NOW TRENDING - POSITIVE DEMOCRATIC ACTIONS!

1.
Rand / American Dollar has not declined by the amount that was expected as our international debt was downgraded to junk,but not our local debt, by S&P and Fitch but not Moody's.
It is felt that   we still using our democratic rights to take government  and private corruption , to task. 
The nation as a whole has said stop this ,over riding political boundries. Added to this genuine efforts are being made at this time to keep our international debt in line!
At year end our descredited president is likely to be replaced by a better more educated person,as party leader, who understands how business is done. 
If the ANC ruling party does not make the right decisions then their party is going to be decimated at the polls in 2019 and unfortunately for the rest of us,more slogan bearing left-wing populists added to the mix which will cause chaos to our political and economic  life causing a bigger shambles than we have ever known.
2.
I see President Trump shares my veiws on the climate change debate. Do read my post on this matter which I posted on 1/May/2015. Namely "THE GREAT CARBON CREDIT SCAM ! "
3.
Do visit my specialist watch lists in the index in the left-hand side bar above which have been very successful over a number of years on stock that thrives over longer periods. UPDATED 5/6/2017
4.
.STOCK BVIAN,s mining and resources blog has been updated.CLICK ON STOCK TRADING TRENDS ABOVE, THEN ENTER THE BLOG U WANT TO VISIT 12/6/2017
 5.SEE ABACUS ACTIVE ALERTS for fantastic news about lithium u have never read about before. More to follow in subsequent months
 6. SUMMER TOP 40 PRELIMINARY UPDATE
 7 SMALL CAPS UPDATE JUNE 2017
 8 SPRING UPDATE TOP 40

Overcoming problems !

South Africa has been down graded to below investment grade namely BB+ by both Fitch and Standard , Moodys has not yet decided to follow and is waiting to see if democratic principles will prevail.
The ruling party is losing considerable ground after 23 years in power, becoming more corrupt, with officials looking to line their own pockets with wealth at the expense of the electorate the so called  "Gravy Train !" . 
They have had a wake up call as they loose ground in bye- elections to the more populist and slogan bound left wing.
Our electorate is mostly poorly educated . So now the ruling ANC are starting to use slogans and revert to more socialist and unfortunately racialist ideas blaming the Whites (All Europeans) for their shortcomings. 
All sides gave ground with the beautiful idea of a rainbow nation under De Klerk and Nelson Mandela ,who won the Noble peace prize for their joint efforts. This is now been eroded and forgotten.
The sacking of the world renowned minister of finance Gordhan and replaced by  the new minister with an already shady record. Named  Gibata,  finally triggered   the rating agencies decision.
Gibata has an university professor adviser  with ideas that might seem moronic! This adviser wishes to strip all whites of positions in banks,insurance companies and white farmers of their land with out compensation.
Our president is encouraging the use of the slogan  RADICAL CHANGE, with out spelling out what this means!

 NEWEST UPDATES IN PLACE   SEE PAGES AT TOP  OF LEFT HAND SIDE-BAR
1.SMALL CAPS.
2 ABACUS NEW IDEAS

3. SEE MY NEW SUMMARY ON MY SPECIALIST WATCH LISTS
4. Spring derivative top 40 list updated

BONANZAS

In all this political turmoil happening around us at the moment,we feel it is imperative to look at the basics of what is now needed in the world, in as far as metals and minerals are concerned.
Suddenly platinum group metals are not quite the in thing anymore. Too many mines wanted to get in on the act as prices soared and of  course there was massive  over production.As stockpiles come down its easy to turn the spigots open again and over produce.
Rare earth type metals which is now needed in all manner of things is LITHIUM. There is not enough of this resource to go around and the hunt is on to find more. As electric cars become the in thing there is likely to be a shortage for the next couple of decades.
The main producers at the moment are United 
States,Bolivia and Chile. Australia has now been added to these states as new deposits have been found in great quantity as well as Namibia. There are SPODUMENE deposits right here in 
South Africa but with hostile political uncertainty they remain undeveloped.
It would seem ,we South Africans have only one chance in getting in on this bonanza at the moment and that is by investing in TAWANA SHARES. We usually avoid small caps especially ones that are only 5 cents a share which was the price a year ago. It was an exploration company,but has shot up to about R4.00 by end March 2017. How ever its prices are likely to be very volatile till the the end of the year when the first income can be expected. 
1.Use the labels to group posts on the same subjects together beneath articles and in the side-bar.
2. The newest PAGES are always published at the top of the index in the right side-bar. 1.MY SPECIALITY LIST NOW UPDATED 2.PRELIMARY SPRING LIST
3. Sister websites published  click on Stock trading trends in the side-bar , in April updates are:- Abacus .
4.Southern African and Mining News main post and pages have been updated.

