To prevent FURTHER fear & panic. Although...good luck with that. Freezing the markets to prevent selloffs does not exactly provide investor confidence.
If the government has stepped in the backstop the price drops. It literally means they are buying shares whether they are worth it or not. It gives those people that got in late a life line to get out. Isn't this whole debacle inflationary? its like printing money and propping up the market, return the cash to those that have bought shares so that they can spend it on other investments. Interesting to see how this plays out, probably the first time in history where a government meddles with the market to keep it afloat. Wouldn't it be better to let the market sort itself out, unless there is another agenda and that the time is not up yet. It can't interfere with their other plans. Slam
Are you telling us the US government did not step in and prop the market up via bank bailouts during the GFC? Cause i am of the view that the US Government was doing just that
The agenda is to transition from an export based economy to a domestic consumption based economy. On an economic level, if the new middle-class' savings and investments are wiped out, they don't have money to consume. On a social level, if everything is still basically run by the government and the economy tanks, people loose faith in the government's ability to manage things. China works because people accept big government...so long as big government delivers a good outcome. For a few decades now, the arrangement has worked pretty well, lots of people got rich and their living standards improved.
China shares rally as momentum grows 1 hour ago China's stock crash - in 60 seconds Chinese shares continued to rally on Friday, gaining momentum from Thursday's rebound as government measures to support the volatile market start to have an impact. The Shanghai Composite was up 4.8% to 3,887.68 in early trade after ending the previous session higher nearly 6%. The move upwards is a sharp contrast to stocks losing a third of their value since mid-June despite support efforts. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 1.9% to 24,854.76 - as contagion fears eased. China's measures to stem the sell-off so far include banning short-selling, threatening to arrest people speculating in the market, allowing state-owned pension funds to buy stocks, along with injecting money into the market through margin lending. But Evan Lucas, market strategist at trading firm IG said the government's response to the past 18 days of turmoil would "create perceptions that further liberalisations and free market principles will be abandoned as Beijing grapples with additional regulations". "This will create longer-term issues," he added. Greece's proposal The rest of Asia was also higher after Greece proposed new reforms in its bid to strike a deal with creditors in the debt crisis. Greece's new measures to boost revenue included getting rid of tax breaks for islands - paving the way for a cash-for-reform deal with creditors
During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the Hong Kong govt bought large slabs of stocks to protect the HK dollar and break short sellers. Seems the Chinese govt is going to allow their family and friends to get out of the market at a profit and let the people's money take the fall. Pretty much the same thing the US govt did when the banks there were bankrupt
Greek MPs to vote on bailout plan 3 minutes ago Catharina Moh reports: ''Greece's reform package will now be scrutinised by experts'' Greek MPs are to vote later on whether to back PM Alexis Tsipras's tough new proposals to secure a third bailout. The proposals are aimed at staving off financial collapse and preventing a possible exit from the eurozone. Eurozone finance ministers will examine the new proposals, which include pension cuts and tax rises, ahead of a full EU summit on Sunday. Correspondents say Mr Tsipras's new plan contains many elements rejected in a referendum last Sunday. He is likely to face opposition from the left of his own Syriza party. However, a parliamentary spokesman for Syriza, Nikos Filis, said he was confident parliament would give the government the mandate to negotiate the new bailout package. The coalition government has 162 seats in the 300-strong parliament and also has the backing of many opposition MPs. Analysis: BBC's Mark Lowen in Athens Greece's parliament is likely to give approval to negotiate the deal, because support from the opposition will outweigh critics on the far left of the governing Syriza party. But with the tax hikes and pension reforms very similar to what the creditors were originally demanding, what has Alexis Tsipras achieved by holding last Sunday's referendum? Possibly some concessions on debt relief and growth measures - or possibly by showing Greeks that he was fighting until the 11th-hour, it will strengthen his hand here and allow him to implement the reforms. There will, though, be plenty of critics who say he was elected because he promised to end austerity and he won a "No" vote just last Sunday. And now he's gone back on virtually every pledge. BBC NEWS