Topic: Financial Markets

Art and Culture, Financial Markets, Media

Twitter: The Tale of the Tape

– May 11, 2022

“These times of polarization pose real challenges to mass marketers. Companies such as Twitter and Disney offend the sensibilities of the mass market at their own peril. And their recent stock prices suggest they could do better.” ~ Clifford F. Thies

Art and Culture, Economic Education, Financial Markets

Carl Icahn’s Creative Destruction

– March 31, 2022

“Carl Icahn is a tour-de-force, relentlessly propelling creative destruction over his nearly 60-year career. Creative destruction is sometimes painful but ultimately good, and activist investors like Icahn should be celebrated rather than maligned.” ~ David Waugh

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Financial Markets, International

Zero-Covid Policy Threatens Hong Kong’s Status as an International Financial Hub

– March 26, 2022

“Hong Kong is still the main gateway into China. However, its liberty purge spoiled business confidence, and the long-term effects of ongoing geopolitical tensions are yet to be seen.” ~ Dorothy Chan

Crisis, Financial Markets, History, Regulation

A Tale of Two Squeezes

– March 16, 2022

“Securities and derivative exchanges are woefully far from free markets, worst of all when unrestrained pricing is needed most. And once again, the increasingly distant tendrils of pandemic policies are disrupting the present order, two years on.” ~ Peter C. Earle

Books, Financial Markets, History

The Meme-Stock Revolution That Wasn’t

– March 3, 2022

“At the end of the day, argues Jakab, most retail investors were left holding the bag. Aside from the identifiable shorts like Gabe Plotkin or Andrew Left, most other Wall Street actors made a lot of money from the episode.” ~ Joakim Book

Crisis, Financial Markets, International, War and Peace

Putin, Ukraine, and Covid

– February 2, 2022

“Russia is not, by far, the only nation for which the Covid pandemic starkly exposed a variety of limitations. But whether in volumes or a few paragraphs, history must reflect the role that one of many influences, a global pandemic, played.” ~ Peter C. Earle

Crisis, Economic History, Financial Markets, Government

Stagflation Pales Compared to America’s Dirty Growth Diamond

– January 29, 2022

“America’s dirty Growth Diamond portends stagnation. Policymakers would do Americans the most service by actually cleaning up the diamond, especially home plate, rather than pretending to do so or claiming that it is already as clean as it gets.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Crisis, Financial Markets, Free Markets, Government

2021 In 21 Numbers

– January 20, 2022

“In retrospect, 2021 looks more and more like 1979. Here are 21 noteworthy data points–prices, percentages, dates and other forms of quantitative information–that highlight or exemplify certain developments in 2021, the second year of the pandemic.” ~ Peter C. Earle

Crisis, Financial Markets, Government

Publicly Traded Companies Prevail Despite Covid

– January 18, 2022

“Despite the troubling picture regarding national issues, ranging from Covid to monetary and fiscal policies, entrepreneurs are minding the store and finding new and better ways to serve their markets.” ~ Gregory van Kipnis

Energy, Financial Markets, Inflation

Inflation in Oil Prices Will Soon Slow to Zero

– January 11, 2022

“One thing we can confidently project about 2022 is that year-to-year measures of ‘inflation’ in prices of used cars and energy will be near zero by the third quarter, if not below zero. That is nearly a sure thing, baked-in-the cake.” ~ Alan Reynolds

Central Banking, Economic Education, Financial Markets, Monetary Policy

Forecasting Prices from FOMC Projections

– January 8, 2022

“While the period of time over which the Fed is committed to averaging inflation is not explicit, one might have reasonably expected it to ultimately offset the high inflation associated with the pandemic. Alas, that no longer appears to be the case.” ~ William J. Luther

Economic Education, Financial Markets, Government, Monetary Policy

The Impact of Higher Inflation on US Asset Class Returns

– January 4, 2022

“If the Fed is to be a mere BoJ copycat, does that mean that it can keep US equities artificially elevated by a perpetually low policy rate? No more than the BoJ has been able to do for Japanese equities.” ~ Richard M. Salsman