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This work started back in 1988, not long after the 87 crash. Important people were asking some very serious questions about the timeline of the world monetary system. They expected a long term evolving report that would expand ongoing events into a format of true life context.I cannot offer the full report or its complete ongoing analysis. But, the effort you have seen to date is one of sharing somewhat for the common good of all.To the best of my knowledge, the ones that initiated this were major oil producers. Strange as it may seem, the very first questions came from a US natural gas producer in 1985+/-. Later the initiative came from outside the US.The above is from a post that FOA wrote back in 1999, prior to the Gold Trail. In it he apparently explained how, when and why what we know today as "Another's message" began. In the post, he talked about an ongoing and evolving "report" that began sometime around the global stock market crash of 1987, when some "important people" started asking serious questions about the end of the dollar reserve system's timeline, and how best to transport wealth through such a transition. In a later comment, he referred to it as a "study" and confirmed that he was not personally part of it, but that the $30,000 gold revaluation was a projection that came out of this "study". So without further ado, here is that post (highlights, underlines and brackets are my emphasis and contextual notes):FOA (09/13/1999; 09:09:03 MDT - Msg ID: 13518) Reply ORO, Some things I know. This work started back in 1988, not long after the 87 crash. Important people were asking some very serious questions about the timeline of the world monetary system. They expected a longterm evolving report that would expand ongoing events into a format of true life context. A context to be understood at all levels of economic exposure. In other words, it had to do a better job of explaining the (then) recent illogical swings of world economic affairs and the effects of those swings on various national economic groups. Were we progressing into a new, better age, or was our system responding in a death like downtrend? [To put the "swings of world economic affairs" he mentioned into perspective, the world's stock markets had just crashed in October of 1987. The dollar's exchange rate had reached its all-time high of USDX 164 in 1985, followed by the Plaza Accord to devalue the dollar in September of that year, the Louvre Accord to subsequently halt the dollar's devaluation in February of 1987, and the stock market collapse eight months later. Also, the price of oil had just dropped by more than half in 1986, and the Dow reached its all-time high in August of 1987, less than two months before the crash.]Because the questions grew from a fear that the world economy would indeed contract in the future, leaders wanted to know how one could retain the most wealth during such an event. It was thought that if the basic extended family blocks of a nation could survive such a collapse, savings intact, those nations and their children would be a benefit to economic affairs of the future. In effect, negate a possible return to the Dark Ages of European history. Our time frame was outward some 20+ years. I cannot offer the full report or its complete ongoing analysis. But, the effort you have seen to date is one of sharing somewhat for the common good of all. [So Another was involved in presenting this "report" spanning or projecting out 20 years starting around 1988, which was requested by some "important people" who were concerned that the $IMFS would eventually end and wanted to A) make it through with their wealth intact, and B) avoid returning to the "Dark Ages".] In a search for reasoning, they looked first, not only at the most broad perspectives, but ones that had the effects of history for confirmation. Often the record of historical human reactions are the only precedent that can refute the use of modern day financial theory. Especially if that Theory is in a "practice for proof" stage that might last for a generation or more. [So Another and his group thought that it was more useful for the specific purpose of this "report" or "study" (being one focused on a transition period in particular) to favor known historical human reactions over more recent theoretical economic analysis.]1. They found one absolute repeating event that shaped the lives of countless individuals. Its effects upon the destiny and life directions of recent society had no equal. That one most striking and frightening observations was of the failure of paper money. With irony, we stood here in the middle of 1988, a time of advanced thinking using higher education for guidance and could easily document that no paper money ever put into use had ever survived. Whether backed by precious metals or in stand-alone form, not one lasted! Yet, we were hip deep in an entire economic world that based and denominated its wealth upon the further extensions of "fiat paper money". 2. The second major observation was in the evolution of what debt is. From the very beginning of time humans have borrowed and owed, from and to each other. During most of history, the period of time between a debt owed and a debt paid was looked upon as "a period of risk". The accepted longline historical concept was that the item borrowed may not be returned to the owner. In addition to this view it was ingrained that the primary real loss came from not being able to replace the "item" lent, not the secondary loss of not receiving the medium of exchange. Yet in today's world (1999), the "thing" that is usually at risk in a debt is the currency. Modern common perception stands that no one should have to accept these losses. In concept, governments nurture these perceptions only because they "can" replace the currency with ease. Yet the actual physical structure of the debt (the economic good that the loan was based upon) is never regained. This engine alone is a major force in the destruction of currency systems. Its effect is to shrink the platform that creates real wealth and expand the financial instruments whose value depends upon that platform's continued function. Indeed, it is a complete conflict to historical, natural human interactions. From these two grand perspectives we view the unstable trend lines of our modern economic structure. It is from this present structure, that many entities, both large and small now attempt to retreat. But, in order to transport wealth with assets intact, they had to understand these money dynamics as an ongoing breakdown of our economic system. A breakdown that ebbs and flows with a political posturing that makes this journey very uncomfortable without a stable, long term grasp of the process. As the river Nile floods and withdraws in its endless rush for the sea, so too will the energies of paper currencies be eventually absorbed into the ocean of history.
