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What would happen if China dumped their treasury holdings?

Would China sell their treasuries?

In this video we discuss the potential impact of China selling their US treasury holdings. With the prospect of the US/China trade war re-emerging this week traders are once again focusing on these two nations. With over 40% of the world’s GDP made up by China and the US these two countries having a trade war impact the whole globe. Watch the video below to find out more:

Interested in finding out about more market moving action that might be ahead?

Felix Dennis on Mistaking Desire for Compulsion

  • Wishing for or desiring something is futile without an inner compulsion to achieve it. Such lack of compulsion, if not frankly acknowledged, can lead to great personal unhappiness. We have all met deeply unhappy souls muddling along in professions or careers for which they are patently unsuited.
  • Worse still, by continually wishing and never delivering, you risk denting your confidence, beginning a vicious downward spiral that appears to draw misfortune like a magnet. The assumption that you might be able to achieve some goal if you only wish hard enough is not just a f***-up. It’s a potential personal tragedy.
  • Consider very carefully whether you are truly driven by inner demons to be rich. If you are not, then my earnest and heartfelt advice to you is: do not on any account make the attempt. What are riches anyway, compared to health or the peace of mind that even a modicum of contentment brings in its wake? In and of itself,great wealth very rarely, if ever, breeds contentment.
  • But no condescension is intended whatever when I ask you to quietly turn over in your mind whether or not you are fit to be rich. Whether the sacrifices involved — not only your own, but those you will ask of your family, present or future — are worth the tyranny that such ambition, by its very nature, exacts.
  • ‘Better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all,’ drones the old saw. But in this instance, the cliche is wrong, utterly wrong. Better to have chosen a different life, a quite different path, than have placed yourself and those you love in harm’s way when early reflection and thought could have advised you differently. I repeat: do not mistake desire for compulsion. Those that do nearly always fail, at great cost to themselves and those around them.

Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve

This book is comprised of a series of edited interviews with George Soros, and is broken up into 3 parts. The first part is about his investing. He talks about his family history, investment philosophies and theories, his early times as an analyst on Wall Street, and the Quantum Fund. He talk about how his theories were related to some of his real trades, specifically the Japanese stock market, the Mexican market, and the British Pound.

The second section deals with his views on (and participation in) politics. He talks about philanthropy, the geopolitics of Europe, diplomacy, and open societies. The third section of the book deals with philosophy and talks about some of his personal writings.

This book was fun for me to read since it was about hedge funds back when hedge funds were pure – before they were contaminated by Wall Street. Since this book is about Soros the person, and not Soros the investor, a significant portion of the book is devoted to politics and philosophy, and not investing. Although these topics are not out of place, most people will be less interested in this stuff since they are more interested in his investments.

Since Soros talks about his theories (specifically his theory of reflexivity), this book could be considered a more philosophical version of Alchemy of Finance. Hence, this book will appeal to traders/investors looking to ponder their personal investing philosophies. Although Soros tries too hard at times to make every statement sound profound, the timeless philosophical topics he brings up lends the book substantial (as well as lasting) value. This is due to the fact that a majority of traders will always lose money. When novice traders are unable to achieve success, it is best for them to step back and ask fundamental questions, like “why do I trade?”. But most don’t do this, and this book can help with that.

Consequently, the most important lesson that can be extracted from Soros’s market philosophies is that it is important to HAVE market philosophies. When I wrote my “How to Become a Trader” checklist, I said that one of the first things you should do is to write down your philosophies about the markets. This catches some prospective traders off guard since it is something that they’ve never thought about.

Top US-China trade negotiators plan phone call as soon as next week – report

US and China are planning to speak soon after Trump threatened to call off the trade agreement overnight

The Bloomberg report says that top negotiators from both countries will speak as soon as next week on progress in implementing the Phase One trade deal following threats from US president Trump about the agreement.
Chinese vice premier Liu He will be on the call with the US to be represented by Robert Lighthizer, according to people familiar with the matter.
Things are certainly heating up as the US and China are also dueling on the coronavirus crisis, so this just adds to the strained tensions between the two sides at the moment.
This will add to one of the key things to watch out for in the week ahead.
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