It is publicly listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange, the Tadawul.

BOOM has been worried about CS for some years now. This link to the Saudi National Bank will help it find a new future. However, over the last two weeks, the share price in New York has plunged from a High of US $4.20 to a Low of US $3.00 during last Thursday’s trading session. On Friday, it recovered to $3.38 but the bounce was far from convincing to BOOM’s jaundiced eye.

BANKS CAN’T LOSE?  The share price for Saudi National Bank has fallen 37% since May this year.  It has been in a steady downtrend since August 10th. Investors will get to vote again next week on the Credit Suisse deal by either selling stock or buying stock. It will be a tense week for management. BOOM will watch closely. A sharp turnaround in trend will be a good sign for the future but a further decline will indicate a lack of faith in the CS deal.

The share price for Credit Suisse has dropped by 80% over the last 2 years. In 2007, on May 4th, the share price was at US $80. The long plunge from $80.00 to $3.00 has created huge capital losses for patient, long term investors.

Who said that banks can’t lose? Prudence and judgement are required in banking. These two qualities are absolutely essential for long term success. Unfortunately, in some cases those qualities can be a lost art in the business of banking especially if more and more risk is taken to play “catch up” when a bank realizes that its loan book is suspect. The reality is that banking is a particularly risky business if bad loans and trading risks are not controlled rigorously.

US BANS CHINESE TECH IMPORTS:  Last week, it was announced that the United States has banned the import and sales of new telecommunications equipment from China’s largest manufacturers. Apparently, the reason given was that they pose “an unacceptable risk” to US national security. To BOOM, this sounds like adding insult to injury.

The United States has already comprehensively lost the “trade war” with China initiated by Donald Trump. The then President began the trade war in January 2018. China’s Exports to the US were then at $US470 Billion. They are now running at around $577 Billion, an increase of 23%.

China’s Imports from the US in 2018 were about $15 Billion per month and are now running around $12.8 Billion, a decrease of 15 %.  In other words, China is selling more goods to the US and buying less over the last 4 years. China has found other sources for its imports while increasing its exports to the US during the so-called trade war.

Trump’s policy has been a disaster for America. Other countries have taken note and are increasingly reluctant to trade with the US. The US Trade Deficit just continues to worsen over time. The deficit in goods worsened considerably in October as exports fell. The goods trade deficit rose to US$99.0 billion in that month, as reported by the Commerce Department on Wednesday, 30th November.

Nobody told Trump that the US could not win the trade war with China. Nobody explained to him that their major export is in fact the US Dollar. He thought he could win votes with his “let’s attack China” rhetoric. That was a short sighted view.

His often repeated “China Virus” references to the Covid virus will also backfire soon when the truth about the funding and development of the synthetic virus and the unsafe and ineffective “vaccines” is more fully revealed. He received poor advice on both matters but Trump should have suspected that he was being set up to take the fall on both counts.

If they decide to retaliate on the trade front, China could easily deny the US essential goods and stop US companies from selling their products in the Chinese market. A company such as Tesla, for example, would be badly hurt by such a decision. Tesla is now China’s third best-selling electric car maker after BYD and SAIC. It is the only foreign company in the top 15 list. That position could be lost quickly if China wanted to change policies.

It is apparent that both Biden and Trump do not care about companies such as Tesla who are trying to build market share in China, a market with a population almost 5 times that of the USA. They both appear to suffer from the current Western disease of Virtue Signalling without any concerns for the economic consequences.

RUSSIA — CHINA TRADE BOOMING:  Meanwhile, trade between Russia and China is booming, It has increased by 30% in the last year. Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Chernyshenko, said “China is our key trading partner. Despite external challenges, our relations are developing in all directions. The main task for the coming period is to consolidate the positive dynamics of trade growth,”

And early in 2022, Beijing’s ambassador to Moscow expressed hope that bilateral trade could hit $200 billion this year. The first 9 months has resulted in $129 Billion of trade. It looks like they are on track to exceed $180 Billion for calendar year 2022.

