Nothing really interesting about December’s $10B deficit, but we now have a total for 2017 which rang up at $710B, $13B higher than 2016’s $697B deficit. This is the highest annual deficit since 2012 topping 2013’s deficit by just $1B and is the second year in a row of increases. Digging in a bit, revenues…
Hello everyone, I do hope you had a great day. I have been on the road all day, so I will endeavor to keep tonight’s post concise and to the point, before my eyes drop and I fall out of my chair! One thought before I do that, I usually lead every night with a…
Indian share markets pared all earlier intraday gains yesterday to end the session on a negative note. At the closing bell yesterday, the BSE Sensex closed lower by 19 points and the NSE Nifty finished flat. The S&P BSE Mid Cap finished up by 0.5% while S&P BSE Small Cap finished up by 1%. Gains…
The Rise of Stellar Lumens XLM: We have a new altcoin in our top 10 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap which is making a buzz in the market. Stellar Lumens or XLM have been soaring up since last Christmas day. Many argue it could be the next Ripple. Here is a quick overview. What is…
For most economic commentators the underlying driving force of inflation is inflationary expectations1. For instance, if there is a sharp increase in the price of oil, individuals may form higher inflationary expectations that could set in motion spiraling price inflation. Or so it is held. If expectations could somehow be made less responsive to various price shocks, then…
After lagging in the first half of 2017, commodities staged a nice comeback in the second half amid continued bullishness in the stock market and an increased appetite for riskier assets. In fact, commodities ended 2017 on a high note, registering the longest rally since 1991, with the Bloomberg Commodity Index, which measures returns on…
The Australian economy slowed right down in the first quarter of this year. Turnover in the retail sector, a decline in the construction sector, and reduced business capital expenditure have caused economic growth to undercut expectations. At one point, there was talk of Australia sliding into a technical recession, but this didn’t happen. Photo Source…
An interesting article at Plaid Zebra cites work done at Harvard that says instead of believing that success leads to happiness, being truly happy is what leads to success with some data to back up the assertion. I believe embracing this mindset can also pertain to the accumulation of assets as part of a retirement plan. There…
Global Equities & EM Debt Should Have A Solid 2018 The chart below shows the major asset classes’ performance in 2017. Global equities were up 23.9%. I expect a smaller increase this year because equities in many markets were left for dead in 2016. Optimism is now high, meaning it’s tougher to meet expectations. Even…
In the Currency Strength table, the GBP was the strongest currency while the JPY was the weakest. There were some significant changes last month with the AUD and NZD gaining 3 points while the CHF lost 3 points. On a month to month basis the GBP and CAD showed a very good performance while the…
