Europe: The State of the Banking System
July 8, 2010
We're bombarded with information from the minute we wake up until the second we fall asleep. I was watching a news network last night for 45 minutes and the exact stories started coming back around. Nothing new to report, but the same topics on repeat, with the rare nominal development.
When I need something different (and relevant to me), I go to STRATFOR.com. They provide deep insight and explanation of events the networks can't begin to tackle. Today I'm including an extensive article on the banking situation in Europe. Enjoy, and sign up for their free email list to receive weekly reports and special offers.
The Leverage in the System and the Weak US Dollar
June 26, 2006
In my Friday letter, "Thoughts from the Frontline," I touched briefly on the Yen Carry Trade and its effects on asset prices. Just what should investors be concerned with and profit from in a market bent on volatility and anchored by a new seat at the Fed? My good friends at GaveKal have written an excellent and timely article on global liquidity and its implications for the markets.
Charles and Louis-Vincent Gave, along with Anatole Kaletsky, are each co-founders of GaveKal, a global investment research and management firm. Their expertise on monetary policy and global trends is often very insightful and highly sought after. In one of their more recent commentaries, The Leverage in the System and the Weak U.S. $$, they take an in-depth look at the Bank of Japan, Oil, the U.S. Dollar and the Euro. This is a very interesting take on the strength of the dollar and very much Outside the Box.
I trust that you will pay less attention to the manic noise of the markets and find this piece to be an enlightening perspective on the global economy.
What We Don’t See - July 2005
July 25, 2005
This week we will turn once again to a group headquartered in Hong Kong with offices in Stockholm and New York called GaveKal Research Limited. They did a long piece on What We See And What We Don't See and we have edited it down to the What We Don't See portion of the research. I really enjoy reading the guys from GaveKal, as they challenge my thinking.
(Incidentally, Louis Gave was in my office last week, coming down to watch a game [Those Yankees beat us again]. He is married to a delightful young lady from Oklahoma so comes to the area from time to time. I look forward to spending more time with him.)
They admit that it is not the obvious market observations that clients pay them to deliver, but the unobvious or what we don't see that really matters. They bring up some interesting and non mainstream views of the Euro, China and the US Dollar, which is why this was picked for Outside the Box.
The New Carry Trade
July 11, 2005
This week we will turn once again to a group headquartered in Hong Kong with offices in Stockholm and New York called GaveKal Research Limited. We pull together three one page commentaries from last week that focused on the carry trade.
They make the point is that over the last ten years the carry trade has moved from the Yen to the US Dollar and is now moving to the Euro. This is a short concise piece that gets right to the point and brings a lot of ideas. Most economists are still forecasting a weak dollar, but GaveKal presents a scenario that could lead short-term to a strong dollar and even weaker Euro. This is an outside of consensus view, which is why this was picked for Outside the Box.
The Sure-Thing Syndrome
January 10, 2005
This week I put out my 2005 forecast that called for a See-Saw Economy. The theme being that the economy will not take off or crater but continue to move along at a relatively slow upward pace. There will be an end game to this cycle, but I don't see it this year.
One of my favorite economists, Stephen Roach, of Morgan Stanley gives us an insight into what one of the major components of that end game will look like. Let's take a look at his comments on the end of the carry trade and the consequences this could have on the economy in the coming year.