The success and depth of US capital markets to finance entrepreneurs and successive tech revolutions has been extraordinary – fuelling the exceptionalism of the US economy. In contrast, the UK is more risk adverse towards start-up opportunities. That’s largely cultural, a reflection of the more mature, later-stage British Economy. What will happen when the US economy is also past its top, and following the UK into maturity?
The Russians are deliberately provoking the UK in the English Channel – seeking to demonstrate that “Broken Britain” lacks the will, the resources and resilience to rebuild itself. The imminent Nationalisation of failing water utility Thames Water highlights how decisions made decades ago have had consequences that are costing the nation dear today.
I have no interest in golf – it’s a good walk spoilt. But the rumoured collapse of the rogue LIV Golf Tour, and the disinterest fans are showing in attending Trump’s price-gouging Football World Cup, may be hints the sports investment bubble is about to burst. If it does, it could trigger a confidence wobble across private capital. It could also spell opportunity!
Sometimes you just have to laugh. The Tariff Judgement against Trump raises elevated Chaotic Tantrum risks in Treasuries, while markets fear what wobbles in private credit might conceal. Everything in markets are connected – when something cracks in credit, someone somewhere else will start screaming!
This year is shaping up to be a big one for IPOs, but just how sustainable will the market be if the speculative froth driving valuations dissipates? SpaceX will be the big one – it is a truly extraordinary firm, but after the noise, what’s it really worth?
Global Markets surge ahead. Bitcoin has been left behind. Yet again the crypto bubble has popped. All that’s holding it up is buy-the-dip greater fools, hope and belief – none of which are strategies for success. Time for a reassessment of what Bitcoin is and isn’t, and why it’s time to stop wasting energy on it!
Markets are less fragile than we think. There are always people watching, waiting and ready to catch bargains. Some risks are in plain sight. But in Private Capital Markets they are hidden – which is why many market players believe the scale of losses might be hidden. Will Private Markets trigger the next crisis? I doubt it.
There is no stopping a market believing what it wants to believe. Tariffs, Trade Wars, Credit Cockroaches, BTC delusions, this market has it all, yet everyone is still dancing. Best thing to do might be to “Catflap” – walking away without saying anything to anyone.
The AI sector looks likely to be the biggest bubble in market history – until the next one. When it pops – and it surely will – the effects will resonate round markets. Like all good Snake Oil scams, AI has promised everything and claims divinity. Too many folk have embraced the hype and hopes of easy money – but that has always been the way of markets.
The Americans have passed rules to regulate and define the crypto industry. The first rule of finance is all rules are arbitraged. The second is that regulation strengthens incumbents. Very, very different to what Nakamoto and the original crypto acolytes envisaged for free, decentralised finance! Ha Ha Ha!