NOW TRENDING :-COBALT

1.An exciting time lies ahead for both the world and Southern Africa with rare earth type minerals and metals taking centre stage !
Lithium and Colbalt are now been needed in ever greater quantities for electric vehicles and as far as cobalt goes there will be a shortage for the forsee-able  future. 
 2.The cobalt metal is suddenly needed in a myriad of new ways such as electric vehicles,computers,software and even tyres.  The price has almost doubled in the last couple year and mines are scrambling to find new sources.
 3.There is a great opportunity for especially 
South Africa as the cobalt metal occurs in the same strata as gold and platinum ores.At the moment its blasted away to get at the PGM's and gold. Only a small change is needed in blasting techniques to recover the cobalt. This knowledge was passed on to the mining houses last year,but they preferred to sit on their hands. Only a few small enterprising companies are looking at this method!  At the moment the cobalt is allowed to decay and it becomes a contaminent, leaching into rivers and drinking water. Worked out gold mines could also get anew lease of life.
4. THERE are very few pure cobalt and copper mines in the world. GLENCORE has pounced on the largest one in the Democratic Rebublic of the Congo and is now in a position to make many billions of US Dollars.
  Click on the newest page updates , always on the index above. 
Please also inform other forumites of these contents as at this time i am not able to post on the comments blog. Thank you.

The New Year

1.The first post of this year is published on  the  new post ABACUS ACTIVE STOCK ALERTS.

Then click on : STOCK TRADING TRENDS then on the blog: ABACUS ACTIVE STOCK ALERTS   at the top of the  left side-bar

2. Barrys and Naomis Small Cap lists
 final updates are in place .Reach it via Stock Trading Trends in the side-bar. After a some what ropey start the small cap list did exceptionally well! 
 3. The final updates FOR 2016 on SOUTHERN AFRICAN MINING AND RESOURCES NEWS HAS BEEN PUBLISHED4 Remember the newest updates are always mentioned at the top of the index above above the home button.

The year that was !

This has been a year  in which there have been more financial  and political shocks worldwide than normal.Growing  populations have become more restive and even rebellious as the recession lingered on. At year end America is well on the way to recovery and the first sprigs of recovery are seen in Europe and Asia. As always Africa is lagging. 
How ever a pleasing change has been seen on the African Continent as populations strive for more accountability and less graft  top of government officials. This is playing itself out especially here in  South Africa as we strive to avoid  downgrades in our borrowing to junk status. As many other major countries have failed this test of morality we have for a second time avoided this fate.
It must be remembered that we produce 80% of the world platinum group metals and also a full range of base metals and minerals.
How ever at the present price of platinum, around $900 per ounce it is being produced at a loss. There is already a shortage of 20% in  ounces, per annum, built up and as fuel cells and other catalytic converters are needed for cleaner air become the vogue. In the last ten years the price has suddenly spurted by a couple of hundred USA dollars per ounce! this exciting event can happen again. Do remember it takes five years to ramp up and open mothballed areas in existing mines and a great deal longer in new developments!
I wish all our readers,Google and our advertisers all the best for 2017.

THE NEXT PHASE IN METALS AND MINERALS USE Part 2 MINING MODERISATION

  All systems are go to arrest the present decline in mining activity, and overcome the obstacles out there. The easy mining ore bodies are fast becoming the thing of the past.
 Public and private companies, with workers are beginning to work together to preserve jobs, income and tax revenue.
  Modernising and research into methods of refining especially in South Africa which has always been a world leader in this regard as during the last hundred years we were the world leaders in production of platinum group metals ,gold and diamonds. An added source of income is the production of equipment to further these activities now been developed.
  These activities will lead to sustainability of the mining environment over the next half century.
  Of great importance now is safety of workers at extreme depths in tunnels and difficult mining circumstances.
  Remote control of machines will keep workers out of harms way for the most part in dangerous areas. Narrower machines are already working and more innovative ones are being built.
Backfill of pulverised rock now has many advantages as it stabilises the ground in worked out areas avoids unsightly heaps of  ground and in generally more environmentally friendly.
The greatest advances are continually been made in refining of complicated metals such as precious metals as well as more basic metals in seperation by using enzymes instead of the old methods such as sieves to seperate the various elements from the waste rocks. This also results in greater recoveries and more profits.
IT MIGHT BE A GOOD IDEA TO ALSO READ PART 1  PUBLISHED IN SEPTEMBER ALSO THE STRIPPING OF RESOURCE ASSETS mentioned in the posts in the side-bar to get a continuity picture of the whole subject in South Africa.

