This was an excerpt from our last commentary entitled "Uncomfortable Swedish Flip Flops": "My best guess for Wednesday is we see patience gone, we get a little volatility to trade, and then we go right back to our happy place - the BTDD world" The logic was quite simple: "....dropping patience would appease the more […]

Swedes are not well known in the world of high fashion. Their only domestic shoe brand of note is called a "Hasbeen" - some sort of wooden clog like contraption that appears about as comfortable as an extra tight pair of ski boots. But the Swede's reputation for bizarre looking and uncomfortable shoes does extend […]

Over 50 percent of the outstanding sovereign debt in northern Europe currently has a negative nominal yield. And this not just the case in Eurozone countries, Sweden is also part of the esteemed greater than 50% negative yield club. So, the burning question on your mind should be - who in their right mind would […]

The Syriza leadership circle spent last weekend in Athens celebrating victory. At the same time the far left of their party, and the rest of the world, couldn't help but notice a complete u-turn on ALL their election promises. Tsipras said on Monday - "We won the battle, but not the war". The truth is […]

It's getting late in Club USA! Many folks, like us, have stumbled out after a fantastic five year party with Ben and Janet. We are looking for the next big rave - and from a distance we can hear the DJ's in Tokyo and Frankfurt spinning some great tunes. Harry and Mario have the NKY […]

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, focusing on "Gross Happiness Indicies" instead of "Gross National […]

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 anti-European ANEL over the centrist To Potami party […]

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 on 22-Jan-2015 as a pivot […]

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 volatility. Every day I heard statements like: "these markets are difficult"; "there is […]

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 fixture of their monetary […]