Groucho Marx made some of the wittiest remarks recorded in the 20th century. Classics like “I never forget a face, but in your case I’ll be glad to make an exception”, and “[taking pulse] either this man is dead or my watch has stopped”. We know his quotes from the movies he made. Oscar Wilde…
Both trading and poker are considered pursuits of skill by some, and sheer gambling by others. The similarities don’t end there. Obviously trading relies a lot on preparation, which I suppose you could compare to strategy in poker; but if you consider each poker hand as a trading opportunity, then the comparison starts to make…
As we stare down the possibility of Trump becoming the 58th President of the United States of America (they always reference the country as if it’s not obvious), I thought I’d look at the often heard claim that Presidential Election years are good for the stock market. They take place every four years, rather like…
Over the last couple of posts I looked at commodities and concluded that we may be about to see a reversal on some key commodities that, in turn, impact on my themed watchlist, based on the Met Office prediction of two hot record breaking years globally, and my counter analysis that discounted their prediction of…
Yesterday I wrote about commodities that are at key support levels. In this post I’ll look at some that the arse has fallen out of. But we could be about to see a change in all that… Soybeans [ZS] is pretty dismal. We could suggest a measured move here. The only snag is that it’s…
Commodities have certainly been taking a bashing over the last few years. Oil is usually the headline commodity since it underpins such a lot of modern life, but there are plenty of others that we don’t just consume industrially. There are a lot of food commodities, for example. A number of these commodity charts are…
I spend a lot of time attending finance seminars on all manner of subjects. This week I was at a very interesting seminar about quality standards in industry as defined by the BSI (British Standards Institute), the people with the Kitemark – a logo that has the same brand awareness as Pepsi (something they are…
Following on from my last blog post, I’m looking at the US insurance market. The US has been hit by lots of insured losses this winter, thanks to El Niño – like Brian, he’s a very naughty boy! Again we’re seeing the same sector failure we’re seeing here in UK insurance. In this case a…
Last October the Met Office issued a report that said the next two years will be the hottest on record. They also said this winter would be cold here in UK, which I dismissed by using TA. I was right. But their major claim, a generally warmer planet, is quite plausible, and that means one…
Yesterday evening I attended the Lord Mayor’s Annual Gresham Event which was entitled “London: The Global Maritime Centre in a Changing World”. This is a pet subject of the current Lord Mayor apparently, as he is actively involved in shipping. He addressed the well populated Guildhall Library looking like an ageing Beastie Boys fan with…
