Topic: Financial Markets

Dismiss All the Populist GameStop Hype: Short Sellers Are Heroes

– January 29, 2021

“Keep this in mind as pundits make their silly arguments about GameStop’s price action signaling a shift of power away from hedge funds, and back to the little guy. Such a view isn’t true, plus it ignores the heroics of short sellers. They’re in truth price givers, and the economy couldn’t function without them.” ~ John Tamny

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Who’s to Blame for the Rash of Short Squeezes?

– January 27, 2021

“Cantillon Effects, not overzealous short selling or swarming retail traders, are the ultimate cause of the rash of explosive short squeezes in US equity markets.” ~ Peter C. Earle

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Exit the Bond Vigilantes, Enter the Crypto Vigilantes

– January 21, 2021

“With the heightened pace and expanded scope of economic intervention over the last ten or fifteen years, the avenues through which markets can respond to government policies have been blunted. But fortunately for the genius of Satoshi Nakamoto, where the bond vigilantes once stood––and may someday return––now stand the crypto vigilantes.” ~ Peter C. Earle

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From the Land of Financial Bubbles

– January 16, 2021

“For the aspiring startup today, perhaps working away in the venture-cap lands of overpriced unicorns, the history of bubble allegations teaches you one thing: be right or be a bubble. Until the dust has settled, nobody can really tell.” ~ Joakim Book

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Andrew Ross Sorkin Strives to Improve Markets by Blinding Them

– January 14, 2021

“If politicians were constrained, they wouldn’t have privileged information in the first place. Will Sorkin write about that? It wouldn’t be a serious bet to place. Which is why there’s little reason to take his overwrought hand-wringing about ‘insider trading’ seriously.” ~ John Tamny

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Angst Over High Price-Earnings Levels Likely Misplaced

– January 8, 2021

“Despite the severe disruptions and ‘creative destruction’ that occur from time to time, the returns to capital that fuel innovation and prosperity remain strong. The market is always efficient and fairly priced relative to what is known, but the market can also be above or below its long-term enduring norms for good and rational reasons. In the end the historical norms prevail.” ~ Gregory van Kipnis

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Bitcoin’s Impressive Year in Perspective

– January 6, 2021

“No matter what your opinion is on bitcoin, its financial returns are no longer astronomical. Plenty of upstarts, small caps, established companies and even other cryptocurrencies posted that kind of return in the strange financial year that was 2020. Welcome back to the lower troposphere, bitcoiners ‒ or as the rest of us call it: reality.” ~ Joakim Book

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Finance Memes and the Collective Influence of Young Retail Investors

– January 5, 2021

“Much like all other behaviors associated with young retail investors, on their own, they seem reckless but collectively they help shift results in their favor. Sometimes they are simply the right choice despite expert opinion. These trends not only demonstrate an interesting short-term market force but also the permanent introduction of new demand side forces as a result of the growing financial enfranchisement of younger investors.” ~ Ethan Yang

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Sovereign Debt After Covid-19: The Wrong View

– January 4, 2021

“Like many others, I am concerned about the sovereign debt market in the wake of Covid-19. But providing more funds to governments committed to maintaining an unsustainable course is not a solution. These countries need serious institutional reforms.” ~ Nicolás Cachanosky

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Ten Remarkable Financial Events of 2020

– January 1, 2021

“A year like 2020 educates another generation of traders and corporate managers, contributes to more robust market and exchange designs, and draws in innovators and risk-takers seeking to capitalize on the next crisis opportunity. Whatever 2021 has in store, it is unlikely to replicate financial market conditions witnessed throughout 2020.” ~ Peter C. Earle

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The Nanny State Comes for Robinhood

– December 18, 2020

“Massachusetts’ regulatory intentions for Robinhood not only demonstrate a high level of disregard for the decision-making abilities of its citizens, but also a failure to understand the entity it seeks to regulate. The ongoing attempts to place onerous regulations on innovative companies like Robinhood in the name of the public interest are not only misinformed but they will likely leave us worse off.” ~ Ethan Yang

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Covid Policies Have Caused Industrial Consolidation

– December 9, 2020

“Lockdowns have increased inequality, concentrated wealth, and hurt the poor in ways opponents of capitalism claim free markets do.” ~ Peter C. Earle & Fiona Harrigan

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