I posted the following on Peter's blog....could be interesting......

While not specifically on stocks per se, thought I would share Butler’s morning commentary on bonds as it could impact TBT and PST, both in Peter’s model portfolio. Here goes………

“But in the middle of all of this economic data was a piece of information which sent a shiver through the bond markets. Global demand for US financial assets weakened in January as both China and Japan, the two biggest holders of Treasuries, reduced their positions. The Net Long-term TIC Flows were expected to come in at $47.5 billion for the month, but instead just $19.1 billion of US financial assets were purchased. Including short-term securities, total investment flows show foreigners sold a net $33.4 billion in January after a net buying of $53.6 billion the previous month. As readers of the Pfennig know, this is not good news for the US. We remain dependent on foreign investors, as there is just not enough ‘internal’ demand for our debt. If China and Japan continue to push away from the US debt table, interest rates in the US will rise, as we have to make the debt more attractive to pursue other buyers. China has been a net seller of US Treasuries for three straight months now, and Japan doesn’t seem to have the ability to pick up the slack. We have been warning of this for some time now, and it looks like we may be finally seeing a reduction in demand for US investments.”

Susan comment….This plus the fact that over 100 Congress folks have asked the Admin. to offically label China as a currency manipulator could make China decide to take some punitive steps back at us. No bonds or more gold? Only time will tell