By Simon Kerr, Principal of Enhance Consulting 1. The team with the fewest errors is often the winner at the biggest occasions in sport. In this year’s Super Bowl the Denver Broncos turned the ball over five times, conceded a safety from the first snap, and threw two interceptions. It is hard for a […] Read more »
Getting Lucky – Howard Mark’s Memo January 2014
By Howard Marks, Chairman of Oaktree Capital Management Sometimes these memos are inspired by a single event or just one thing I read. This one – like my first memo 24 years ago – grew out of the juxtaposition of two observations. I’ll introduce one here and the other on page seven. Contrary to my […] Read more »
The Pace Of Tapering By The Fed Under New Leadership
By Colin Cieszynski, Senior Market Analyst, CMC Markets Following the decision to commence tapering at the last meeting, this article looks what the possible outcomes from the forthcoming FOMC meeting could mean for market participants this year. The article addresses: The key questions following the Fed meeting in December Why QE may be trimmed […] Read more »
Unemployment Rates and Implications for US and UK Monetary Policy
By Alastair Thomas, Head of Rates and Treasury Management at ECM The central banks of the US, the FOMC or “Fed”, and the UK, the Bank of England (“BoE”) have tied their monetary policy to explicit unemployment levels as well as inflation. Since 1977 the Fed has had a dual mandate to target maximum employment […] Read more »
Outlook For Environmental Markets By Impax
By Ian Simm, Chief Executive of Impax Asset Management Policy and Regulation – the ratchet continues to tighten Recent years have seen the ratchet of building regulations, energy efficiency standards and pollution limits continue to tighten. As the global economy recovers, companies exposed to these themes are seeing their earnings start to rise strongly as […] Read more »
Flat US Equities and Falling Yields Could Signal a Change in Markets
By Stewart Richardson, Chief Investment Officer RMG Wealth Management With the exception of last week’s US employment report, the US economic data released in recent weeks has been better than expected. Conventional wisdom would have us believe that if the US economy is improving and the Fed is withdrawing stimulus, then bond yields should definitely […] Read more »
High Frequency Hysteria
By Stephen Pope, Managing Partner of Spotlight Ideas Any investment is speculative. Speculation is not manipulation. Markets hold politicians to account. Shorting is an essential trading tool. Be wary about a cumbersome restriction on algorithms The word “Hysteria” has its root in the Latin “hystericus”. It refers to “exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement” […] Read more »
Hedged High Yield Bonds vs. Bank Loans in a Rising Rate Environment
By Fran Rodilosso, Portfolio Manager with Market Vectors ETFs Both hedged high yield bond and bank loan strategies can help limit risks associated with a rising interest rate environment, according to Fran Rodilosso, fixed income portfolio manager with Market Vectors ETFs. However, hedged high yield bond strategies outperformed bank loan strategies during 2013’srising interest rate […] Read more »
Rosen’s Strategy Defies The Inevitable-Life-Cycle Story
By Simon Kerr, Publisher of Hedge Fund Insight Brand new instruments have massively changed markets – one thinks of Credit Default Swaps and corporate bonds, or MBS and the housing market. It is less common that a new iteration of an instrument makes a big difference to participants. But that is what has happened to […] Read more »
Elevated Expectations of Hedge Fund Advertising Come Down To Earth
From StreetID There has been a lot of hype for the JOBS Act and the changes it could bring to the hedge fund community. Many had high hopes for the act, which would allow hedge funds to advertise. But when the rules were put into place in September 2013, investors could barely tell the difference. […] Read more »