Asking the Right Questions
Ben Bernanke v Wall Street Journal
Former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has been making waves since his retirement from the US Federal Reserve in 2013. While his easy monetary policy stance earned him the nickname “Helicopter Ben”, at $250,000 a speech Bernanke is bringing easy money to a whole new…
Down to Business: Mortgage Arrears Crisis
There is a first time for everything and on Saturday I proved I really do have a face for radio. I was part of a discussion on the mortgage arrears crisis on Bobby Kerr’s “Down to Business” show on Newstalk. While we only had…
Market Recap: Week of April 27th 2015
Market Recap Global equity markets moved higher last week as earnings announcements in the technology sector were received well, with investors in Amazon and Microsoft seeing big gains. The movement on some of the technology shares over the past few weeks on the release…
Paying for Negative Externalities
It is not every day you come across an article entitled “Warren Buffett is Everything That’s Wrong With America”. It is a thought provoking piece that I would highly recommend you read, forcing you to think more philosophically about the mass produced, advertising driven…
Thoughts on the mortgage arrears crisis; the great contradiction
Last Friday the Central Bank of Ireland released the Residential Mortgage Arrears and Repossessions Statistics, updated to December 31st 2014. The report is particularly timely given the huge increase in repossession orders being lodged with the courts and as more high profile cases garner…
The consumption economy: take on more debt!
The Greek vote does raise a wider issue at the heart of the weak global economy, too much debt! Central banks have merely provided a stay of execution
The Year Ahead: Key Considerations
As I consider the outlook for the year ahead I am certain that once again the predominant theme is central bank policy. The investment world is a dynamic place and each week in my weekly musings I try to touch on the most relevant developments. Therefore, I have…
Market Review of 2014: a time for reflection
“Past events will always look less random than they were” Nassim Taleb Another year behind us and for the most part investors have enjoyed stellar returns, as the influence of the world’s major central banks outweighed the lower than expected global GDP growth, geopolitical…
Better US Jobs data is now good news…..
In truth, the ECB press conference was anti-climactic and the real impetus for equities to move higher last week was the better than expected US employment situation report on Friday. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 321,000 in November, well above the consensus estimate…
UK Office for Budget Responsibility, “we’ve made a huge mistake”…
The latest economic and fiscal outlook from the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) showed that despite an expected loss of momentum in the recovery in 2015, the government is on track to meet their fiscal mandate. Most notable from the report is the…
