Commentaries

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: March 14, 2012 |

From the Cacophony of the Fall to the Rhapsody of the Spring: Sovereigns, Risks, and Returns

We just want to erase from our memories the happenings of last fall, when the markets were dropping nervously while searching for signs of life. The swap lines announced by […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: March 8, 2012 |

Strategic Disintegration: Part II

Last week we posted the presentation that Chairman Volcker gave at Warwick University approximately thirty-three years ago. We believe that speech set the foundation for a great economic reversal that […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: February 19, 2012 |

On Debts, Leverage, and the Sustainability of the Euro Zone: T like Titanic or Taunus

The Eurogroup is meeting one more time on Monday to decide about the second rescue package for Greece. Division among its members regarding the package exacerbates the markets’ uncertainty. In […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: February 11, 2012 |

Abyssus Abyssum Invocat: On Liquidity Premiums and the Broadening of the Collateral Base

The calls heard last week from the southern periphery of the EU seem to be coming from the abyss. The Greek economy is in her fifth year of contraction, the […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: February 6, 2012 |

An Asymmetrical Diaspora of Credit and Capital: Market Upswing and Policies’ Lags

The argument of this commentary is as follows: The market experiences an upswing (which we anticipated and started commenting on December 21, 2011) due to two basic facts: First, the […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: January 30, 2012 |

An Exercise in Futility: Can we Add by Subtracting?

Today the EU leaders are gathering again for another summit! More than two years into their crisis, they cannot get their act together while continuing on the same path of […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: January 25, 2012 |

On Capital Flight and Balance Sheets: Capital Accounts in the Era of Black Holes

The news from the United Kingdom this week implied that more quantitative easing and money printing is coming to the U.K. economy soon. When we take into account that high […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: January 18, 2012 |

Before the Dawn of the Waste Land: Expected Returns, and Economic Performance

The macroeconomic picture – globally – does not look that promising. Trends need to be reversed in order to avoid the dawn of the waste land. However, for the near […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: January 11, 2012 |

The Hypothecation of the Merconti Hypothesis: Banks’ Deleveraging and Currencies Trajectories

Mer(kel) has lately been enjoying one of her highest favorable ratings in her political career in Germany. (Sar)ko(zy) is up in the polls but still behind his main opponent (Francois […]

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

The Markets in Altdorfer’s Metalanguage: Persephone at the Crossroads where Metacapitalism Meets Metamodernity

Recently I finished reading an excellent book by James Rickards entitled Currency Wars. Let me quote from the concluding chapter: “The dollar, for all its faults and weaknesses, is the […]