gipa69
collegio dei patafisici
By Mark Gongloff
News reports that Italy is in talks with China to buy some Italian sovereign debt have completely turned around the stock market. The Dow has regained about 100 points in a very short period of time and is now down only about 50.
Pop quiz. This is a clear demonstration of:
1. How much of a grip Europe has on our imagination right now
2. How little good news it takes to flip everybody’s risk coaster right back to green
3. How headline-reading robots have completely replaced thinking humans in the market
4. How short our memories are — after all, the ECB has been buying Italian debt for weeks now, without actually solving anything. Will China buying the debt be that much of a help?
5. All of the above
6. None of the above
Update: Here are some details, from the FT by way of Bloomberg, of the talks:
News reports that Italy is in talks with China to buy some Italian sovereign debt have completely turned around the stock market. The Dow has regained about 100 points in a very short period of time and is now down only about 50.
Pop quiz. This is a clear demonstration of:
1. How much of a grip Europe has on our imagination right now
2. How little good news it takes to flip everybody’s risk coaster right back to green
3. How headline-reading robots have completely replaced thinking humans in the market
4. How short our memories are — after all, the ECB has been buying Italian debt for weeks now, without actually solving anything. Will China buying the debt be that much of a help?
5. All of the above
6. None of the above
Update: Here are some details, from the FT by way of Bloomberg, of the talks:
The Italian government is making approaches to China with the aim of selling the cash-rich Asian country “significant” quantities of Italian bonds and investments in strategic companies, FT reports.
* China Investment Corp. Chairman Lou Jiwei was in Rome last week for discussions with Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti and Italy’s Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, a government entity that has established an Italian Strategic Fund open to foreign investors, FT says, citing unidentified Italian officials
* Italian officials met China Investment Corp. and the country’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange, which manages most of China’s $3,200 trillion foreign exchange reserves, in Beijing two weeks ago, FT says
* Italy’s Head of Treasury, Vittorio Grilli, met Chinese investors in the Chinese capital in August, FT reports
* Further negotiations are likely to take place soon, FT says, citing unidentified Italian officials.
Update 2: The bounce was fairly short-lived. The Dow is now back down about 123 points, giving back most of its recovery. Joe Weisenthal points out that China announced it was buying Greek bonds nearly a year ago, to no avail* China Investment Corp. Chairman Lou Jiwei was in Rome last week for discussions with Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti and Italy’s Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, a government entity that has established an Italian Strategic Fund open to foreign investors, FT says, citing unidentified Italian officials
* Italian officials met China Investment Corp. and the country’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange, which manages most of China’s $3,200 trillion foreign exchange reserves, in Beijing two weeks ago, FT says
* Italy’s Head of Treasury, Vittorio Grilli, met Chinese investors in the Chinese capital in August, FT reports
* Further negotiations are likely to take place soon, FT says, citing unidentified Italian officials.
ma questa ho 
)
