by John E. Charalambakis | Feb 17, 2016 | Commentaries
Historically, the inversion of the yield curve is a good predictor of recessions. On top of this when spreads of high yield bonds reach the current level of 850 bps (i.e. 8.5% above Treasuries) the probability to experience a recession within 8-12 months is between...
by John E. Charalambakis | Feb 9, 2016 | Commentaries
Modern finance depends on credit. Credit creation depends on inter-bank trust. Inter-bank trust depends on asset valuation. Asset valuation is an opaque process that is a function of several parameters (economic, financial, geopolitical, strategic, among others). For...
by John E. Charalambakis | Feb 2, 2016 | Commentaries
It takes some time for the market to comprehend when stress is built up in the economic and financial systems. This is part of the hysteresis reality. When financial stress builds up for some time, a crisis ensues that is followed by a recession. The graph below from...
by John E. Charalambakis | Jan 25, 2016 | Commentaries
Following the successful Normandy invasion in June 1944, the Allies executed that September the military operation known as Market Garden (Market referred to the airborne forces that were supposed to seize bridges, and Garden to ground forces). The purpose was to...
by John E. Charalambakis | Jan 19, 2016 | Commentaries
We are crossing correction territory (a drop of more than 10%) for some equity markets in developed countries around the world. This has brought questions about the possibility of a secular bear market (a drop of more than 20%) that will wipe out stocks. The causes...
by John E. Charalambakis | Jan 11, 2016 | Commentaries
Yesterday, the South African Rand lost 10% of its value. The South African economy is viewed as unstable due to its domestic politics (the President changed the Minister of Finance twice within a week) as well as its dependence on exports to China. The reality of a...