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 nowadays – where a market theme is absent - is to...

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 economies such as the Chinese resorted in avoiding severe...

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 downturn is inevitable. It is my opinion that the next two years will be that saturation phase that may produce...

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, while the second graph portrays its performance in the last twelve months. Two...

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 demand of its currency. The phrase “take it or leave it” originates with Thomas Hobson from Cambridge,...

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 being the bearer of bad news, but the deus ex machina does not exist for Greece or anyone else...

It is apparent that Morsi never made up his mind regarding the ultimate Machiavellian question of whether a leader needs to be feared or be loved. The solution imposed by the military creates significant dilemmas for the western nations while raises issues of...

The latest report of the BIS (Bank of International Settlements, a.k.a. the central bank of the world’s central banks) is very clear as to the future of further monetary stimulus when it declares: “But despite all the monetary accommodation, economic growth remains...

The Fed’s hint that they may taper the purchases of financial assets ignited a fear in the markets last week. We have long been advocates of sound money while questioning the viability of a financial system that is based purely on fiat currency. Until the markets...

We are coming to a juncture in the markets where we need to decide if the means of illusions used can produce any real lasting effects. The truth of the matter is that in a world fascinated with superficial results, few are those those who argue for fundamental...