Tag: japan

Trade deal or no trade deal? It does not matter…

'We, the Chinese nation, after fifty years of sanguinary revolutions and five and a half years of sacrifice in the War of Resistance, have finally transformed the history of a hundred years of the Unequal Treaties of sorrow into a glorious record of the termination of the Unequal Treaties' ~ Chiang Kai-Shek, January 1943 Somewhere … Continue reading Trade deal or no trade deal? It does not matter… →

Weekly Observations: Central Bankers as Gamemasters

An excerpt from a week's journal: 20 August 2018: Observations & Thoughts Today was generally a risk-on environment, with Chinese equity indexes leading the way in Asia Pacific (Japan and South Korea lagged). Indian equities continued to climb higher. The Yuan has also somewhat stabilised and has strengthened against the USD since last week. Chinese … Continue reading Weekly Observations: Central Bankers as Gamemasters →

Lessons from Soros’ Quantum Fund! Part II

In the first article of this series, we covered the philosophy and mindset of Soros' Quantum Fund. We learnt about (i) Soros' belief of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, (ii) his attitudes towards risks (that its omnipresent and has to be managed in relative and subjective degrees), and (iii) his ruthless obsession about the bottom line. In this … Continue reading Lessons from Soros’ Quantum Fund! Part II →

Review of 1st Quarter 2017 & Portfolio Update

While it was a decent 3 months for both broad equity and bond markets, all my trades did not work out as expected and I cut all my initial positions that were initiated in January. Additionally, a couple of my positions that were USD-denominated also saw valuations affected by the slight weakening of the Dollar against … Continue reading Review of 1st Quarter 2017 & Portfolio Update →

The End of Pax Americana?

In the Mediterranean in May 1954, warships of the Royal Navy gave a 21-gun salute to Britain's new monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who was on-board the private vessel, the Royal Yacht Britannia, returning from a global tour of Britain's realm. The ceremony was glorious, and was a demonstration of naval power reminiscent of the origins … Continue reading The End of Pax Americana? →

The BOJ’s new framework may mean that the Yen may become Confetti some day…

In its September policy update, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced that it's tweaking its framework to "Quantitative & Qualitative Easing with Yield Curve Control", with 2 major components: Yield curve control: "the bank will control short-term and long-term interest rates" Inflation-overshooting commitment: "the bank commits itself to expanding the monetary base until the year-on-year … Continue reading The BOJ’s new framework may mean that the Yen may become Confetti some day… →

Is Defense a growth industry in Asia-Pacific?

When well-known talk show host Charlie Rose sat down with the late Lee Kuan Yew (the first Prime Minister of Singapore) back in early 2009, he asked Mr Lee what he would like to convey or ask the newly-elected US president Barrack Obama. Mr Lee's question to President Obama was direct and surreptitiously grim: "How would you defend … Continue reading Is Defense a growth industry in Asia-Pacific? →

The “Decade of the Central Banks”

Throughout the history of financial markets, various colourful and interesting personalities are known to dominate various time periods, appearing as 'wizards' or narrative icons of dominating market trends in those times. Think about the 1980s for a moment. Both Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were sworn into office in the United States and in Great Britain … Continue reading The “Decade of the Central Banks” →