New U.S. ‘stealth’ warship could deploy in Asia, Navy says

"An enormous, expensive and technology-laden warship that some Navy leaders once tried to kill because of its cost is now viewed as an important part of the Obama administration’s Asia-Pacific strategy, with advanced capabilities that the Navy’s top officer says represent the Navy’s future.
The stealthy, guided-missile Zumwalt that’s taking shape at Bath Iron Works is the biggest destroyer ever built for the U.S. Navy.
The low-to-the-water warship will feature a wave-piercing hull, composite deckhouse, electric drive propulsion, advanced sonar, missiles, and powerful guns that fire rocket-propelled warheads as far as 100 miles. It’s also longer and heavier than existing destroyers — but will have half the crew because of automated systems.
“With its stealth, incredibly capable sonar system, strike capability and lower manning requirements — this is our future,” concluded Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations, who gave the warship his endorsement on a visit last week to Bath Iron Works, where the ships are being built..."

at http://stratrisks.com/geostrat/5476

CHART: Asia's Share Of Global GDP: 1700-2050

"This is from Andrew Sheng of the Fung Global Institute and it was part of a presentation given at the INET conference.

Fung Global Institute

at http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-asias-share-of-global-gdp-1700-2050-2012-4?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+clusterstock+%28ClusterStock%29#ixzz1s2odM5SI

London Trader - Fed’s Global War Against Gold Escalating

"With many global investors still rattled by the price action of gold and silver, today King World News interviewed the “London Trader” to get his take on these markets. Here is what the source had to say: “Gold was trashed on Monday, while the Fed minutes essentially said nothing. When a central bank coordinates that kind of attack, it’s war, of course it’s war. This type of action is coordinated by Bernanke and the Fed and executed by the bullion banks. It’s actually laughable if anyone thinks that was a legitimate selloff, on what was, in reality, no news.”

The London Trader continues:

“No legitimate market participants were really selling. Sure there were some stops that were taken out, but it was the bullion banks that came in with their selling and this was what suddenly created the air pockets.

There is massive sovereign physical buying going on right now. Interestingly, the sovereign buying is being swamped by paper selling. Sovereign buyers are aggressively buying tonnage every day at these levels. You have to remember their goal is to pick up physical and get rid of dollars. Nothing has changed. 

Interestingly, the Asian buyers have figured out the algorithms, like breaking an enemy’s code in war, and they are using the algorithmic trading to get the best prices each day for physical gold at these levels. The trading is just taking place at lower levels because these bullion banks and the Fed, which manage the price of gold, get overzealous in their price fixing.

But there will be a huge price to pay for their activity..."

at http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/4/5_London_Trader_-_Feds_Global_War_Against_Gold_Escalating.html

READ MORE

Guest Post: Four Signs Of Asia’s Rise Over The West

"Most westerners refuse to believe it. They can’t envision an era in which the west doesn’t lead the world… in everything. And yet, that time is already upon us. Perhaps nowhere is this more pronounced than in finance:

1) Hong Kong, from whence I write this missive, has been home to the most public offerings in the world ever since overtaking New York in 2009. In 2010, more than $57 billion was raised in Hong Kong IPOs, roughly twice as much as New York.

From Italian luxury house Prada to the luggage maker Samsonite to Swiss metals house Glencore to the US handbag maker Coach, big names have been attracted to Hong Kong. Rovio, the creator of the popular Angry Birds game, is expected to list in Hong Kong as well.

Whereas it was once the obvious choice to list in the US (or London), Hong Kong has now become the best option for most businesses seeking public capital.

2) According to the Financial Times’ Banker intelligence unit, Singapore leads every other major financial center in the world in financial sector foreign investment.

The top three, in fact, are Singapore, Dubai, and Hong Kong. Singapore receives more financial sector foreign investment than New York, London, Frankfurt, and Switzerland combined.

Money goes where it is treated best… and the market is telling us that Singapore is the right destination.

3) According to a new study from the Inter-American Dialogue, China is now dominating emerging market development finance, especially in Latin America.

In the past, countries like Brazil, Ecuador, and Venezuela went to the World Bank and IMF when they needed money. But now these vestigial organizations of the old western hierarchy are becoming a sideshow to Chinese financial muscle.

The study shows that, since 2005, Chinese banks have loaned more money and made more loan commitments to Latin America than the World Bank and International Development Bank combined… and they’re doing it at higher interest rates.

Why? Because developing nations have figured out that when you take the World Bank’s money, you have to put up with them telling you how to run your government. Chinese bank loans don’t come with political strings attached.

It’s extraordinary that this is happening in the US’s backyard.

4) The most obvious sign of Asia’s rise is the perhaps now forgone conclusion of China’s currency becoming a new global reserve option to compete with the dollar and euro.

Every month it seems, there is a new move to loosen China’s once-strict currency controls and open up– new central bank currency swaps, renminbi (RMB)-denominated futures contracts in Chinese exchanges, the introduction of RMB accounts at non-Chinese banks, non-Chinese companies issuing bonds in RMB, etc..."

at http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-four-signs-asia%E2%80%99s-rise-over-west

READ MORE

Decline Watch: Asia now leads the world in centa-millionaires

"North America's 1 percent are not pulling their weight, according to a new study by CitiGroup. Boomberg summarizes:

The number of Asians with at least $100 million in disposable assets overtook North America’s tally for the first time as the world’s “economic center of gravity” continued moving east, Citigroup Inc.’s (C) private bank said.
There were 18,000 “centa-millionaires” in Southeast Asia, China and Japan at the end of 2011, compared with 17,000 in North America and 14,000 in Western Europe, the bank said today in The Wealth Report 2012, published in partnership with Knight Frank LLP..."

at http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/30/decline_watch_asia_now_leads_the_world_in_centa_millionaires

READ MORE