FinTech is the new buzzword in London, and for good reason – we’re beginning to see how technology will be leveraged in financial services. FinTech is already showing us how to improve financial products and the user experience, but it’s also creating a level playing field between retail investors and the rich institutions. So far,…
The traditional perception is that bonds are a safer investment than equities. But is this a fallacy? Over the short term equities incur in a huge price risk; but over the long term bonds may very well struggle to perform as expected. In times of extreme central bank intervention, this issue regains life and needs…
The Hydro Carbon gnomes in Switzerland! Have we seen the bottom of the oil market and how strong should we expect it to get from here? Only madmen (and mad women, of course), charlatans and economists believe that they can forecast oil prices. If they could, it would be a perfect (as in ‘perfect market’…
We live in such great times! A few decades ago we were fighting hard to increase competition among private companies. The EU, for example, was built on free market principles. Today, the task has been so flawlessly accomplished that the same principles have been transposed to the central banking business. Who could ever have imagined…
When you take off on Turkish Airlines (Türk Hava Yollari (IST:TUYAO)) a chap dressed as a pastry chef, all in whites and hat, proffers you a tray of fresh Turkish delight. Even in Economy. Turkish Airlines has been voted Airline of the Year for the last five years: not just because of its unrivalled route…
Spoiler Alert – Read this article after watching the movie. It’s reasonable to wonder what a movie about the housing crisis and ensuing financial meltdown could teach regular people in the market about investing. But within The Big Short there are nuggets of wisdom that pertain to value investing. There’s also Margot Robbie in a…
I was going to write this piece in Brussels, but decided against going – and so I write from Hamburg. The incompetence of the Belgian police makes it difficult to feel safe in the city of waffles and Eurocrats, so I will defer visiting for a bit. When I made my decision not to go,…
While the central bank is hurting savers in a bid to turn them into heavy spenders, the government is attempting to do the opposite by creating new savings products to seduce youngsters into saving at an earlier age. Announced in the Budget by George Osborne, the LISA is the most recent addition to the savings…
So, Swen, ever well intentioned, sends me down here to check out the Albanian stock market and I turn up in Skanderbeg Square, white shirt, sober tie, notebook in hand – only find that it was closed down last year. Mind you, there were only about nine stocks quoted, mostly local retail banks. Apparently, it…
As seen in the latest issue of Master Investor Magazine. We really do hate to interrupt your cruise. But there’s a rumour that a keen-eyed crewman on the bridge has spotted an iceberg. No, it’s worse than that, actually. Some of the crew are whispering that we’ve already hit an iceberg. But it’s just a…
