Tag Archives: economic growth

Watch out, it’s October …

No-one seems to understand why, but this time of year is often tumultuous. (Particularly in the financial world. 1929. 1987. 2008.) This year is looking pretty interesting too. So called “geo-political risk” has risen sharply. Gaza and Ukraine have settled down … Continue reading

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US GDP downer pushed the market up!

About an hour after my last post, the US Department of Commerce released it’s final revision of data for US GDP for the first quarter of 2014 … a staggering -2.9%. Bloggers, twitterers and columnists went into overdrive: “This is the … Continue reading

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Approaching a market top?

A weird complacency seems to have settled over Wall Street. Stock prices are at a record. The S&P 500 broad index, currently at 1950, is remorselessly approaching 2000. It’s been climbing with hardly a pause for breath for more than five years. That’s … Continue reading

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Watching China

My post on China at the weekend attracted a bit of interest, so here’s more to ponder … A visual from Zerohedge: By now everyone knows that the Chinese credit bubble has hit unprecedented proportions. If they don’t, we remind … Continue reading

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China: has the music just stopped?

Whilst we’re all distracted by the extraordinary events in Ukraine and Crimea, and the hunt for MH370, things in China are looking dodgier by the day. In the last 5 years the Chinese have created $16 trillion in credit. That is … Continue reading

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Joe’s jumbled message

I’ve been listening very hard to Joe Hockey recently. Way back, whilst still in opposition, he made that famous “it’s the end of the age of entitlement” speech in London. Lately he’s been strongly on the same theme. He argues … Continue reading

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But I can’t afford it …

We’ve all said it. “That would be great, but I can’t afford it.” That house, that fancy car, that new dress, that exotic holiday, that night out … BUT, in recent decades … … The presence of credit cards in … Continue reading

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Phantom recovery

Highlights from yesterday’s US Government press release on jobs: unemployment down in one month from 7% to 6.7%; 74,000 new jobs created in December. Sounds OK doesn’t it? The economy must be recovering … (Wall Street rose a bit on … Continue reading

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Politicians under pressure … democracy tested

Five or more years past the global financial crisis we are seeing more big trends that show just what a tipping point 2008 was. In 2008 and 2009 many changes were obvious: falling stock markets; falling prices; wealth destruction; massive … Continue reading

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The market v the economy in two graphs

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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