Category Archives: financial markets

Good debt, bad debt and unreal debt

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Geoff O'Reilly

Governments, corporations and people borrow to pay for something they need now, but don’t have enough cash/savings to pay for now. If that something is a hard economic asset (say, a power station, or a house), part of the future … Continue reading →

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The market v the economy in two graphs

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Geoff O'Reilly

The exuberance in the western world’s stock markets is palpable. The lead is coming from Wall Street where the end of year celebration was lubricated by a 30% gain. Thanks to the Federal Reserve printing $1 trillion out of thin … Continue reading →

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Bubbles anywhere?

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Geoff O'Reilly

Just about every relevant source I read is now writing about bubbles. Are we, or aren’t we, inflating bubbles? The Economist is typical: “TALK of bubbles is in the air again. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has hit an all-time … Continue reading →

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Interest rate announcements … what a circus!

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Geoff O'Reilly

Today the Reserve Bank held interest rates at their current 60 year low, 2.5%. Was that because they haven’t a clue what to do next? … when in doubt, do nothing? Within minutes, my phone and email was alight with … Continue reading →

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Freelance work

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Geoff O'Reilly

Last week saw the listing on the ASX of Freelancer Ltd It caused some excitement in the business media because the 50 cents shares shot up to $2.60 when the shares first listed last Friday before settling back to $1.60 … Continue reading →

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Banks. Don’t you just love ’em?

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Geoff O'Reilly

Before 2008 there were five enormous investment banks on Wall Street. These were not banks with tellers and branches looking after ordinary people and businesses. These were the deal makers. As the financial crisis unfolded, first Bears Sterns got into … Continue reading →

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Twitter IPO

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Geoff O'Reilly

I use Twitter every day. But not to tweet. Configured to follow the right news sources (BBC, NYT, Reuters, The Economist, RT and others) it makes a truly excellent news feed to keep up with what was going on. Today … Continue reading →

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