Bill Blain: Saving the Oceans
There are estimated to be over 7-12 trillion pieces of plastic floating in the seven seas – 71% of the earth’s surface is now polluted with everything from tyres, bottles to micro-plastics.
22 November 2019 - 13:48
Bill Blain: Reason Is a Rare and Precious Commodity
The issue of Fed vs President is not going away – while the market broadly believes Powell’s and the Fed’s independence is sacrosanct, and Trump can’t sack him, it damages the credibility of the Presidency that Trump still tries to bully the Fed. But – critically - it shouldn’t have that much effect on markets, because we all know that’s just the way it is...
19 November 2019 - 10:48
The History of Interest Rates Over 670 Years
A perpetual bond is a bond with no maturity date. Investors can treat this type of bond as an equity, not as debt. Issuers pay a coupon on perpetual bonds forever, and do not have to redeem the principal—much like the dividend from a blue-chip company.
18 November 2019 - 20:37
Rating Agencies Betray Their Anti-Brexit Prejudices
Rating agencies that warn of Britain’s post-Brexit prospects are systematically exaggerating the costs and underestimating the benefits. This is politics, not economics.
16 November 2019 - 07:48
$69 Trillion of World Debt in One Infographic
The U.S. is also the world’s largest economy in nominal terms, putting the debt to GDP ratio at 104.3%. Other stand outs from the list above include Japan, which has the highest debt to GDP ratio (237.1%), and China , which has increased government debt by almost $2 trillion in just the last two years. Meanwhile, the European economies of Italy and Belgium check the box as other large debtors with ratios topping 100% debt to GDP.
15 November 2019 - 07:48
Consumers Are Keeping the US out of Recession? Don’t Count on It
How does every bear market begin? Slowly at first, then all of a sudden.
14 November 2019 - 16:48
Technically Speaking, a Correction Is Coming; Just Don’t Tell the Bulls… Yet!
The example I use most often is the resemblance to “stretching a rubber-band.” Stock prices are tied to their long-term trend which acts as a gravitational pull. When prices deviate too far from the long-term trend they will eventually, and inevitably, “revert to the mean.”
12 November 2019 - 22:48
Ron Paul: Is the ‘Mother of all Bubbles’ About to Pop?
US consumer debt — which includes credit cards, student loans, auto loans, and mortgages — now totals over 14 trillion dollars. This massive government and private debts put tremendous pressure on the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low or even to “experiment” with negative rates. But, the Fed can only keep interest rates, which are the price of money, artificially low for so long without serious economic consequences.
12 November 2019 - 16:48
Bill Blain: When There Is Too Much Cash around the Market Can Remain Irrational for Longer…
One of the key factors driving stocks higher in the wake of a trade “accommodation” rather than a peace treaty is momentum – markets want to go higher, anticipating growth. But the market is equally driven by the volume of cash ready to be thrown at it. There is no shortage of ready liquidity - in this sense of too much easy money chasing too few assets, rather than liquidity: “who wants to buy this” conundrum.
11 November 2019 - 20:48
Perils of the New Keynesians
To the extent that government can stimulate growth, it’s through structural reforms that improve the investment climate: Cut red tape. Reduce workplace regulation. Fast-track tax cuts. Fix the state-based payroll taxes and stamp duties on property that stifle labour mobility. Make the 30 per cent company tax rate more internationally competitive. Break the construction union’s monopoly power. Restore monetary policy to its appropriate role of maintaining price stability.
9 November 2019 - 10:48
Global Debt Is up to $188 Trillion: This Is Officially the Biggest Debt Bubble the World Has Ever Seen
“Global debt — both public and private — has reached an all-time high of $188 trillion. This amounts to about 230 percent of world output,” Georgieva said in a speech to open a two-day conference on debt.
8 November 2019 - 16:48
The Deutsche Bank Death Watch Has Taken a Very Interesting Turn
Deutsche Bank is the largest domino in Europe’s very shaky financial system. When it fully collapses, it will set off a chain reaction that nobody is going to be able to stop.
5 November 2019 - 19:03
Visualising the Stages of Startup Funding
In a study of over 1,110 U.S. seed tech companies, only 30% exited through an IPO, merger, or acquisition (M&A).
5 November 2019 - 01:48
The Fed’s Liquidity Response Is Too Little, Too Late, but That Was Always the Plan…
That is to say, the Fed kept liquidity conditions as tight as possible until the public finally became aware of the crisis. The truth is, nothing has changed as far as liquidity is concerned.
4 November 2019 - 04:48
Carney’s Green Crypto Currency: Precursor to a Financial Meltdown
Carney was joined by former Bank of England Governor Mervyn King who recently warned that a “financial Armageddon” is looming unless central banks are permitted to unleash unbounded quantitative easing once more.
1 November 2019 - 12:48
What in the World Is the Federal Reserve Thinking!?
Even though a new financial crisis has not even started yet, the Fed has been creating money like crazy and their balance sheet has ballooned “by about $100 billion over the past month”…
31 October 2019 - 15:48
How the Deep State Overthrew the Last Nationalist Government of Canada… in 1963!
The Northern Vision called for building vast roads and resource development complexes across the Arctic along with rail links to Alaska.
28 October 2019 - 03:48
International Theft of British Blue Chip Companies
Firms under foreign ownership see their profits and dividends flow overseas, their investment decisions taken to serve foreign interests, their assets stripped and risky long-term investments shut down to boost short-run profits and dividends; domestic investment in plant and machinery, in research and development, in skills training [...] are liable to be severely curtailed; we're flogging off of assets vital to our strategic national interest [...]; but, Lynn reassures us, the wave of takeovers that is likely in the months ahead ‘will keep the stock market buoyant’.
19 October 2019 - 17:48
Visualizing the Rise of Investment Tech
Digitization and automation of manual processes have been a welcome change for many industry professionals. While investment technology is still in early stages, wealth managers can personalize investor experiences through the adoption of tech─and increase their chances of future success by maintaining a seamless customer experience.
17 October 2019 - 19:48
General Electric Freezes Pension Plans for 20,000 Employees in an Effort to Cut Liabilities
The company said it will also freeze supplementary pension benefits for about 700 U.S. employees who became executives before 2011. GE’s pension plan has been closed to new entrants since 2012.
9 October 2019 - 23:48
Federal Reserve’s Latest Bailouts More Proof Bad Times Ahead
The repo market provides a means for banks that are temporarily short of cash to obtain short-term (usually one day) loans from other banks. The Fed’s interventions were a response to a sudden cash shortage that caused interest rates for these short-term loans to climb to 10 percent, far above the Fed’s target rate.
8 October 2019 - 07:48
A U.S. Economic Slowdown Has Been Confirmed, and We Are Being Warned that “More Damage” Is ahead
"The U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index from the Institute for Supply Management came in at 47.8% in September, the lowest since June 2009, marking the second consecutive month of contraction. Any figure below 50% signals a contraction."
6 October 2019 - 02:48
Chart: Which Universities Have the Richest Graduates?
In the United Kingdom, Cambridge, Oxford, and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) have over 6,500 UHNW alumni combined. This represents a total of $1.08 trillion in wealth, an average of $174 million per UHNW grad.
3 October 2019 - 14:48
Goldman Sachs Has Just Issued an Ominous Warning about Stock Market Chaos in October
For example, the Federal Reserve had not intervened in the repo market since 2008, but this week the liquidity crunch was so bad that the Fed felt forced to conduct emergency overnight repurchase agreement operations on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
23 September 2019 - 13:33