Publications

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: September 24, 2013 |

Crescit Eundo: Collateral and the Deterministic Path of a Logical Irrationality

It seems that the Latin phrase Crescit Eundo (it grows as it goes) fits well into the Fed’s modus operandi. In its latest attempt to justify the non-tapering, the Fed […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: September 18, 2013 |

On the Art of Central Banking: The Challenges Ahead

Our Federal Reserve Bank, the ECB, and other central banks of developed nations face a paradox:  the same institution that is supposed to hold the ultimate reserves of the commercial […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: September 8, 2013 |

On the Road to Damascus: Machiavellian Anatomy and Market Romanticism

One of my favorite songwriters (Rich Mullins) – who died prematurely sixteen years ago – wrote the song “On the road to Damascus”. Let’s recall some of those lyrics: On […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: August 31, 2013 |

World Island Meets World Currencies: Planting the Seeds of Turbulence

In 1904 Sir Halford Mackinder published his famous paper The Geographical Pivot of History. The paper served as the cornerstone for the study of geopolitics in the 20th century. Sir […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: August 24, 2013 |

Financial Repression: The Modern Equivalent of Currency Debasement

We live in an era of financial repression where savings are penalized due to low interest rates. The latter is the outcome of the financial crisis. This in turn was […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: August 18, 2013 |

A Temporary Lapse in Markets’ Trend: Truncation Bias and Shortsightedness

Understanding market trends is more than merely intellectual gymnastics on financial and economic themes. Every market era emphasizes different aspects of its inheritance depending on its own problems. Our challenge […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: August 10, 2013 |

On Spendthrift Lords, Rays of Hope, and Market Developments: Pyrrhic Victories and the Fable of Stability

The developed world’s crisis of 2008 was the result of credit over-extension fed by international imbalances and a finance sector that was issuing instruments whose collateral base was questionable. Developing […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: August 3, 2013 |

Credit Orphans on the Street Called “Money for Nothing”

For a crisis to culminate and show its true face, time is critical in the sense that it should enter a saturation phase which in turn will signify that the […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: July 29, 2013 |

Momentum and Retrenchment: Market Outlook Amidst Geopolitical Turmoil

The current market record-setting highs may signify an upward bias carried by momentum and liquidity. The first graph below shows the performance of the S&P 500 over the last month, […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: July 23, 2013 |

Currencies and Hobson’s Choice: The Trajectory for the Revaluation of the Dollar

The best thing that the US has to export is the USD. From that perspective, it is the strategic advantage of the US to create those conditions necessary for the […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: July 10, 2013 |

The Dangers of Self-Deception: The Deus ex machina does not Exist

In the last few days Greece and Cyprus occupied the headlines again in newspapers like The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Financial Times. I apologize for […]