In the News: Forbes

Portfolio manager Axel Merk tells Forbes we are reaching the stress level in the lending market that we had in the fall of 2008

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It’s not just Europe that could be impacted by a new credit crisis, however. Axel Merk, the president Merk Investments and manager of the Merk Hard Currency Fund (MERKX), explained to me this morning that European banks are the largest financers of Asian credit and many make U.S. dollar-denominated loans. As U.S. money market funds have cut back on buying debt from European banks, the cost of acquiring U.S. dollars has risen. In fact Merk observed, “What is shown in the market right now is that we are reaching the stress level in the lending market that we had in the fall of 2008.” As a result, the central banks felt the need to step in and take measures to encourage banks to lend."