The week began with global equities and markets mixed, but kept moving down as the week progressed. This was the result of a number of factors beginning with Japan reporting domestic manufacturing contracting, at the fastest pace since 2013. China also stated that factory activity edged down last month, indicating to investors a further weakening of the world’s second largest economy. Japanese stocks fell 3% on Monday extending the loss of 5% from the week before on their main index. A percentage […]
Denmark: Ground Zero For The Failure Of Negative Interest Rates In Europe
Denmark was the first country to begin the experimentation with negative interest rates back in July of 2012. The Danish central bank applied a negative rate for deposits that banks would place with them. The objective at the time was to defend their currency against the Euro. Both Denmark and Switzerland would later resort to extreme negative interest rates in 2015 (-0.75), in an effort to stymie investors who sought their AAA rated assets. Switzerland felt compelled to eventually abandon the cap […]
Ireland: Growth With A Divided Government And No Real Alternative To Austerity
As a further harbinger of events to come in Europe, the voters of Ireland left the conservative leaning party Fine Gael with the largest representation in Parliament. The problem is the election took place in February and the country has been without a real government since. This situation is the result of an electorate that is so divided, that a political majority has become impossible to achieve. The two major parties of Ireland that have dominated the political landscape since the 1930’s, […]
Weekly Market Review & Target Fills April Week 5
The week began with global equities and markets almost all down. This was the result of a number of factors that included the fall in German business sentiment in Europe and the growing fear of corporate defaults in China. Investors were also looking to see what the central banks in Japan and the United States were going to do later in the week. The United States has posted results for GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth for the first quarter of 2016. The […]
United Kingdom: Weighing The Cost of A Brexit
The national referendum on June 23 will decide the direction of the United Kingdom in the 21st century. It is one of the most important determinations, the electorate will make in their life times. The decision is rather simple, will the country remain as part of the European Union (EU) or will the United Kingdom being the 5th largest global economy, move towards becoming an independent entity once again? The conclusion will effect the pattern of of investment, for years to come. […]
Weekly Market Review & Target Fills April Week 4
At the beginning of the week, shares on equity markets on a global scale headed down. This was the result of the news that the 15 largest exporters of oil both in and outside of OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), failed to reach an agreement in Doha, Qatar over the past weekend. Together, they represent 75% of global output. Crude prices dipped 3.1% as a result. The attempt to freeze production, was undermined because of the ongoing dispute between the […]
Economies Of Southeast Asia Facing Slower Growth
If the 11 countries of Southeast Asia comprised one country, it would rank between the eight and ninth largest economy globally. It would also be the most dependent on trade, with a trade to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) ratio in excess of 150%. Over the past decade taken as a whole, the region has averaged an economic growth rate of more than 5% annually. It has also benefited enormously from foreign investment. Southeast Asia has a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion USD […]
How Elections In Peru Could Change The Direction Of the Economy
The elections in Peru on April 10, resulted in no single candidate gaining more than half of the popular vote. This is what is required in order to prevent a run off. The two top presidential contenders were together able to garner 61% of the vote. Keiko Fujimori, the conservative daughter of a jailed former president received 40% of the vote and the centrist economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski secured 21%. What is important for investors is that neither candidate, will threaten the […]
Weekly Market Review & Target Fills April Week 3
Global equities moved higher earlier this week on the trade and economic news from China, but stagnated on both Thursday and Friday for investors. Six of the world’s central banks have already moved forward with negative interest rates. The most notable ones are the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of Japan (BOJ). The actions have helped to encourage demand and bring some price stability, by averting deflation. About 25% of world output, is now produced in areas that have interest […]
Global Economy Is Nearing Recession
Last year the global economy grew 3.1%, which is just above what is considered to be a recession by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is the fourth time in a year that the international agency has downgraded growth for 2016. The further reduction of 0.02% from January, is an acknowledgment that the constraints on economic expansion continue to gain strength. The headwinds that are causing the global economy to contract, is the slowing demand almost everywhere. The end of rapid growth […]