Publications

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: November 3, 2011 |

The ECB and the Eurozone Crisis: The Role of a Lender of Last Resort (LLR)

As those lines are being drafted, the ECB announced – under its new leadership – a reduction in its interbank lending rate by 25 bps. The EU and the US […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: October 28, 2011 |

On the EU’s Substitution Effect: Haircuts and Market Realities

We have the feeling that we needed a surgery and we got a counseling session. The “landmark” deal announced in the early morning hours (EU time) yesterday, is full of […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: October 23, 2011 |

The Abyss of a Credit Freeze: EU Imbalances and the Enigma of Market’s Exostosis

An abnormality (exostosis) has been developing in the markets that involves an a priori assumption that the EU will solve its debt and banking problems. On the surface it seems […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: October 17, 2011 |

Does Money Matter? Blowing (Bubbles) in the Wind

The late Milton Friedman used to ask his students at the University of Chicago whether money matters. Of course, the classic answer that he was expecting from them was: “Only […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: October 9, 2011 |

Dark Energy or Dark Matter? The Greed and Fear of a Market that Seeks Life Through Death

The markets are known to be moved by the forces of greed (upswing and bullishness) and fear (downturn and bearish trend). In a similar way, in the cosmos there are […]

By: Chairman Paul Volcker | On: September 27, 2011 |

Three Years Later: Unfinished Business in Financial Reform

We are pleased and honored to bring you the following speech by permission from Chairman Volcker. The text of this speech was delivered to the Group of Thirty on September […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: September 19, 2011 |

On Being and Nothing: Are the Markets Reflecting the Becoming of Nothingness?

The markets nowadays are in purgatory. What is the task of professional market watchers and fund managers? In a nutshell we would say it is to unmask portfolio holding’s self- […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: September 12, 2011 |

Who Switched the Price Tags? The Prelude of a Requiem

A friend describes in a book he wrote about twenty five years ago, how when they were kids he and one of his friends went into a five-and-dime store and […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: September 2, 2011 |

How the Mighty May Fall: On Chinese Tremors

China has been in the news again recently, and hence we would like to offer an update on our previous writings on the subject. However, before we do so, allow […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: August 29, 2011 |

Drawing Parallels: The Gold Pool of the 1960s and the Trajectory of the Euro

When the EU started feeling the heat in its periphery, and fearing damages to its core, it established the EFSF (European Financial Stability Fund). We have expressed elsewhere some of […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: August 22, 2011 |

Welcome to the Era of GRBs: Asset-Price Deflation and Market Balkanization, Part IV

Markets could implode from within creating black holes where everything goes in and nothing comes out, destroying in the process paper wealth but also real economies. The essence of Gamma […]