Like many investors I have been brushing up on my Neo-Libertarian Marxist economics by watching lectures and reading essays authored the Bruce Willis of Greece - Yanis Varoufakis. I must say, I am not an expert in this branch of economics - but vilifying rent seekers,...
Over the next few weeks Tsipras will confront EU leaders with a clear mandate from the Greek people. Although he was 2 seats short of a full majority, it looks as though ANEL will become his coalition partner and he will form a government shortly. Choosing the...
Mario didn't even have to take a vote - the "Hasser" opposition was crushed before they had a chance to speak. It was a beautiful day in Frankfurt, with ECB actions that will surely provide the base for a long awaited European recovery. I suspect we will all look back...
These surely are some of the most exciting markets in recent memory. Volatility is back in a big way, and it has brought with it some amazing opportunities. Interestingly, before September 2014, most clients and colleagues were constantly bemoaning the lack of...
There has not been a move in a major FX cross like this since the breakdown of Bretton Woods. The 1998 USDJPY collapse was a side show compared to what happened in USDCHF today. Something must have shocked the SNB in a big way to force an abandonment of this key...
December 21, 2009 was my last day as a visiting advisor at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington DC. I had spent most all of 2009 there, and I came away learning two very important lessons. First, I realized that the greatest risk takers in markets did not reside...
Janet's press conference yesterday was nothing short of spectacular! She delivered a hawkish message relative to market expectations, but managed to push spoos up over 2% and HYG up 2 points. Her ability to generate a DXY rally, a UST sell off and a risk asset rip...
The RUB collapse earlier this week opened up many old wounds. Those who were on trading floors in the Fall of 1998 can easily recall the chaos which ensued post the Russia default. GKOs were in free fall, Russia 28s traded down to single digit dollar prices and the...
Spotting a bubble is never easy. And determining the root causes of a bubble is also never easy. It usually takes years of retrofitting to understand all of the dynamics behind bubble creation and bubble popping. Even today the debates rage on the sources of our US...
The US employment data were VERY strong. QE has worked its magic and the FOMC will be looking to remove accommodation sooner than the market thinks. As we have discussed before, the communications surrounding this accommodation removal will be complicated, and policy...
The US employment data were VERY strong. QE has worked its magic and the FOMC will be looking to remove accommodation sooner than the market thinks. As we have discussed before, the communications surrounding this accommodation removal will be complicated, and policy mishaps will become more frequent. Volatility is set to rise, and more importantly […]