Sacado de los comentarios al artículo de FOFOA:De Antal Feteke, hablando de Barrick (para mal)http://www.321gold.com/editorials/fekete/fekete081106.htmlPero da una explicación corta e ilustrativa de lo que cuenta Another- Foa (¡Fofoa!)Total, Munk inventó el crédito-oro impagable, pero al revés: el comprador de oro presta el dinero garantizado por un oro que no ha sido extraido (o que lo será a precios no rentables), y mientras, el que debe producir ese oro no rentable, acumula una deuda que al final es impagable.
Tal y como describe Fofoa el papel del oro, donde es el soporte transitorio para reconstruir el comercio, después de la que ha montado Munk, me parece que ese soporte no iba a poder asumirlo el oro, porque a cualquiera que tuviese oro, le saldrían acreedores de Munk. Es decir, aquel que tenga oro, descubrirá que no es depositario de valor, sino garante de la deuda impagable contraída por otros. Malo. Malo.Muy interesante, eso sí.
Antaño, quien manifestaba tener una parte importante de su patrimonio en cash era, o bien tomado por un perdedor, o bien tomado por un catastrofista. Hoy en día, sin embargo, las valoraciones existentes en la mayor parte de los activos financieros cotizados provocan que hasta aquellos inversores más sofisticados se vean tentados por la fiebre del cash. El último, y más claro ejemplo, es Mohamed El-Erian, hasta hace poco CEO y co-CIO en PIMCO, quien en una entrevista publicada el domingo dijo una frase que dio la vuelta al mundo.Entrevistador: ¿Dónde inviertes tu dinero? ¿Acciones? ¿Deuda pública? ¿Bonos?El-Erian: Está principalmente en ‘cash’. No es gran cosa teniendo en cuenta la inflación, pero creo que la mayor parte de los activos han sido empujados por las políticas de los bancos centrales a niveles muy elevados.Aunque posteriormente matizó sus palabras en la CNBC diciendo que sigue una estrategia dual (invirtiendo en cash, pero también en activos ilíquidos y no cotizados), la confesión no deja de ser asombrosa. Los inversores por lo general juegan con el efectivo para aumentar o reducir su exposición a los mercados, pero no lo sitúan como eje de su estrategia: ni tienen los incentivos para ello (los gestores cobran las comisiones que cobran por gestionar, no por almacenar dinero), ni es posible saber el momento exacto de un colapso para aprovecharse de dicha posición.El caso de El-Erian es distinto. Posee unos conocimientos extraordinarios, pero no cobra por gestionar ni tiene necesidad de acertar con el timing. Él, contrariamente a la mayor parte de gestores, puede permitirse estar en cash si considera que existe un riesgo significativo de que se produzca una gran caída en los próximos meses (si sólo esperase una pequeña corrección, lo lógico sería reducir su exposición de forma parcial). El-Erian es una de las pocas personas del mundo que cuenta tanto con los conocimientos necesarios para decir lo que dice como también con la libertad para decirlo y hacerlo.Aunque quizá la pregunta más importante es, ¿tiene sentido la posición del ex-PIMCO? En un principio una estrategia como la planteada es difícil de defender, ya que a largo plazo una cartera conservadora compuesta por un mix de bonos y acciones (por ejemplo 20/80) es el 99% del tiempo superior a apostar por el cash. Por ello, con datos históricos en la mano, salvo que seamos unos gurús del timing tiene poco sentido hacer algo así… salvo que los mercados actuales sean la excepción que confirma la regla.Las compras realizadas por los bancos centrales han provocado que la relación entre la duración y la rentabilidad de la renta fija sea de las peoresEn ellos vemos que según indicadores básicos como el PER, el PER esperado o el CAPE, la bolsa se sitúa en niveles elevados. Por ejemplo, este último indicador se sitúa en EEUU en 22 veces, lo que históricamente se ha correspondido con un rendimiento medio anual a 10 años inferior al 1% (un 8,3% en el mejor de los casos y un -4,4% en el peor). ¿Vale la pena correr el riesgo? Cada persona tendrá una opinión y un perfil, pero en el caso de