For the latest on Stocks go to... Abacus Top stock tips.... and bookmark the post.

THE NEXT PHASE IN METALS AND MINERALS USE Part 1

   First of all lets take stock of the present position ! The world is in such a deep recession that although newly mined material in many circumstances does not nearly cover  the present use of these minerals and metals and in other instances just about does.
   Where then is the supply coming from ,one may ask? Obviously from stock piles built up in the past years.
  Prices are very low and in some instances continue to fall. Production is falling even faster and in some cases there are delays in being able to have a continuity of supply. In the past alarm bells would have been ringing and money that is needed to ramp up production would be forthcoming for the obvious boom to follow!
   Not this time as governments have messed up their economies with quantitative easing etc. spending and printing money they have no backing for and it seems keeping the recession/depression going ad-infinitum!
   The good news is that we need these mined products to keep and expand our lifestyle as populations in developing economies keep growing and in first world countries grow older.
    Eventually demand will return and then there will be explosive activity  to try to supply these products in the shortest time.
    To make ends meet mines are sticking to old methods at the moment and  to ramp up sustainable production would take at least five years. Billions of US$ would required to start new workings would take at least a ramp up period of ten years to reach full production in most ventures, but first investors must be sure that there must be a sustainable need for that particular metal or mineral!

RAND STRENGTH

During the whole Brexit fiasco the Rand held up surprisingly well, losing very little against the US Dollar.
 As Soon as the initial panic ended it made it all back in three days! Compare this with other countries through out the world where a rout took place as if a comet was threatening the world.
The reason was that longer term mutual funds, large conglomerates and longer term traders  are looking to receive a better returns on their investments.  Most first world investments such as bonds are now in negative territory ,so large investments are losing money. 
 First our bonds were in demand again and large cash flows are coming in. Our bonds are still around 7% positive.
Now our mining shares are starting to take off as modest demand  to return and risk on investments are coming into vogue again.
                                         ALSO


1.The British Commonwealth will in the long run be better off ,as will British relations with those countries as the European grouping have been urging Britain to cut favourable trade deals to its former empire! South Africa is also a member of the commonwealth.
2. The reason for the no vote winning was the European Union showing little resolution to curb illegal immigration, which any thinking person could see would lead to  WORK BECOMING VERY SCARCE AND COUNTRIES STRUGGLING WITH MONIES TO PROVIDE SOCIAL SERVICES FOR THEIR OWN POPULATIONS ,LET ALONE ILLEGAL FOREIGNERS !

BREATHING SPACE !

