Financial markets are very bad at evaluating political risk. They assume people will always be rational, and expect a ‘business as usual’ scenario to continue. But as we all know, people are not always rational. And emotion, as today over immigration may cloud their judgement. This week has seen the first signs of this complacency […]
Chemicals and the Economy
Great Unwinding creates Great Divergence in financial markets
Most traders prefer to be with the crowd – then, at least, they can’t be personally blamed if things go wrong. Instead, they can claim that “nobody could have seen the change coming”. So as we approach year-end, many traders are becoming very nervous as the Great Unwinding of policymaker stimulus means that markets start […]
US 10-year interest rates jump 23% as Fed debates 0.25% hike
Media hype over the potential for a 0.25% interest rate rise by the US Federal Reserve is well underway. But as often happens these days, this is missing the bigger picture. The issue is simple: developments in China are far more important to the global economy than anything the Fed might, or might not, do […]
Phase 2 of the Great Unwinding of policymaker stimulus begins
Greece, Iran, China – suddenly real world issues are starting to dominate the headlines. And few people now believe that printing more money is the way to solve these issues. Instead, political leaders are being forced to take the hard decisions they have ducked for so long. Financial markets are clearly reflecting the change. They […]
Fed’s loss of credibility risks causing investor stampede
Credibility is hard to gain. And once gone, it is very hard to regain. That is the challenge facing the US Federal Reserve today. The New York Times is just one of the mainstream media now starting to highlight the issue, as last week’s Fed meeting led to a further deferral of the promised rise […]
German markets stumble as “Sell in May” theme continues
My 4 May post was titled “‘Sell in May and go away?’ as US, German bond yields jump“. Since then, US interest rates have continued to soar and the US stock market is starting to wobble, as I discussed last week. Now emerging markets are in the line of fire. $9.3bn was withdrawn last week – […]
US margin debt hits record highs, whilst interest rates jump
Everyone knows that the US Federal Reserve will “never” let stock markets fall. So it makes perfect sense for investors to borrow as much as they can, in order to chase the market higher. It therefore is no surprise to see that borrowing to fund purchases on the New York Stock Exchange has reached a […]
European interest rates go negative as Draghi boosts stock markets
Historians will not look kindly on Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank. They will ask what he thought he was doing, issuing an extra €1tn ($1.05tn) of debt from March 2015, when the Eurozone was already struggling under a dead-weight of government debt: In the big countries, Italy has $47k of debt per person; […]
Interest rate outlook more uncertain as Bill Gross leaves PIMCO
Last week’s departure of Bill Gross from his role as Chief Investment Officer at PIMCO is likely to prove a turning point for interest rates in the West, and probably around the world. Gross founded PIMCO (Pacific Investment Management Co) more than 40 years ago. During this time he built its assets under management to around $2tn. That is […]
Great Unwinding of policymaker stimulus creates interest rate risk
Interest rate risk is rising in the developed economies as the Great Unwinding of policymaker stimulus continues. Since the blog first highlighted this Unwinding last month: Oil prices have continued to tumble, with Brent now down over $15/bbl from its late-June peak The US$ has continued to rise from multi-year lows versus the yen, euro and pound And of course, […]
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