CHINA GOES THE OPPOSITE WAY TO THE U.S. – IN SOFT LANDING MODE, BEIJING CUTS KEY MORTGAGE RATE AS ITS COVID LOCKDOWNS HELP IT TO COOL ITS FIERY ECONOMY – EVEN AS U.S. HEADS INTO A VIOLENT BUST CYCLE AFTER BEING FORCED TO JACK UP INTEREST RATES IN BID TO REIN IN SELF-INFLICTED INFLATION – GUESS WHO WILL REBOUND, WHO WILL STAY DOWN FOR A LONG, LONG WHILE

News Snapshot:

BEIJING ― China today announced it would cut a key interest rate in a boost to home buyers and debt-mired developers as the country’s economy is slowed by Covid-19 restrictions ripping across major cities. Prolonged virus lockdowns have constricted supply chains, quelled demand and stalled manufacturing in the last major economy welded to a zero-Covid approach to the pandemic. The five-year loan prime rate (LPR) ― which many lenders base their mortgage rates ― was trimmed to 4.45 per cent from 4.6 per cent, China’s central bank said today. Since the rate is “the benchmark for pricing most mortgages, we...