China Is About To Shock The World

kingworldnews.com

On the heel of an absolutely wild trading week, China is about to shock the world and the global markets.

(King World News) Stephen Leeb:  “Psychologists have a term for it: denial. It’s the perfect description of all the repeated, reflexive talk by Western analysts about how a debt-laden China is on the verge of a hard landing that will threaten and possibly destroy that country’s political and social fabric…

Stephen Leeb continues:  “The U.S., which for so long has been the world’s unquestioned No. 1 in almost every sphere, finds it hard to face the reality that China now rivals us on economic, geopolitical, and even military playing fields. But no amount of denial can alter the facts. One pertinent fact is that China has evidently moved its plans for development into a much faster gear that will leave the massive Middle Kingdom fully prepared to live prosperously in the 21st century.
 
America’s state of denial, which has translated into complacency, could have dire effects on our future. Unless our next president has both the intellectual understanding and the political skills to crush that complacency and launch massive economic programs to right the ship, our economic prospects look pretty dim. I’m talking about an effort that will be at least on a par with the effort it took to conquer the Axis in WWII.

What Is Really Happening In China Will Shock The World
 
The recent gains in silver and gold coming in the face of Brexit and other uncertainties that continue to plague Western economies represent far more than a flight to safety. Rather, they’re unmistakable signs that China has put its economic engine into another gear.

I believe that gold and silver investments, almost completely cold-shouldered by U.S. financial advisors, are perhaps the most critical additions you could make to your portfolio. And that’s despite the fact that after their stunning recent gains – especially in silver, which is up 40 percent this year, and in gold stocks, which in many cases have doubled or more in the past six months – you have to look for a correction. But while short term this could be scary, over the longer term it will be meaningless.

Keep in mind that gold stocks still sit more than 50 percent below this decade’s highs, while silver is 60 percent below its previous high of 50, which it reached in 1980 and almost touched in 2011. Gold, destined to be the monetary leader, is also well below its previous highs despite the fact that the yellow metal has outperformed every other major asset this century by an epic margin. Since mid-2001, gold and silver have turned in four baggers, while stock and bonds have climbed about 70 percent. Our financial planners should be ashamed of themselves for ignoring the metals.

Over the past week the statistic that most caught my attention was China’s imports of copper. It’s not widely known that even in the past couple years, when China was supposedly on the economic brink, China’s demand for copper and other commodities continued to grow, though at a sharply reduced rate. We attribute the sharp deceleration to China’s anti-corruption campaign, which in some cases left critical agencies – such as those having to do with energy, power, and even some parts of the military – rudderless.

China Now Running At Full Throttle
 
Under new and more trusted leadership, these agencies are now running at full throttle. During the first five months of 2016, copper imports climbed 34 percent from year-earlier levels. The recent month-to-month number, April to May, showed a 13 percent gain. The absolute gains in imports are the highest ever over comparable periods, and even the percentage gains rival those of when China was just starting its unprecedented industrial expansion.

No doubt this unbridled, wholly unexpected, and barely reported acceleration has a number of causes, but front and center is the country’s plan to build a 21st century power grid before critical commodities like copper and silver become scarce. Unlike the U.S., which uses less than 25 percent of its copper for electric cables, the Chinese use nearly 50 percent of a much larger supply for its power sector.

Comparisons Between U.S. & China Are Horrifying
 
In terms of power grids, the comparisons between America and China are horrifying – to the degree that in a more rational world, this would be the issue U.S. politicians are talking about. The gap almost defies credulity. Between 2015 and 2020, China’s current plans are to spend close to $400 billion dollars on its grid to increase ultra-high-voltage lines to about 625,000 miles and high-voltage lines to 2.5 million miles.

In sharp contrast, America’s power grid currently measures about 200,000 high-voltage miles, while ultra-high voltage, which is necessary to carry electricity over very long distances, doesn’t even register as part of the grid. Our spending plans over the next five years are less than a quarter of China’s. What more can I say, other than take a valium, take a course in Mandarin, and pray that whoever we elect turns out to have unsuspected depths and preternatural charisma and will inspire this once great country to reach for greatness again.

China Now Stockpiling Silver At A Record Pace
 
Copper won’t be the first major metal to become scarce. That honor will go to silver. As I’ve mentioned previously, silver production has peaked, while China is stockpiling silver at a record pace as silver will be a critical component of new energies in the 21^st century. And yes, China’s plan for solar energy, for which silver is critical, dwarfs all others and as I have pointed out before, nearly ensures major scarcities.

As for gold, let’s try a Buffett-type “rhetorical” question. When silver becomes nearly impossibly scarce, do you think it would make more sense to have saved dollars or gold to be able to purchase the white metal? It would not surprise me one bit that when Buffett leaves the scene, we find a major stash of gold in the outsized vaults of Berkshire Hathaway.”