CHINESE IN THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM (WEF):  Subsequent to last week’s BOOM editorial on the World Economic Forum (WEF), BOOM was sent a list of 163 prominent Chinese people with close connections to the WEF. They are Alumni members of the WEF Global Shapers program. Included in the list are academics from many universities (some in the USA), artists, bankers, pharmaceutical executives, business people, health experts, investment managers, technologists, IT experts, Media (mostly television), politics (one, a member of the Central Committee of CCP).

The key question here is this. Who do these people work for? Do they work for the people of China? Or do they work for the technocratic, capitalist, transhumanist corporations from the West who are deeply connected to the WEF?

BOOM was also sent a list of WEF young leaders currently in the WEF “Global Shapers” program. There are 300 young Chinese listed from most of the major cities in China including the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Hong Kong.

In total, the Global Shapers program includes 9,743 “shapers” in 481 locality “Hubs” that exist in 150 Nations. There are 5,248 “Alumni” listed.

The World Economic Forum also has its Young Global Leaders Program. The current list in 2021 had 13 Chinese names with 12 extra new “leaders’ appointed from mainland China that year.

Close connections to the WEF indicate a strong adherence to globalist, corporatist agendas as promoted by Klaus Schwab. BOOM cannot see how the Chinese government will continue to tolerate such connections.

And, by the way, Western nations should also take note. The plans of the WEF are also anathema to the spirit of democracy and freedom.

Global Shapers —  https://www.globalshapers.org/

COMFORTABLY NUMB — TRAPPED BY PSYCHOPATHS:  BOOM readers should turn to The Burning Platform to read the article there by its founder, Jim Quinn, titled “We Are Trapped By Psychopaths”. It is a tour de force of observation about the world we all live in today. It is mainly referring to the world as we know it in the Western “advanced”, “free”, “democratic” nations.  Some excerpts —

·         “it almost appears as if I’m living in a highly scripted reality TV program where the characters and plots are designed to create passions and reactions to support whatever narrative is being weaved by those directing the show.”

·         “relentless mass propaganda (is) designed to mislead, misinform, and brainwash a dumbed down and government indoctrinated populace”

·         “The State is run by an eager group of psychopaths who are hell bent on destroying our civil society and common culture on behalf of globalists attempting to implement their Great Reset agenda, and enforcing it through technological surveillance, mind control through propaganda messaging, and strict management of the daily plot via mainstream media and social media censorship of the truth.”

·         “Despite the obvious dangers and failures of these “vaccines”, those bullied into getting jabbed became so comfortable in their ignorance, they were easily persuaded to hate the unjabbed and wish for their deaths.”

·         “Whether we are trapped in an artificial world produced in a dome, cave, or our current technologically advanced surveillance propaganda state, the goal of those controlling our false reality is to take away our freedoms, crush dissent, keep us ignorant of the truth, and treat us as plebs to be taxed and moulded.”

·         “Smart phones, smart cities, and smart streets are nothing more than code for spying on you and controlling you. “

·         “We’ve lost all sense of reality, reason, and truth in a profoundly abnormal world, created by those we allowed to ascend to power through the control and influence of shadowy globalist billionaires operating as an invisible government, with Deep State apparatchiks doing the dirty work.”

Reference: https://www.theburningplatform.com/2022/12/02/we-are-trapped-in-a-truman-show-directed-by-psychopaths/

In economics, things work until they don’t.  Until next week.  Make your own conclusions, do your own research.  BOOM does not offer investment advice. SUBSCRIBE - FREE AT BOOM:  http://boomfinanceandeconomics.com/#/

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BANKS DON’T TAKE DEPOSITS, THEY BORROW YOUR MONEY: LOANS CREATE DEPOSITS — that is how almost all new money is created in the economy (by commercial banks making loans). https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/quarterly-bulletin/2014/q1/money-creation-in-the-modern-economy Watch this short 15 minutes video and learn as Professor Richard Werner brilliantly explains how global banking systems really work.

AND Watch for 4 minutes, this Bank of England explanation: Money is essential to the workings of a modern economy, but its nature has varied substantially over time. This video describes what money is today.

Most economists are unaware of this and even ignore the banking & finance sectors in their econometric models.  EMAIL: gerry{at}boomfinanceandeconomics.com

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