Derivatives in and of themselves are not evil. There’s nothing evil about how they’re traded, how they’re accounted for, and how they’re financed, like any other financial instrument, if done properly. James Chanos Read Quote
And so it can be very much in the interest of bank A to sell-short bank B shares, or buy CDSes on bank B, because they have exposure to bank B. It’s the responsible thing to do as a fiduciary, and yet if everyone does it at the same time, it’s destabilizing because everyone is selling. James Chanos Read Quote
So you know, everyone points out Greece’s default record, but the history of a lot of sovereign nations is not a good one when it comes to lending them money. James Chanos Read Quote
The Macau casinos have a wonderful business, it’s taking in money from Chinese businessmen elsewhere who send it through junky companies to casinos to gamble. The growth continues and they have basically western managers and western accounting, so we trust the numbers a little bit more. James Chanos Read Quote
The Chinese banking system is built on quicksand and that’s the one thing a lot of people don’t realize. Everybody seems to think it is a free and clear open checkbook. It’s not. The banking system in China is extremely fragile. James Chanos Read Quote
I’ve learned there’s a big difference between a long-focused value investor and a good short-seller. That difference is psychological and I think it falls into the realm of behavioral finance. James Chanos Read Quote
Bubbles are best identified by credit excesses, not valuation excesses. And there’s no bigger credit excess than in China. James Chanos Read Quote
What people don’t realize is that China papered over its last two credit bubbles, those in 1999 and 2004. The banks were never bailed out – they just exchanged their bad loans for questionable bonds from quasi-state organizations. James Chanos Read Quote
It’s very difficult in the technology space when you have been leapfrogged to prosper again. James Chanos Read Quote
Healthcare is growing now at about 10 per cent per annum in the U.S. top line, versus 3 per cent for the economy. As someone with a sharp pencil and an eye for this kind of thing, this can’t last. James Chanos Read Quote