The FT's Colby Smith Is Doing Actual Financial Journalism: China, China, China

A quick tour of finance media shows so many of the players becoming nothing more than opinion platforms. I won't name names but our astute (and surprisingly attractive in so many ways) readers could infer their identities by our lack of linkage.

Who needs opinions in biz news? Readers want facts from which they can form their own opinions because, let's face it, OpEds have the lowest barriers to entry of any genre. Everybody can do it.

And that's my opinion.

Here's Colby at FT Alphaville:

A potential new snag in the US-China trade talks

March 1 may no longer be a “magical date” for President Trump, but the deadline after which tariffs on $200bn worth of Chinese imports are set to more than double is fast approaching.

Now in their ninth round of negotiations, the US and China remain at odds on a number of issues, despite making some progress on Wednesday. With the latest request from the US, officials may have added another problem to a long list of sticking points.

According to Bloomberg, the US has asked the Chinese to keep its currency, the renminbi, stable and to avoid any kind of competitive devaluation to offset the pain from higher tariffs on Chinese goods. As Marc Chandler of Bannockburn Global Forex notes, the reports say nothing about what “stable” actually means. Is the US looking for a Chinese currency that is stable in real or nominal terms? Or one that is stable against the US dollar or a basket of currencies?

If “stable” means the renminbi continues to trade within a band set by officials at China's central bank on a daily basis, then according to Brad Setser at the Council on Foreign Relations, this isn't such a large ask from the US. In fact, China has committed to this kind of policy for many years now — most aggressively since September as Setser's chart shows:...

...MUCH MORE

Previously in fanboi, one example among many:
Nov. 16, 2018
Big Money: Consider The Humble Soybean

I'm tellin' ya, this Colby Smith is one to keep an eye on....

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... If a business/finance writer can get a grounding in the boring bits, the nuts and bolts of the matrix of connections, they can bring more and more value-added to the keyboard if and when they switch gears and pursue a flight of fancy....

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...So if someone who is doing the grunt work says en passant "beans may have bottomed" it may behoove the consumer of data/information/knowledge/wisdom to take note and be aware something might have changed and the game may be afoot:...

And how did that one turn out?
Just fine thank you for asking

FinViz