Category Financial Assets

This is not about Banks – This is a Valuation and Private Asset Crisis

Markets are in a fluster over US banks, but that’s not the real problem. There is a looming crisis about to roil markets stemming from inflated  valuations in the Private Asset sector. This is going to get really messy. Hard Hats on!

Forget inflation – its interest rates that will set markets and drive new growth.

Around the globe everyone thinks inflation is beaten. It may well be, but the consequences will persist. Interest rates may not “pivot” the way market optimists hope, with profound implications for equities and bonds. We are into a new market cycle of normalised rates and corporate fundamentals. All-in-all, that’s a good thing for growth!

Consumption is the crisis. Market doesn’t get it!

Consumption and a cost-of-living crisis are upon us, but markets blithely assume it’s all upside to 2023. The risk is not a massive crash, but growing realisation the global economy has peaked, needs a period of normalisation and a reset after the madness of the last decade.

Big Shifts last week set to dominate markets long term

Last week saw a succession of fundamental shifts in how the global economy is working: inflation, China’s reopening, western politics, crypto, Climate Change, Tech stocks, and in Ukraine. These all have significant potential market implications.

The Laws of Mean Reversion have begun their Summer Offensive

We’re officially in a bear market, but markets are still massively overvalued. The laws of Mean Reversion are immutable – some stocks are going lower. Inflation, Bond Markets and Confidence are all flashing danger signals.

Shipping – a real world asset class, but complex!

Yesterday’s ongoing pain in crashing financial asset markets demonstrates the need to diversify portfolios and decorrelated returns. Shipping is one such asset; returns have been boosted by scarcity as a result of the pandemic – the question is: can these returns be maintained?