Dollar Woes: Big Trouble In Little China?

Summary

Discussion, critique and analysis of the potential impacts on equity, bond, commodity, capital and asset markets regarding the following:

Last Time Out; Big Trouble in Little China; Currency Manipulation; Demography 

HIBOR; Chinese Debt Downgrade; PBOC Forward Dollar Swap Squeeze

Non Deposit Liabilities; The Price of Money and Hegemony; Bigger Trouble Ahead

Last Time Out

The contraction of 98% of BTC trading volume (in CNY), created volatility and an amplified "demand" squeeze.  

Much like the credit based "dollar" (Eurodollar) and its attendant unregulated, unbackstopped, global liquidity issues, the above circumstances have increased the valuation of BTC and through additional speculation, all crypto currencies in the process.

It is probable that the currency share of BTC global trading volume has changed radically since the Chinese acted in Feb and would not be surprised if the two principals in the "dollar" carry JPY and USD are now sporting a higher share %.  - Money? or Crypto Tulips?

It would seem that Eurodollars, the Asian (USD/JPY) dollar carry and a RMB (Yuan) squeeze (CNY/CNH) could be hinting at....


Big Trouble in Little China?

Big Trouble in Little China is a 1986 American fantasy martial arts comedy film directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, and James Hong. 

Following Elvis, Escape from New York, and The Thing, this project was Carpenters fourth collaboration with actor Kurt Russell, while fulfilling the directors long standing desire to make a martial arts film.

Originally scripted about a cowboy in Chinatown in 1899, W.D. Richter (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension) came in for a rewrite, changing it to modern times and using Rosemary's Baby as a guide. 

Gene Siskel complained about "the ridiculous amount of special effects in the film" and Roger Ebert asked "why am I supposed to care about these characters?"  Going up against Aliens and Top Gun, the film was a commercial failure, grossing $11.1 million in North America, below its estimated $19 to $25 million budget. 

After the commercial and critical failure of the film, Carpenter became very disillusioned with Hollywood and became an independent filmmaker. 

"The experience [of Big Trouble] was the reason I stopped making movies for the Hollywood studios. I won’t work for them again. I think Big Trouble is a wonderful film, and I’m very proud of it. But the reception it received, and the reasons for that reception, were too much for me to deal with. I’m too old for that sort of bullshit." - John Carpenter

In the 30 years since its release Big Trouble in Little China, a cinematic oddity, blending varied styles and genres with a non-traditional hero, an iconic villain (Lo Pan remains a favorite US street art subject), and endlessly quotable, has become a cult classic, with an 82% average rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a steady audience on home video. 

In June 2015 it was reported that Dwayne Johnson was developing a remake to star in. In an interview Johnson expressed interest in having Carpenter involved in the remake. Carpenter later said this, "It's very early in the process. I haven't spoken to Dwayne Johnson about any of this...I'm ambivalent about a remake."

Speaking of ambivalence, potential big trouble in little China and the film's apropos tagline: 

Some people pick the the damnedest places to start a fight! 

Currency Manipulation?

President Donald Trump declared China the "grand champions" of currency manipulation on Thursday, just hours after his new Treasury secretary pledged a more methodical approach to analyzing Beijing's foreign exchange practices.
In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Trump said he has not "held back" in his assessment that China manipulates its yuan currency, despite not acting on a campaign promise to declare it a currency manipulator on his first day in office.

"Well they, I think they're grand champions at manipulation of currency. So I haven't held back," Trump said. "We'll see what happens." - Reuters

Over the last four years, the PBOC has spent trillions to prop the RMB, fight short speculation and prevent outflows. A formal declaration that China or any other country manipulates its currency requires the U.S. Treasury to seek negotiations to resolve the situation, a process that could end in punitive tariffs on the offender's goods. China was the last country to get the designation, in 1994.

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