“Debt contagion in Argentina and Turkey is spreading to other countries. There is now concerns over a “high” concentration of risk in Lebanon, Columbia and South Africa which could spread further through the global economy…”
“Turkey’s main stock index dropped to the lowest level in dollar terms since the global financial crisis in 2008 after a sell-off in the lira and concerns about economic stability persisted.”
https://ahvalnews.com/turkey-stocks/turkish-stock-market-hits-lowest-2008-crisis
“Most of the people on board the boat that sank on Sunday were Tunisians trying to escape unemployment and an economic crisis that has gripped the North African country since the toppling of autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.”
http://www.france24.com/en/20180606-tunisia-interior-minister-brahem-fired-migrant-shipwreck
“Protests have erupted in Amman and other Jordanian cities in recent days over rising prices and IMF-backed austerity measures including a new tax bill aimed at reducing the country’s chronic deficits. The crisis has already seen the replacement of the country’s prime minister and a call by Jordan’s King Abdullah for a review of the controversial draft tax law.”
“Franklin Templeton Investments has cut back its debt holdings in Bahrain, citing the “very serious” threat that the cash-strapped nation will experience an economic crisis in the next 12 months if financial aid from neighbors doesn’t come through.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-06/franklin-templeton-sheds-bahrain-debt-warns-of-economic-crisis
““We believe many market watchers have overestimated the rate of progress” in credit tightening, Bedford’s note said. “A meaningful re-balancing of [China’s] banking sector will be a long, drawn out process.””
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-06/china-banks-yet-to-feel-the-worst-of-deleveraging-pain-ubs-says
“Nearly 4 million adults in the UK have been forced to use food banks due to ”shocking” levels of deprivation, figures have revealed for the first time.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/food-banks-uk-how-many-people-adults-poverty-a8386811.html
“German factory orders unexpectedly dropped for a fourth month in April, raising the prospect that an economic slowdown at the start of the year may be worsening.”
“If one adds the Bank of Italy’s Target 2 liabilities to the Italian public debt total, the public debt to GDP ratio rises to 160%, taking that ratio to its highest level in over 100 years. Sadly, there is every reason to expect that Italy’s Target 2 balance will worsen in the months ahead as the unsettled Italian political situation encourages capital flight. Another reason to think the Italian official public debt numbers are understated is they do not take into account the likely cost of government support for the country’s troubled banking system.”
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4179675-italys-public-debt-worse-think
“The Fed is “gradually entering a new world when rates are at 2 percent,” nearing zero on a real basis and approaching where they are no longer felt to be stimulating economic activity, said Thomas Costerg, senior U.S. economist at Pictet Wealth Management. The last time rates moved into positive real territory on a sustained basis was the spring of 2005 when the Fed began tightening rapidly after a period of arguably too-lax monetary policy, ending just months before the start of the 2007-2009 financial crisis.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-rates-analysis/fed-clambers-back-to-positive-real-rates-now-debate-is-when-to-stop-idUSKCN1J30DE
“…after the major banks lowered interest rates and started to print money, investors rushed to find higher returns. They moved toward risky investments and relatively volatile markets [junk bonds]… according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), between 2009 and 2017, $2.4 trillion worth of high-yield bonds were issued. In the previous nine years, junk bond issuance was just around $849.2 billion.”
https://www.lombardiletter.com/central-banks-rising-interest-rates-could-trigger-crisis/28635/
“According to a key valuation metric, investors are headed for the kind of bullishness on high-yield bonds that’s been seen just twice before: during the halcyon days of 1997’s tech bubble before the Asia crash, and on the eve of the global financial crisis a decade later.”
