Asking the Right Questions
Thoughts on BREXIT, breaking up with Europe
Sacré bleu! Hearts are breaking across Europe, as the European establishment has been jolted by the surprise result that Britain has voted to leave. As one might expect the initial reaction has been an emotional one, the innate fight-or-flight response of market participants has…
Words of Wisdom from Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali once said that “It’s not bragging if you can back it up”. As the world reflects on the passing of a legend, and his 74 years on this planet, it is fair to say that Ali lived up to his claim “I…
Why are humans so intelligent? Helpless babies.
Relative to every other life form on earth, humans have an unrivalled intelligence. Why? This article from the Economist – “Human evolution: Of bairns and brains” – discusses an interesting theory from Steven Piantadosi and Celeste Kidd who suggest that “humans may have become…
Thoughts from the London Value Investor Conference
On Thursday of last week I attended the annual “London Value Investor Conference”. This is the fifth year for the conference since it was established in 2012, of what can only be described as an investment marathon of a day with fourteen investment managers…
The Investment Challenge: In One Chart
If I was asked for one chart to sum up the current investment environment, the below would be it. This chart shows the German yield curve, which plots the yields on German government bonds with maturities ranging from 1 month to 30 years. The…
BREXIT – “Staying friends” after a breakup
The risk of BREXIT – Britain exiting the European Union (EU) – looms large with the upcoming referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU, on June 23rd. Can Britain break European hearts while at the same time staying friends? And more importantly can Europe…
Central banks and the certain uncertainty paradox
“Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one.” – Voltaire US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen lifted markets midweek by pouring cold water on recent comments from a number of regional US Federal Reserve Presidents. In a speech at the Economic Club…
Irish policy parallels to be found in Colombia
Article appeared in The Examiner March 29th 2016 While I have only been loosely following financial markets over the last three weeks – after all in the short-term it is all just noise – my three weeks in Colombia have provided me with new perspectives and…
Quotes from “De Brevitate Vitae” (“On the Shortness of Life”)
Over the weekend I read “De Brevitate Vitae” – known as “On the Shortness of Life” in English – an essay written by a Roman Stoic philosopher called Lucius Annaeus Seneca, to his friend Paulinus. Described as a “moral essay”, Seneca provides a thought…
The Pablo Escobar Tour in Medellin, Colombia
Pablo Escobar industrialised the cocaine business and put the city of Medellin in Colombia on the map, for all the wrong reasons. However, once one of the world’s most dangerous cities, it was named “Innovative City of the Year” in 2013, in a competition…