un inversor de 56 años que ya tiene suficiente patrimonio para sí mismo y para sus hijos y nietos, parece lógico pensar que no.Aun así, a pesar de las valoraciones existentes, lo lógico no es refugiarse en cash, lo lógico es diversificar en activos con bajas correlaciones, por ejemplo en renta fija. Activos como la deuda pública suelen servir de refugio cuando se producen episodios de estrés, que es precisamente cuando las acciones caen, compensándose el comportamiento de un activo con la evolución del otro. El problema es que en el presente rally tanto la renta fija como las acciones han tenido un buen comportamiento, por lo que es una incógnita saber qué ocurrirá cuando las acciones fallen: ¿será la renta fija un refugio o se contagiará de la mala tendencia?E incluso si pensamos que la renta fija puede seguir amortiguando las caídas de la renta variable, tampoco está claro qué capacidad de absorción tiene, y es que unos bonos en máximos históricos carecen de recorrido. Las compras realizadas por los bancos centrales han provocado que la relación entre la duración y la rentabilidad de la renta fija sea de las peores de la historia. ¿Vale la pena correr el riesgo? Nuevamente estamos ante una decisión personal, pero resulta lógico que haya inversores que no lo crean conveniente.¿Qué decisión tomar si no vemos potencial en la renta variable ni tampoco en la renta fija? Es cierto que no toda la renta variable es igual: no es lo mismo invertir en EEUU que en Europa o en emergentes. Asimismo, no es igual invertir en deuda pública, en high yield o en bonos corporativos. Descartarlo todo para apostar por el cash puede ser precipitado y, aunque probablemente existen perfiles como el de El-Erian en los que por edad y patrimonio no vale la pena correr el riesgo, también existen otros en los que es lógico seguir expuestos.Ahora bien, incluso con una cartera con una exposición baja a renta variable y siendo esta a la actualmente ‘amada’ Eurozona, incluso con una cartera que opta por una renta fija de baja duración (la última moda tras las esperadas rentabilidades negativas en los monetarios es pasarse a bonos globales diversificados de 1-3 años), incluso así existen riesgos que tener en cuenta. ¿Por qué?Las actuales rentabilidades de los activos financieros, reducidas por la intervención de los bancos centrales, no compensan el riesgo a asumirImaginemos que el frenazo de la economía estadounidense va en serio, que los beneficios empresariales caen, ¿aguantaría la Eurozona? Probablemente no, no solo porque históricamente la renta variable europea no ha aguantado en positivo las correcciones significativas del mercado americano, sino porque la actual fortaleza tiene mucho que ver con la depreciación del euro, y por tanto la presente subida tiene mucho de qué contagiarse si las economías a las que se exporta se frenan.Por otra parte, si bien la renta fija de baja duración es un buen activo para inversores conservadores (y globalmente sigue batiendo al cash a pesar de las rentabilidades negativas de muchos países), no hay que olvidar que durante las crisis se ve quién nada desnudo. No quiero recordar como algunos fondos aparentemente muy conservadores se desplomaron en 2008 por su exposición a Lehmans o Madoffs. Estos casos, por muy puntuales que parezcan, siempre vuelven a aparecer, véase sin ir muy lejos el dinero invertido a través de vehículos de inversión en cuentas a plazo de Banco Madrid.Lejos quedan los tiempos en los que la ausencia de riesgo era fruto del desconocimiento de los ahorradores, quienes preferían el cash aun siendo una estrategia perdedora frente a otras propuestas de bajo riesgo. Ahora el cash es moda entre los inversores más sofisticados. Para muchos de ellos las actuales rentabilidades de los activos financieros, reducidas e incluso en territorio negativo por la intervención de los bancos centrales, no compensan el riesgo a asumir. Y, si bien es lógico que muchos quieran seguir jugando, también lo es que haya quien piense… a mi plin, ¡yo guardo el dinero en Pikolín!
