Archive for the ‘Market Commentary’ Category
Jason’s 2011 Annual Letter: Fire Burn and Caldron Bubble
“What’s past is prologue” -William Shakespeare, “The Tempest” “(They got me) starin’ at the world through my rearview” -2Pac, “Starin’ Through My Rear View” FIRE BURN AND CALDRON BUBBLE In the fall of 2004 I had a co-worker, a tax manager,
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Q3 Market Commentary from CIO Jay Morad
“You see, in this world there’s two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig.” -Blondie (Clint Eastwood) in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (indirectly speaking to Greece) Usually we start quarterlies with fluff, puff
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Jason’s October 5th Weekly Market Commentary
Greek 2-year debt is priced at 56%; the market is awaiting Europe to hand down an orderly default and the longer this plays out the more volatility and indecision will rule day-to-day trading. Against the backdrop of uncertainty in Europe, the MSCI All-Country World
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Q2 2011: The Straight Messina
“Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.” -Louis Hector Berlioz, French composer THE STRAIGHT MESSINA Between the eastern tip of Sicily and the toe of Italy’s boot lies a natural whirlpool separating the Mediterranean island from the European landmass
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Weekly Market Commentary July 4, 2011
One day there will be an end to Euro-centric crisis news, but until then… Credit default swaps – a hazy term for insurance purchased against debt defaults – for Greek, Portuguese and Irish debt have had a few record days in upward price moves.
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Weekly Market Commentary June 27, 2011
As usual, Greece dominated this week’s news culminating in the Greek parliament successfully passing a medium-term budget bill. Right now, markets are incredibly sensitive to headlines and images of a riot-engulfed Athens and implementation is still an enormous question mark as execution of laws,
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Weekly Market Commentary June 20, 2011
…and the European news rolls on with Germany’s Merkel dropping her demand that holders of Greek sovereign debt extend their maturities, the IMF deciding to postpone the next tranche of emergency funding, Greece’s PM Papandreou sacking his cabinet, Greek citizens continuing to protest and…just
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Weekly Market Commentary June 13, 2011
The year-long saga of Greece nears a crescendo as yields on Greek 2-year government debt have exploded upwards to near 28%, with insurance-like Credit Default Swaps on Greek bonds also trading at record highs. This is a critical moment for the global financial industry
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Weekly Market Commentary June 6, 2011
Fed Chairman Bernanke’s speech at the International Monetary Conference in Atlanta was a highlight of the week. We’re not sure the Chairman gave us a lot of new information but decidedly avoided mention of the next round of Quantitative Easing (“QEIII,” or, “the next
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Weekly Market Commentary May 30, 2011
The debate rages again as to whether the U.S. economy is headed for a second, “double-dip,” recession, or is merely in the midst of a softer patch. Late May/early June manufacturing numbers, employment figures and auto sales all reported below estimates and housing continues
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