When the party stops

When the party stops The parallels between this cycle’s tech wunderkind, NVIDIA and yesteryear’s CISCO are not new, but worth repeating. As no group can out grow the market in perpetuity, the question always remain as to how far out will markets choose to reach out into the uncertain future to fix their horizon values. […]

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If rates are expected to fall, why the surge in corporate bond issuance?

If ‘everyone’ believes interest rates are going back down, then why was US corporate bond issuance up +54% YoY in Q2 and with the high yield/junk end the most active? Seems like corporate treasurers were happy to unload some extra debt to “willing buyers at a fair market price” as  Jeremy Irons character ‘John Tuld’ […]

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Is the ECB being hung out to dry?

Has the US BIS not got the memo to support the easing narrative with softening economic data, or is the ECB and Euro being hung out to dry? For those hoodwinked by the manipulated GDP deflator assumptions (see below)  between Q4 2023 and Q1 this year, into over-estimating the slowdown in economic activity must have […]

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Soaring gold prices and gold miners

As markets lose faith in the Fed’s ability to manage its easing pivot, gold and silver prices are soaring to new records notwithstanding hardening long bond yields.  For investors wanting to participate in this trade, the choice seems to be between physical gold bullion, paper gold certificates or those mining the stuff. Those with a […]

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The mighty US dollar – ruling over the ashes

At times like this it is difficult to comprehend whether there are any adults left at the helm in the US.  Jerome Powell’s attempts to ape his failed predecessor, Arthur Burns, is unraveling as fast as gold prices and bond yields are rising in the face of a so-called Republican Congress seemingly incapable of reining […]

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“Ukraine will become a member of NATO” – another gem from Blinken!

“All warfare is based on deception”, albeit presumably Sun Tzu expected those following this advice to be able to have a modicum of proficiency in misdirecting their opponents. So what are we to make of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s promise today that “Ukraine will become a member of NATO”, knowing full well this […]

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