   THE  DECISION WE WERE ALL WAITING FOR, THAT IS TO SEE IF WE WERE TO FALL INTO JUNK  (NON INVESTMENT GRADE)WAS AVERTED YESTERDAY .WE ALL GAVE A GREAT SIGH OF RELEF WHEN STANDARD AND POOR KEPT US ONE NOTCH ABOVE THIS STATUS. LATE LAST MONTH MOODY'S EVEN  MOVED US UP TWO NOTCHES.   THIS GOES TO SHOW WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED WHEN BUSINESS , THE TRADE UNIONS AND GOVERNMENT ALL WORK TOGETHER FOR THE GOOD OF THE COUNTRY INSTEAD OF SHOUTING AT EACH OTHER. A FURTHER REVEIW WILL BE HELD AT YEAR END SO THERE IS MUCH WORK TO DO. WE ARE STILL THE STRONGEST FISCAL STATE IN AFRICA!
   THE CRISES WAS BASICALLY CREATED WHEN THE BOTTOM FELL OUT OF THE RESOURCE PRICES WITH DOWNTURNS IN DEVELOPED AS WELL AS DEVELOPING NATIONS AND HAS PERSISTED FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. OUR GOVERNMENT WAS VERY LAX AND CONTINUED TO TRY TO SPEND OUR WAY OUT OF THE RECESSION ON BORROWED MONEY.
   WE CAN NOT REST ON OUR LAURELS NOW.
A GOOD MOVE WAS TO BRING MR GORDHAN BACK AS  THE MINISTER OF FINANCE. THE GOVERNMENT MUST CUT DOWN ON GRAFT WHICH REACHES FROM THE VERY HIGHEST ECHELONS OF STATE STRUCTURES TO THE LOWEST. THIS IS A SERIOUS MATTER. A GOOD START WAS MADE WHEN THE PUBLIC PROTECTOR MADE OUR STATE PRESIDENT PAY FOR PART OF THE UPGRADES TO HIS PRIVATE RESIDENCE.
    A MORE OMINOUS  SUBJECT WHICH WAS PUT ON THE BACK BURNER WAS THE SOCIALIST MINING CHARTER. IN ITS PRESENT FORM WHICH WOULD ALLOW THE STATE TO IMPOSE IMPOSSIBLE DEMANDS AND AND EVEN SEIZURE IF NOT MET SHOULD BE TOTALLY SCRAPPED,AS MINING COMPANIES CANNOT PAY WORKERS MORE OR CEDE MORE TO THE STATE TAKING THE STATES SHARE TO 50% AS PRICES DECLINE. NO NEW MINES ARE BEEN DEVELOPED AS THIS REQUIRES BILLIONS OF AMERICAN DOLLARS AND WHO WOULD INVEST IN SUCH AN UNCERTAIN COUNTRY,IF THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF THOSE ASSESTS BEEN CONFISCATED ?
AFTER ALL IT TAKE MANY YEARS TO BRING MINES TO PROFITABILITY.
  ANOTHER DUMB MOVE,  IN ANOTHER BILL STILL IN THE MAKING IS TO FORCE MINING COMPANIES AT THIS CRITICAL TIME TO KEEP A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF THEIR PRODUCTS BACK FOR FURTHER BENEFICATION HERE BEFOR EXPORTING THEM. THIS QUOTA WILL BE DECIDED BY TECHNOCRATS OF THE RULING PARTY. THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE TO CREATE JOBS, BUT SUCH BENEFICATION IS USUALLY HIGHLY SOPHISCATED,REQUIRING SKILLED WORKERS FROM OUTSIDE OUR REGION , IS UNLIKELY TO CREATE JOBS AND WORST OF ALL , WHERE WOULD WE SELL THESE PRODUCTS?
IN THE COMING MONTHS I SHALL ENDEVOUR TO REPORT ON POSITIVE ASPECTS OF OUR EVENTUAL  RECOVERY WHICH IS A MUST.
 1 THE NEWEST ADDITIONS TO PAGES ARE MENTIONED AT THE TOP OF THE INDEX ABOVE.
 2 SEE THE ADDITIONAL NEW SMALL CAP WINTER  AND YEAR  LISTS ABOVE
3 Whilst we wait for Brexit to play itself out on the 24 June 2016 maybe visit our revamped site at http://paws2012.blogspot.com for a gentler look at life !

SELL IN MAY ?

and go away! Not really ,but do note that resources such as gold ,coal and platinum group metals have soared in the last couple of months   , coming off lows and driven by speculators.
There is really no sign that there is an increased demand at  this stage. The recovery continues, but at a snails pace.
Best to wait till August before entering any large buying moves.

OUR BACKS TO THE WALL!

   Our finance minister with years of experience is doing a great job bringing order to our fiscal system.
TRANSFER TO MINING NEWS IN THE INDEX ABOVE FOR THE LATEST ON GOLD AND PLATINUM
   How ever as hard as he tries and he has succeeded in bringing  almost every one on board even the major trade unions as they see the number of jobs declining due to circumstances world wide.
   The major reason is of course that we remain a basic producer of metals and minerals. The demand for these has declined drastically and of course the needs of the poorer citizens have to be met to keep their body and souls alive!
   Therefore I RELUCTANTLY forecast that we will be downgraded to junk status(i.e. non investment grade) ,likely this winter. We are held in such good stead that countries such as Brazil and Russia were downgraded a considerable time before us.
 The good news is we are unlikely to be downgraded further and not if but when demand for commodities improve we are likely to be upgraded before many other countries of the world.
I hope we have learnt our lesson and in future keep strict fiscal discipline!

