CNBC puts a positive spin on it, but the reality is the US is stepping in as buyer of last resort to make up for a shortfall in other foreign buyers. Most of the purchases are at the state and municipal level, which I suspect is to not attract undue attention that would follow if the Fed made those purchases directly.
This follows in the wake of the first time ever sale of foreign exchange to prop up the Shekel just 2 days after the attack by Hamas.
I raised this point as have others after the pager attack. Would you ever again trust a cell phone or pager made in Israel, or made under contract by a nation with friendly ties to Israel? This is going to be a big issue in terms of future sales of all sorts of electronic devices, especially at the corporate level. I can see China and India stepping in here to build devices with a guaranteed chain of custody to the final user, something which Israel obviously can no longer do. Besides being criminal, the attack was also supremely stupid as it will cause far more damage to their tech sector than any short-term gain it may have achieved, bearing in mind that you can only do it once.
There's a subtext here that isn't mentioned. Perhaps it's in the original report?
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/08/massive-surge-in-the-buying-of-israel-bonds-from-the-united-states.html
CNBC puts a positive spin on it, but the reality is the US is stepping in as buyer of last resort to make up for a shortfall in other foreign buyers. Most of the purchases are at the state and municipal level, which I suspect is to not attract undue attention that would follow if the Fed made those purchases directly.
This follows in the wake of the first time ever sale of foreign exchange to prop up the Shekel just 2 days after the attack by Hamas.
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/10/9/bank-of-israel-to-sell-30bn-of-forex-after-shekel-falls
Then there's the problem of capital flight
https://jewishbusinessnews.com/2024/06/18/israels-capital-flight-and-its-economic-implications-55-drop-in-foreign-investment-q1-2024/
I raised this point as have others after the pager attack. Would you ever again trust a cell phone or pager made in Israel, or made under contract by a nation with friendly ties to Israel? This is going to be a big issue in terms of future sales of all sorts of electronic devices, especially at the corporate level. I can see China and India stepping in here to build devices with a guaranteed chain of custody to the final user, something which Israel obviously can no longer do. Besides being criminal, the attack was also supremely stupid as it will cause far more damage to their tech sector than any short-term gain it may have achieved, bearing in mind that you can only do it once.
I’ve downgraded israel to “Bba” status (Buy-nothing, believe-nothing, avoid-everything”).