weekend notes

Hope all goes well… Dusted off an anecdote from summer 2015 about quantum transformation (see below). Taking my annual August break from writing. See you again in September with full weekend notes. Week-in-Review (stats in YoY terms): Mon: Japan GDP +0.2% (exp +0.7%) IP -1.5%, 10yr Gilt yield record low 0.50%, US declares Puerto Rico Zika health emergency, US Empire manufacturing survey -4.8 to -4

Hope all goes well… Dusted off an anecdote from late-2014 about market melt-ups (see below). Taking my annual August break from writing. See you again in September with full weekend notes. Week-in-Review (stats in YoY terms): Mon: China exports +2.9% (imports -5.7%), China 10yr yield 2.7% record low, iron ore prices hit 2yr high, OPEC to hold informal Sept meeting, Italy high court approves Renzi

Hope all goes well… Dusted off an anecdote about trading (see below). Taking my annual August break from writing. See you again in September with full weekend notes. Week-in-Review (stats in YoY terms): Mon: China PMI +2.0 to 50.6, Japan PMI +1.2 to 49.3 (sub-50 for 5th mth), Abe aide Hamada favors proclaiming debt monetization policy (JGB yields surge), Aussie CPI -0.5 to +1.0% (home sales +1.0%)

Hope all goes well… Dusted off an anecdote about climbing mountains from 2011 (see below). Taking my annual August break from writing. See you again in September with full weekend notes. Week-in-Review: Mon: Japanese trade surplus surges (exports fall for 9th mth, imports fall for 18th mth), Bank of Israel hold rates at 0.1% (cites Brexit risks), UK biz confidence hits post-GFC lows, German busine

Hope all goes well… “We’re in the zone of a turning point,” said Eagle, soaring high above Gotham. Far below, countless little creatures starved for yield, scurrying after crumbs, panicked. Eagle recalled the 2011 Fukushima disaster, the ensuing Yen rally, Nikkei decline, Japan’s existential crisis. Followed by Abe’s 2012 election, the market’s explosive reversal. “I don’t yet see the bond market’

Hope all goes well… “I can’t call it the ‘Stop Trump Rally’ but that’s what it is,” bellowed Biggie Too, chief global strategist for one of those too big to fail affairs. “Brexit has these people saying — Jesus, we’re screwed, so let’s hike their minimum wages, cut taxes, build infrastructure, let ’em eat cake,” barked Biggie. “Of course you don’t solve a debt problem with more debt; m

Hope all goes well… “The poor are angry,” said the CIO. “The rich are angry too,” he continued. “Both feel manipulated by politicians and policy makers.” The last bond vigilante cried out in agony. Equity bears groaned in the distance. As the power of negative interest rates rippled across the globe. “We all feel manipulated, everyone sees injustice.” But computers don’t feel injustice, they don’t

Hope all goes well… Dusted off an anecdote about unconventional policies from Feb 2015 (see below). Happy Fourth. See you next Sunday with full weekend notes. Week-in-Review (stats expressed in YoY terms): Mon: Renminbi hits new lows, Israel/Turkey restore full diplomatic relations, EU M3 +0.3 to +4.9%, Spain’s People’s Party (Rajoy) wins 33% of votes, Italy wage growth record lows, BIS warns of “

Hope all goes well… “What does it mean to leave the EU?” was Google UK’s top EU-related question following the Brexit vote. “What is the EU?” was the 2nd most popular. “Which countries are in the EU?” ranked 3rd. “What will happen now that we’ve left the EU?” came in 4th, though it should’ve been 1st. And when I typed “Why” into Google, of the infinite potential auto-fills, it selected “Brexit?” a