Global Market Commentary, Analysis and Investments
Tutto va bene…
That was what the crew told passengers on the Costa Concordia just before it sank.
And it was what the crew of the USS America — the biggest cruise ship of all — were telling passengers last week.
Tutto va bene.
Trouble was, tutto was not going as bene as they claimed. Instead, the ship is sinking.
[Read more...]We have a wintry landscape here in Baltimore…or what is left of one. But forget the weather, happy days are here again.
At least, that is what you might think from reading the newspapers. Unemployment is going down. Consumer debt is going up. Even the housing market is showing signs of improvement.
[Read more...]Last week, Spain and Italy were able to offload 22 billion euros worth of debt. This quieted investors’ fears. Newspapers reported that calm and confidence had returned to the markets. Lenders and borrowers breathed more easily. Bankers put their feet up. Apparently, no major bank in Europe was so far underwater that the European Central Bank couldn’t bring it to the surface. None had its lungs so full of bad debt that the ECB cannot breathe life into it.
[Read more...]Everyone knows that when the clock strikes midnight for Cinderella, the carriage turns back into a pumpkin, the horse into mice and the jeweled gown into rags. The spell is broken and reality returns. I keep thinking of China in this context.
One of the big questions of the year is whether China blows up or not. Hard landing or soft? When will the clock strike midnight on the Chinese? Things are slowing down, and it feels like it’s getting late.
[Read more...]We had to wait five years. But it turns out our suspicion that the Federal Reserve is clueless, at best, is true. We know because we read it in The New York Times.
Welcome to another Friday the 13th… Where if things aren’t exactly scary, they’re definitely surreal.
The Fed performed its ritual year-opening document purge overnight… unveiling the transcripts from Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings in 2006.
[Read more...]The markets will be getting thin today, and will be super light tomorrow as most of the traders take some time off for the holidays. These thin markets can be volatile, as any moves are exaggerated by the lack of volume in the markets. We have lots of data hitting the markets today, which could be the spark for some real action, so it may get interesting.
[Read more...]The economies of the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain) are in disarray. Europe is in the throes of a banking crisis brought on by (among other things) exposure to Greek sovereign debt. Many of you have been asking if now is the time to jump in. Some of you read this piece in The Wall Street Journal and got excited.
[Read more...]Mike told you yesterday about how the euro (EUR) had lost over 2-cents in the overnight markets, on fears that Italy, which is a much larger economy than Greece, is the next to visit the bailout doctor. The euro went up, when it was announced that the budget vote had passed, and it went down when it was announced that Berlusconi no longer had a majority government, and then it went right back up when it was announced that Berlusconi had stepped down. But that “relief rally” didn’t last long, as everyone began to imagine what it would cost to bailout Italy…
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Investment Alternatives in a No-Growth Market
Baltimore…best bet for investors?
We drove back into town on Sunday night. People moped around in front of bars. Groups walked uptown from the stadium, their shoulders down, the chins dragging. The city was dark…and unhappy.
There was no joy in Baltimore on Sunday night. Baltimore is a sports town. The Ravens — the only team we know named after a poem — had lost. They would not be going to the Super Bowl.
[Read more...]