Covid-19: Central Banks Fail to Bring Comfort

16 March 2020 Global central banks have announced additional emergency stimulus measures. In particular, the US Federal Reserve reduced its policy rate by 100 basis point, which now stands near zero. In addition, the Fed will resume aggressively its quantitative easing program. During the Global Financial Crisis global markets were reassured by such assertive policy [...]

Covid-19: US Lags on Testing

12 March 2020 The US imposed a travel ban with Europe. The UK is transitioning from the from the containment to delay phase of dealing with the spread of the Coronavirus. However, major differences exist in the level of testing between countries. And, there's a strong correlation between testing and discovery of infected cases. If [...]

EM Contagion: Who’s Next??!!

10 August 2018 In the wake of the turmoil in Turkey, markets are considering which Emerging Market currencies potentially could be vulnerable if a broader EM contagion develops.  A couple of my favourite Charts may provide some clues. What has provoked the dramatic run on the Turkish lira?  Chart 1 illustrates the Turkish currency  was [...]

S&P 500: Tipping Point?

13 February 2018 In my 2018 Investment Strategy blog entitled "Aging Rally or More to Play For?", I indicated that while the US (and global) equity market rally was aging in calendar terms, the factors traditionally signalling the end of the cycle were not yet evident.  Nevertheless, I suggested that the US market would experience [...]