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

We’re in an era of ‘Strong Men’: 4 things investors must take note of

Political experts use the phrase 'strong men era' to describe the current political landscape. Everywhere across the world, authoritarian leaders have swept into power (or simply seized it) since the start of the current decade. In the US, Republican President Donald Trump is widely considered as a populist politician who has an anti-establishment leaning. His … Continue reading We’re in an era of ‘Strong Men’: 4 things investors must take note of

3 areas to steer clear of & 1 chart to monitor

The investment landscape is changing for the first time in 8 years. According to the IMF's data, America's economy is operating at if not above capacity (output gap closing), with a relatively tight labour market and leveraging by both corporations and households. A pickup in investment began early last year, as growth accelerated and companies … Continue reading 3 areas to steer clear of & 1 chart to monitor

Review of “How to Make Money with Global Macro”

After reviewing Greg Gliner's "Global Macro Trading" earlier, I thought I'll work my way on another book. There aren't many books on global macro and macro investing out there, so Javier Gonzalez's new book - "How to Make Money with Global Macro" naturally piped my interest to work through it. I got it via Fishpond.com, … Continue reading Review of “How to Make Money with Global Macro”

Review of 2016 & my thoughts for 2017

2016 was a year of ups and downs and many unexpected events, but they are merely symptoms of the signs of the times.. If any, 2017 would probably be tumultuous as well, and as global macro investors, we are rewarded and protected by being opportunistic, nimble and adaptable. Like the famous Bruce Lee used to … Continue reading Review of 2016 & my thoughts for 2017

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…

Portfolio strategy for 4Q 2016: Watch the USD for cues

As the legendary Soros declares above: investing is never about making predictions, it is about making probability-adjusted bets. Hence global macro investors tend to map out scenarios and devise action plans to deal with uncertainty in the financial markets. The US Dollar is a mega trend that has to be observed closely by virtue of the … Continue reading Portfolio strategy for 4Q 2016: Watch the USD for cues