Archives
Brexit is getting the blame
June 17th, 2016
Brexit is not the most important problem facing markets, it is mounting problems in the European banks. But before looking at that systemic issue, I will summarise the Brexit position, from the trenches, in the last few days before ...
The pensions mess: can gold help?
June 14th, 2016
The British have recently seen two unpleasant examples of the cost of pension fund deficits. A deficit at British Steel, estimated to be about £485m, was followed by a deficit at British Home Stores of £571m. In both cases, ...
Gold – a reasonable correction?
June 3rd, 2016
Gold weakened during May by about $100, from a high point of $1300 to a low of $1200. This, for technical analysts, is entirely within the normal correction zone of a third to two-thirds of the previous rise, which ...
Regulation – the hidden curse
May 27th, 2016
Regulations are nearly always introduced with the best intentions. In financial services, they aim to stop unscrupulous brokers and banks from ripping off the public through bad practices. Manufacturers are banned from making products which are dangerous to children, ...
The Eurozone is the greatest danger
May 23rd, 2016
World-wide, markets are horribly distorted, which spells danger not only to investors, but to businesses and their employees as well, because it is impossible to allocate capital efficiently in this financial environment. With markets everywhere disrupted by interventions from ...
The Endgame
May 18th, 2016
And how we got here There is a growing fear in financial and monetary circles that there is something deeply wrong with the global economy. Publicly, officials and practitioners alike have become confused by policy failures, and privately, occasionally ...
T-TIP: Salvation or trash-tip?
May 9th, 2016
President Obama weighed into the Brexit debate on his recent visit to the UK, saying that if Britain left the EU, she would be at the back of the queue when it comes to a free trade agreement. If ...
Taking the petro out of the dollar
May 4th, 2016
Saudi Arabia has been in the news recently for several interconnected reasons. Underlying it all is a spendthrift country that is rapidly becoming insolvent. While the House of Saud remains strongly resistant to change, a mixture of reality and ...
The ECB and shadow banking
April 19th, 2016
Markets have fully adjusted to a financial world which reflects the leadership and management of money by central banks, and are increasingly frightened of any prospect of their control failing. Every time the system stumbles, the response has been ...
A tale of two currencies
April 5th, 2016
There is a widespread and growing feeling that financial markets are slipping towards another crisis of some sort. In this article I argue that we are in the eye of a financial storm, that it will blow again from ...