ADDITIONAL ASSET CLASSES

Most of us have   read at certain times that money is not worth the value of the paper its printed on!
Unfortunately this is turning out to be the norm , more often than we would like!
It was obvious that there was not enough gold in the world to cover all the paper currencies as in the past. Coming up with PAPER GOLD as it was called was not the answer, but the chosen method politicians decided on. It was thought that the working endeavours of ordinary citizens would always be equal to the value of  a currency. As time has gone on cracks have started to emerge, but the method of dealing with this situation is to ignore it and never mention the bind we find our selves in.
So this has now led to a even more dangerous phenomenon called the BITCOIN ,which we are told is mined out of thin air, according to a complicated mathematical formula, which no one fully understands with no backing of any kind.
TANGABLE ASSET CLASSES are now forming additional methods of preserving wealth so as all our hard earned value is not lost.
GOLD,PLATINUM GROUP METALS,SILVER ,DIAMONDS ARE TRUE WEALTH PRESERVERS, AS THEY CAN BE USED AND STORED AS BARS,COINS OR AS JEWELLERY OR A COMBINATION OF THESE (EXCUDING DIAMONDS OF COURSE).
ANOTHER ADVANTAGE IS THAT THEY CAN BE EASILY CARRIED OR SOLD.
REAL ESTATE UNLESS IN VEHICLES SUCH AS REITS,, CAN BE A BIND IN TIMES OF DISTRESS AS THE FORMER ARE EASILY DEPOSED OF.
STOCK EXCHANGE SHARES ARE ALSO EASILY DEPOSED OF OR BOUGHT IN THE RIGHT SECTORS,MUCH BETTER THAN FIXED DEPOSITS ETC.
Stamps and paintings might not be easily deposed of in times of stress and similar objects such as antiques.
THE LATEST PAGE UPDATES ARE AT  THE TOP ARE ALWAYS AT THE TOP OF THE INDEX ABOVE

South African Financial Strength

Visit the index above as the latest page updates are placed first in the index .
Our economic ship has steadied since the appointment of our  finance minister Pravin Gordhan has been re-appointed .This man has a good record of managing our financial affairs in the past and was a good choice after the two light weights just before his appointment .As a result the Rand has shown signs of strengthening  , at least for the time being!
 We are the most stable financial country on the African Continent.
  Our government has stuck to the capitalist system for the most part, despite agitation from the far left. Unlike many other states in the world it is easier to remove money quickly from our country as there fewer constraints .
 The South African Republic does not go in for "ambush economics" such as Nigeria now seems to be doing. Now that their oil industry is failing  and they cannot balance their budget, they have taken to fining all the large companies such as our own MTN ridiculous amounts of money for frivolous reasons. Western   world companies are also  finding out they also in the line of fire! Surely in the longer term this will negate new companies investing there.
Through its long history South Africa has always paid what it's borrowed from banks in other countries.

NEW YEAR EXPECTATIONS

Our local South African market the JSE is oversold at the moment. Of course our financial state is not good as our balance of payments is not improving  with very low demand  for our commodities and with rating agencies hovering to reduce us to junk status, as we hold on just one notch above junk at the moment.
How ever there signs of some commodities such as copper , platinum group metals , even iron ore having reached a low plateau now as mines tighten their belts taking steps not to over produce and also following tight business principles ,major producers are ready to ride the bad times as they aim to carry on at break even rates.
We feel that stock prices will not fall further in Rand terms as the USD strengthens our Rand weakens and we receive more income. This is because most of our commodities are rated in USD.
The real recovery in commodity prices  is likely only to start taking place toward the middle of 2017 and be in full swing towards the end of   2018!
There is enough information on overseas markets available out there.
Visit the index. above the post regularly.    The latest updates are always placed at the top of the index above.

THE YEAR ENDS

All updates and new lists hopefully be published by the end of February 2016, as we are now closing till that time for a much needed break !
Best wishes for all  readers of these posts and hoping we shall all be successful in the new year !
At the moment our local market is plunging as minerals are not needed by the world in sufficient quantities and local politicians are adding to our woes by unfortunate views, moves and statements!

To counter this action we have closed our positions on most local shares and have invested in the NEWUSD
 ETF and other overseas shares on our local bourse that are overseas based such as REI. Do watch out for too high PE's and keep alerts and some stop losses in place.

CLIMATE CHANGE HYSTERIA

I fully realize it does not help to RAIL  against the status quo! 
How   ever ,it is worth pointing that all and sundry are getting on the band wagon, to score at the expense of the poor tax payer ,including SNAKE OIL SALESMEN !

