Interesting but probably meaningless
August 30th, 2010
| Tags: Interesting, meaningless, probably
Geopolitical intelligence firm Stratfor has picked up rumors that PBOC head Zhou has defected.
While that would be very interesting news and a story that would likely make a good novel, it won’t likely change Chinese monetary policy very much, if at all.
Stratfor concludes that Zhou was under pressure for loses suffered in US Treasuries. Exactly how China could have lost much in Treasuries is a mystery…They are within a fraction of their all-time highs in terms of price right now…
It will likely add to the risk-averse mood until the dust settles, however.
Aziz, my friend, are you online???
And the rumor is PBoC lost $430 billion on US Fannie and Freddie GSE bonds. Total nonsense, if you ask me.
Not possible the amounts is $430 bln. Their total treasury holding are something like $830 bln…I assume it is a typo…
Looks like the rumour mongering and rebuttals are power games within the upper echelons of the Chinese leadership. No connection with markets, at least so far. Btw, the article says he lost $430 BILLION – almost half a trillion!
Thanks Ping!
Zhou appeared on local TV tonight. A subtle rebuttal. They’re smart, aren’t they?
Maybe they’re figuring he shouldn’t have sold them and didn’t they buy Greek paper?