"¿Qué decisión tomar si no vemos potencial en la renta variable ni tampoco en la renta fija?"K. Vázquez
Rusia y los BRICS crearan su propio InternetSi el mundo va camino a ser multipolar, internet tendrá que hacer lo mismo, y todos los países BRICS (que han experimentado por ahora, cada uno a su manera, lo que la dominación estadounidense de internet realmente significa) están interesados en que eso suceda. La próxima conferencia rIGF 2015, dedicada a los temas de la gobernanza de Internet, es probable que produzca una serie de iniciativas encaminadas a la descentralización de internet.http://matveychev-oleg.livejournal.com/2121346.html
off-topic, pero lo pongo aquí, que es donde se habla de los grandes cambios, y así pillo sitio.Visto en burbujaCitarRusia y los BRICS crearan su propio InternetSi el mundo va camino a ser multipolar, internet tendrá que hacer lo mismo, y todos los países BRICS (que han experimentado por ahora, cada uno a su manera, lo que la dominación estadounidense de internet realmente significa) están interesados en que eso suceda. La próxima conferencia rIGF 2015, dedicada a los temas de la gobernanza de Internet, es probable que produzca una serie de iniciativas encaminadas a la descentralización de internet.http://matveychev-oleg.livejournal.com/2121346.htmlEse párrafo es del forero bubujil. El artículo anlazado está en ruso y el google no me lo traduce. Ahora no tengo tiempo para buscar otro método así que me quedo con la curiosidad de si es una magufada o realmente hay planes serios de crear una red paralela.
El artículo anlazado está en ruso y el google no me lo traduce.
BRUSSELS – The developed world seems to be moving toward a long-term zero-interest-rate environment. Though the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and the eurozone have kept central-bank policy rates at zero for several years already, the perception that this was a temporary aberration meant that medium- to long-term rates remained substantial. But this may be changing, especially in the eurozone.Strictly speaking, zero rates are observed only for nominal, medium-term debt that is perceived to be riskless. But, throughout the eurozone, rates are close to zero – and negative for a substantial share of government debt – and are expected to remain low for quite some time.In Germany, for example, interest rates on public debt up to five years will be negative, and only slightly positive beyond that, producing a weighted average of zero. Clearly, Japan’s near-zero interest-rate environment is no longer unique.To be sure, the European Central Bank’s large-scale bond-buying program could be suppressing interest rates temporarily, and, once the purchases are halted next year, they will rise again. But investors do not seem to think so. Indeed, Germany’s 30-year bund yield is less than 0.7%, indicating that they expect ultra-low rates for a very long time. And many issuers are extending the maturity structure of their obligations to lock in current rates, which cannot go much lower (but could potentially increase a lot).In any case, the eurozone seems stuck with near-zero rates at increasingly long maturities. What does this actually mean for its investors and debtors?Here, one must consider not only the nominal interest rate, but also the real (inflation-adjusted) interest rate. A very low – or even negative – nominal interest rate could produce a positive real return for a saver, if prices fall sufficiently. In fact, Japanese savers have been benefiting from this phenomenon for more than a decade, reaping higher real returns than their counterparts in the US, even though Japan’s near-zero nominal interest rates are much lower than America’s.Nonetheless, nominal rates do matter. When they are negligible, they flatter profit statements, while balance-sheet problems slowly accumulate.Given that balance-sheet accounting is conducted according to a curious mix of nominal and market values, it can be opaque and easy to manipulate. If prices – and thus average debt-service capacity – fall, the real burden of the debt increases. But this becomes apparent only when the debt has to be refinanced or interest rates increase.In an environment of zero or near-zero interest rates, creditors have an incentive to “extend and pretend” – that is, roll over their maturing debt, so that they can keep their problems hidden for longer. Because the debt can be