Greed = Low Interest Rates The low interest environment and policy of quantitative easing is easily the most misunderstood, misappropriated, gossiped and ignored issue impacting our lives in the 21st Century. An issue of contradictions. Depending on who you speak to it is the source of all our ills or it is saving us. It is the conspiracy theory of gold nuts, it is the bible of Keynesian ideologues. It is trickling benefits into the economy, it is creating massive inequality. It is debated regularly in the financially-literate bubbles of society, and it is never discussed among the mainstream press or among the public. The problem is that the numbers do not lie. Central bank policy is the main source of greed in the 21st Century.
Finance
Three Men and a Decade: Final
It has been said that politics is downstream from culture. Looking back, the 2010s would make a strong case for this. Politics was still appealing to people's concerns of yesteryear. Social movements were gaining traction underground. The 2016 Brexit vote exposed just how out of touch politicians had become. But even by the time they tried to recover from those concerns, society had moved on to become even more divided. The decade ended with politicians grappling with how to appeal to these polar extremes and their respective movements. Our leaders started the decade feeling confident with central banks injecting the economy to calm the storm. They failed to dissect the original crime scene and assumed people would move on. They were wrong. Then they adjusted by either doubling down on status quo prevailing, or pretending to be the one to make necessary reforms.
Three Men and a Decade Part II
By 2010 there was a lot of concern boiling among everyday people that was electrified by the crisis brought on from the financial sector, but politicians remained clueless. These problems were not broadly evident or believed until elections in the middle of the decade. If politicians were aware of any of this and leading in front, then someone like David Cameron wouldn't be out of politics today. A shining star in the Conservative party in the 2000's, his popularity reached a crescendo in 2015, but he had a major blind spot. His fall was as quick as his rise and he is now out of the big picture. Aspirations he built all his life were crushed. His failure revealed all kinds of societal wounds to those among the populace that were not already conscious.
Three Men and a Decade Part I
Three figures came to mind recently when thinking about the past ten years. I was looking back on my own life during this era, thinking about my career and social life and how it is odd they fit nicely against the backdrop of the external environment - the economic, political and cultural developments that took place over the same time frame. The previous decade will always bring the greatest memories of my life, alongside some of the darkest in an equal counterpunch of regret. I think similar could be said about all three of these men I thought of, and the decade itself. The future feels a lot more serious and a lot less fun than the past ten years, despite the hard times that did occur. Each of these men were impacted by the period and came out of the decade very differently than they came in. Perhaps we all do, but their transitions represent some important macro themes that we are facing today and they played very central roles while the change occurred. The men that best symbolise the "2010's" for me are a former hedge-fund manager, a world leader and an obscure blogger out of America.
Contemporary Thoughts on the Week in the Market (and some other things)
The week that was continued themes that have been on-going for several weeks. American indices were up, with the NASDAQ up big, while the UK's FTSE was down for the week along with other major European indices. Certain beloved tech stocks continued to outperform, some to amazing levels. Meanwhile, Gold breached the $1,800 level. COVID problems continue to mount in the US and uncertainty continues to prevail, but you wouldn't know that looking at the markets.
Contemporary Thoughts on the Week in the Market (and some other things)
There wasn't much action in the markets on a shortened week due to Canada Day and US Independence Day. However there was some important action in the macro environment.
Contemporary Thoughts on the Week in the Market (and some other things)
A weekly synopsis of random thoughts on the past week of market meanderings.
Market Mania and Blindness
The date is May 29, 2020. The companies named include Amazon, Tesla, Microsoft and Alphabet. There are more, but these names stand out. What is it I am looking at? Investor Chronicle's (IC) international bounce-back "must-buy" list for stocks - amid the economic clouds of Covid-19's impact. The magazine further highlights Amazon in a key feature as a subset of this theme. In the same issue they reference the South Sea Company as the "original bubble". The publication's coinciding weekly podcast is also titled "Living in a bubble". Yet curiously their writers (at least those on the podcast) shied away from applying the term "bubble" to today's market - suggesting markets are not overvalued.
10 Years and a World That no Longer Makes Sense
I have been waiting patiently for 10 years for the markets to make sense again. In fact, things that once made sense to me no longer do. Democrats used to be against wars. Wikileaks was a liberal's wetdream. Men and women seemed to generally like each other. America needed to get out of the Middle East. The Cold War was dead. People should socialise and not watch so much tv.
There Will be Blood
I spent over 10 years working in the Oil and Gas industry. It is common knowledge that this industry is much maligned for being run and employed by selfish capitalists that will stop at nothing to rape the planet for financial reward. Some of this commentary is fair, but it misses the larger point. You find executives and staff with this mentality everywhere in today’s capitalist society. This self-interest just isn’t measured the same way in every industry or it isn’t as transparent.
Siloviki 