Monthly Archives: October 2014

Adjusting to QE, is like life after Suarez!

Posted on October 20, 2014 by VMcCarthy

Just as markets are struggling to adjust to life after QE, Liverpool have yet to come to terms with life after Luis Suarez. If “QE puts beer goggles on investors by creating a line of sight where everything looks good”, … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Markets, Football Related & LFC, Thoughts | Comments Off

QE to infinity!

Posted on October 20, 2014 by VMcCarthy

Memories of 2008… On Wednesday the volatility in financial markets had many recounting their memories of 2008. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), a key measure of market expectations of near-term volatility and termed the ‘fear index’, spiked to 30.88, up … Continue reading →

Posted in Bank of England, Financial Markets, Monetary Policy, US Federal Reserve | Comments Off

Market volatility: a natural occurrence

Posted on October 18, 2014 by VMcCarthy

Periods of market volatility, like we have seen recently, can be a challenging time for investors, particularly those without a clear plan. The headline world we live in exacerbates that feeling of fear as the media reports excitedly about “stocks … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Markets, Thoughts, Volatility | Comments Off

IMF downgrades economic outlook

Posted on October 14, 2014 by VMcCarthy

There was a lot of hype last week around the IMF’s release of their latest World Economic Outlook (WEO), in which they downgraded their forecast of GDP growth for the world economy. Entitled “Legacies, Clouds, Uncertainties”, the IMF revised downward … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Forecasting, IMF | Comments Off

Market Recap Week of October 13th

Posted on October 13, 2014 by VMcCarthy

The sell-off in global equity markets continued last week as market participants have woken up to the fact that the global economic recovery has lost momentum, at the same time as the US Federal Reserve is ending their bond buying … Continue reading →

Posted in Market Recap | Comments Off

Jen says Nein

Posted on October 12, 2014 by VMcCarthy

Everyone knows that the German Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann has been a thorn in the side for ECB President Mario Draghi. The Italian would love to unleash the type of unconventional monetary policy that would have financial markets salivating, the … Continue reading →

Posted in European Central Bank, German Bundesbank, Monetary Policy | Comments Off

US Fed Minutes: concern over stronger dollar

Posted on October 11, 2014 by VMcCarthy

The minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s FOMC meeting of September 16-17th, added to volatility last week as financial markets initially bounced on a more dovish tone on the outlook for interest rates. However, after poor German data and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Monetary Policy, US Federal Reserve | Comments Off

Why are investors only waking up to risks now?

Posted on October 11, 2014 by VMcCarthy

We have known for some time that the German economy was slowing. The economy contracted by -0.2% in the second quarter and since then the business and consumer confidence surveys as well as the PMI data have shown weakness. So … Continue reading →

Posted in European Central Bank, Financial Markets, Monetary Policy | Comments Off

Market Recap Week of October 6th

Posted on October 6, 2014 by VMcCarthy

Global equity markets closed lower last week despite a late relief rally on Friday after better than expected US payroll data. While the unemployment rate is at a 6-year low of 5.9%, weak wage growth dynamics and the labour force … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Markets, Market Recap | Comments Off

The importance of long term perspective

Posted on October 5, 2014 by VMcCarthy

While the global economic recovery is in the balance under the stewardship of politicians and central bankers, I have much more faith in the ability of Brendan Rodgers to bring back the good times at Liverpool FC. Football fans are … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Markets, Football Related & LFC, Thoughts | Comments Off