See small cap update above 2/12/2015

The poorest countries whom, by the way produce the least emissions, want quad-trillions  to curb their emissions.
An easier way would be to use the Russian method ,which would be to place a boycott on some of their exports if they do not comply.
The major cause of the excess production of carbon-dioxcide is
of course over population  farting and exhaling and not enough afforestation round the world ,especially in Chinese cities to mitigate these effects. Some extremists want to get rid of cattle and other forms of domestic and wild animals.  Poor animals produce only one quarter of one of the major volcanoes emissions in a year!
Do read our previous post THE GREAT CARBON CREDIT SCAM on Friday 1 2015 below.
There is really no need to reduce human gas industrial activity to zero. All things in moderation is all that is needed.
 The immediate aim is to reduce the temperature rise to less than 2%. REALLY ! WHY?

MARKET CHURN and Updates

November Updates (Above)
Summer update and Spring updates 30/11/2015
NEW Under construction TOP 40 ,TEN LIKELY BEST SHARES FOR 2016 
My specialist watch list 16/11/2015
Small cap  & Altex updates 6 , 9 ,21 Nov
Spring update 3 Nov 2015



Post MARKET CHURN

The present market world-wide is going nowhere as prices have run ahead of the general recovery. Stresses and strains are being felt in all basic metal resource producers and with over production in these markets ,things are becoming slowly worse. There is also a re alignment of which metals will be needed in the future world as green house management is now taking centre stage in the developed world. South Africa ,with other developing countries is also feeling the strain leading to social unrest as fewer work opportunities now exist. Impossible demands are being placed on these governments and I am afraid we are in for a further rough time.

October Updates and Notes

 UPDATES SEE ABOVE  INDEX

TOP 40 UPDATES SEE ABOVE 19/10/2015

SMALL CAP UPDATE 16/10/2015

MY SPECIALIST WATCH LIST UPDATE 12/10/2015


NOTE 2  A SURVEY CARRIED OUT IN EUROPE SHOWS THAT THE WORKERS  THAT WORK THE LONGEST HOURS ARE NOT IN GERMANY OR FRANCE BUT IN GREECE. IT ALSO SHOWED THAT IN ALL THE MAIN COUNTRIES PRODUCTION IS FALTERING AND THERE NOT ENOUGH JOBS FOR THEIR CITIZENS,NOW EXCREBRIATED BY THE INFLUX OF ILLEGAL MIGRANTS!


NOTE 1 Some newspapers now are predicting that mineral production will never again produce any profits.Yes there has been a seven year decline in prices and many mines and mining houses are in trouble.
  The main reason is that in the twenty years preceding the decline prices soared as there were shortages for the main part of most types of minerals ,resulting in ramping up supplies resulting in over supply. Even when the writing was on the wall ,copious amounts were produced, such as iron ore.
  Many mines are now being moth-balled or going bankrupt. Minerals will always be needed for our growing world populations and the cycle will eventually be reversed again.
  LET  HOPE MORE SENSE WILL BE USED IN FUTURE SO AS NOT TO GET INTO THE BOOM , BUST CYCLE AGAIN!

UPDATES, POST "Ecomonies of scale !"

UPDATES
See the Spring update above 28/9/2015
See Summer and Autumn updates 21/9/2015
 See mineral news above 7/9/2015
See Small Caps AND Altex above 18/9/2015, 24/9/2015


POST
 China is a centrally  controlled
economy where the government interferes in every facet of life ,including tightly regulating economic activity.
Obviously always with the best intentions. To gain more traction and direction economically, they loosened controls on some aspects of commercial life and even allowed a stock exchange to come into existence.
Every country has a number of enterprising citizens who then listed on the exchange and found they could make money trading shares. News quickly spread and the masses stared to join in. Little did thee traders understand that an individual stock should increase in value only as it's dividend grows on a sound footing that it makes more profit and all types of shares started to move up sharply ,some into almost into the stratosphere ! There was also a building boom which further excrebiated  the worsening situation. Bubbles formed and the inevitable crash followed. The warning signs were
there for the last three years, of course many excuses were made that thing were  not that bad.
Different from other countries, the Chinese government continues to interfere by measures such as preventing money brought in from around the world so invested from leaving their country. They also curbed bear activity which would have prevented the worst sell offs and goes in for buying shares in untenable stocks to keep the price from falling.
All this upset the world stock markets as one felt China a couple of years ago looked as if it would lift the mantle of being the strongest economy in the world from the United States of America. This course of events looks now as if this will never come about.
Now to divert their citizens from their troubles they are unfortunately turning to military solutions by fermenting situations with neighbours.