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…
The last time I was in Ukraine with the World Bank (February 2012) I had my fifteen seconds of fame when a news anchor swung a mike in front of my gob at a seminar. It was in the snow-laden city of Lviv. I had just descended from a platform where I had addressed the…
Our world seems to be speeding up and getting less coherent. Probably it was always incoherent, but we were once led to believe that it was generally in good order and fit for purpose, to use the words of the urbane ‘home counties’ villain in the BBC’s Sunday night thriller The Night Manager. For example,…
The Chancellor appeared to be in a buoyant mood delivering his budget speech on Wednesday even though he noted that the global economy is weak and financial markets are turbulent. He reported a fast growing UK economy and lots of personal tax cuts. Indeed he emphasised that with 1% of the richest taxpayers contributing 28%…
Less than one week after the ECB signalled it would start purchasing investment-grade corporate bonds, bond issues are already going through the roof, as everyone is trying to front-run the ECB. From risk-free loans (through open market operations) to corporate loans (through investment-grade bond purchases), the ECB has come a long way in expanding its…
Albion Cathedral School, 16 March 2016 Dear Parent, We regret that George’s behaviour has been a cause for concern this term. This sixth former started out with great promise when he was appointed Cricket Club Treasurer. He assured us that he would reduce the overdraft by means of judicious economies, and that he…
A case study module in comparative economics for Trump University (deceased.) As imagined by Robert Sutherland Smith. George, Gideon Osborne of this parish is a dude that pursues bad economics; or so we are told by the famous Ernst and Young Item Club of economic forecasters. That is no exciting, left wing, “pinko” outfit but a…
There it is, European-QE, extended version, Part Two! Mario Draghi delighted investors yesterday with an extension of the current ECB asset purchase programme. Well…delighted them with the announcement, but as soon as he started speaking… It sometimes pays to keep your mouth shut. When the global economy is no longer able to provide enough magma…
Investing is not another science. It is not physics where actions can cause pre-determinable reactions. Some people would like to persuade you that it is; but they are wrong. If you wish to compare it to anything, it is more like tracking in a great wilderness of possibilities. There are fundamentals and market sentiment! Occasionally…
