Russia: Recession May Continue into 2024

2 May 2023 Yes, I concede the Russian economy proved to be more resilient than I expected in 2022. Indeed, Russia's GDP contracted only 2.1% last year compared to my projection that the imposition of sanctions would result in a slump of at least 7%. Of course, one must question the current reliability of Russia's [...]

USA: Too Hot, Too Cold, or Just Right?

At the 16 March FOMC meeting, US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell emphasised the central bank's determination to lower inflation towards the 2% target. To this end, the FOMC raised the Federal Funds rate by 25bp, and Chairman Powell indicated similar rate hikes should be expected at future meetings. Further, he warned the FOMC was [...]

Covid Strategy: Mind the Gap!

10 May 2020 Every day one hears the grim news regarding the global economic outlook. Nevertheless, financial markets continue to rebound relentlessly. What's up? The markets are working through various phases in coming to grips with the Covid-19 emergency. In the first phase, investors panicked as the Coronavirus spread world-wide, lockdowns were intensified, and fears [...]

Emerging Markets: Bracing for More Bad News?

17 April 2020 We have all seen the evidence that investors have deserted Emerging Markets in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Indeed, the following Chart illustrates the liquidation of EM assets has been considerably larger than in past episodes, including the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). As a result, the following Chart illustrates that EM [...]