It’s Time to Get Business Spending In March 2012, The Economist reported that UK corporate surpluses reached more than £700 billion last year, amounting to almost 6% of GDP. The United States told a similar story with the 1,100 non-financial corporations rated by Moody’s showing cash balances of over £1.24…
In 1919, a man started a small business selling surplus groceries from a market stall in East London. His first day’s sales were £4, giving a profit of £1 (around £178.00 in sales and £44.00 profit in today’s money). Fast-forward around 90 years and this business now generates over £50…
Guest article written for AllAboutAlpha.com – the official publication of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Association Originally posted at: http://allaboutalpha.com/blog/2012/03/29/alpha-hunter-lauren-templeton-on-generating-alpha-from-value-investing/ Value investing has been a successful strategy for many investors since the earliest days of equity markets. The principle is quite simple. Investors select stocks they feel are trading for…
Has Conflict of Interest Created a Check-Mate in the Reporting of Economic Data? In February 2012 The Economist took an astonishing step, removing Argentina from their much respected financial indicators page. Their rationale being that, “…since 2007 Argentina’s government has published inflation figures that almost nobody believes. These show prices…
Guest article written for AllAboutAlpha.com – the official publication of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Association Originally posted at: http://allaboutalpha.com/blog/2012/03/01/alpha-hunter-louis-vincent-gave-on-opportunities-in-china/ In a 2010 working paper titled “The Chinese Economy: Myths and Realities” Lawrence Lau of the Institute of Global Economics and Finance at The Chinese University of Hong Kong notes…
Guest article written for AllAboutAlpha.com – the official publication of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Association Originally posted at: http://allaboutalpha.com/blog/2012/02/23/the-euro-crisis-an-interview-with-larry-hatheway-ubs-chief-economist/ In September 2011, the IMF estimated that roughly half of the Euro Zone’s $9 trillion in outstanding government debt was now at ‘heightened credit risk‘. This is a crisis…
Sometimes a change in perspective is important. World War II was a turning point for our civilisation. This was a war which left a mark on most of our planet’s inhabitants, and saw more than 40 million people killed in just 6 years. Even now, half a century later, this…
Guest article written for AllAboutAlpha.com – the official publication of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Association Originally posted at: http://allaboutalpha.com/blog/2012/02/16/james-rickards-on-the-huge-threats-to-the-financial-markets/ One of the most astonishing revelations of the past decade has been how little we really understand about risks in our financial markets. The ‘once in a thousand year‘…