Are Japanese Banks on the Verge of Insolvency?

“…holdings in [gold] exchange-traded funds fell to the lowest in over four years…” as this article states. But is this a real relationship? Do holdings at the ETF necessarily fall with a falling gold price and rise with a rising gold price? The same thing has not occurred in SLV–amidst an even larger price drop than that of gold. It may not be so simple and linear…

Ignore unemployment. Ignore CPI and GDP. Look at the balance sheet. This article Are Japanese Banks on the Verge of Insolvency? discusses what is happening with the Japanese banks. Hint: as the rate of interest on Japanese Government Bonds rises, the market price of the bonds falls. As the price falls, losses are incurred by those who own them. Losses are multiplied by leverage, of course.

Charles Biderman explains why the reduced deficit and seemingly large increase in tax revenues does not mean the economy is growing “sustainably”.