refinanced at such low rates, rollover risk is very low, allowing debtors who would be considered insolvent under normal circumstances to carry on much longer than they otherwise could. After all, if debt can be rolled over forever at zero rates, it does not really matter – and nobody can be considered insolvent. The debt becomes de facto perpetual.Japan’s experience illustrates this phenomenon perfectly. At more than 200% of GDP, the government’s mountain of debt seems unconquerable. But that debt costs only 1-2% of GDP to service, allowing Japan to remain solvent. Likewise, Greece can now manage its public-debt burden, which stands at about 175% of GDP, thanks to the ultra-low interest rates and long maturities (longer than those on Japan’s debt) granted by its European partners.In short, with low enough interest rates, any debt-to-GDP ratio is manageable. That is why, in the current interest-rate environment, the Maastricht Treaty’s requirement limiting public debt to 60% of GDP is meaningless – and why the so-called “fiscal compact” requiring countries to make continued progress toward that level should be reconsidered.In fact, near-zero interest rates undermine the very notion of a “debt overhang” in countries like Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain. While these countries did accumulate a huge volume of debt during the credit boom that went bust in 2008, the cost of debt service is now too low to have the impact – reducing incomes, preventing a return to growth, and generating uncertainty among investors – that one would normally expect. Today, these countries can simply refinance their obligations at longer maturities.Countries’ debts undoubtedly play a vital role in the global financial system. But, in a zero interest-rate environment, that role must be reevaluated.
After the latest round of bank stress tests last month, the Federal Reserve announced that, by and large, the nation’s biggest banks would all be able to withstand another crisis without requiring bailouts.This month, Thomas Hoenig, vice chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, released data that contradict the Fed’s conclusions.In the face of Mr. Hoenig’s challenge, the Fed would do well to recall a chapter from its recent history. Before the financial crisis, when Alan Greenspan, then chairman of the Fed, was insisting all was well with the banks, one Fed governor, the late Edward Gramlich, warned of mounting risks. He was ignored.At issue this time around is the level of bank capital, which reflects the amount of loss a bank can endure before failing (or, if the bank is “too big to fail,” requiring a bailout). According to the Fed’s main measure, capital at the eight largest American banks averaged 12.9 percent of assets at the end of 2014, well above required regulatory minimums.In contrast, Mr. Hoenig’s calculations show that capital at those same banks averaged only 4.97 percent at the end of 2014.The discrepancy is due mainly to differing views of the risk posed by the banks’ vast holdings of derivative contracts used for hedging and speculation. The Fed, in keeping with American accounting rules and central bank accords, assumes that gains and losses on derivatives generally net out. As a result, most derivatives do not show up as assets on banks’ balance sheets, an omission that bolsters the ratio of capital to assets.Mr. Hoenig uses stricter international accounting rules to value the derivatives. Those rules do not assume that gains and losses reliably net out. As a result, large derivative holdings are shown as assets on the balance sheet, an addition that reduces the ratio of capital to assets to the low levels reported in Mr. Hoenig’s analysis. In a recent speech, Mr. Hoenig noted that under American accounting rules, derivative holdings add $300 billion to the balance sheets of five top banks — JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Under international rules, the holdings would add $4 trillion.History favors Mr. Hoenig’s approach. Gains and losses on derivatives may be offsetting when the economy is stable, but in the financial crisis American taxpayers were forced to hand the banks tens of billions of dollars to make good on derivative bets gone bad. In a healthy system, the banks would hold enough capital to ensure that doesn’t happen again. Do they now? Fed officials seem to think so. They should think again.