Africa

Back in January 2016, we reported that Pine River Capital Management, then run by noted hedge fund investor Steve Kuhn, was shuttering its Fixed Income fund, and returning roughly $1.6 billion to investors. The wind down was surprising for one of the industry's most prominent names: Kuhn was one of four managers who helped the Pine River Fixed Income Fund score some of the industry's biggest gains. They included a 93% return in 2009, fueled largely by bets on the housing market.

Before a forecast tropical storm, residents of a coastal floodplain keep one eye trained on the weather as they go about their daily business.  

Wary investors keep an eye out for potential political, geopolitical, as well as natural disasters.

Homeowners on the Gulf of Mexico take precautions against the potential for wind and water damage, as do market-minders seek indemnity from inflation and recession, up and down markets, changing tax policy, and potential for catastrophe. 

Poverty, Prosperity, and Precious Metals

Written by Jeff Nielson, Sprott Money News

In the 20th century; by the end of the 1960’s, Western societies and especially Canada and the United States reached a level of prosperity never seen before – or since. Since the early 1970’s; the standard of living across the Western world has been in a relentless trajectory downward.

Authored by Soeren Kern via The Gatestone Institute,

Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Asia Times,

Putin reveals 'fair multipolar world' concept in which oil contracts could bypass the US dollar and be traded with oil, yuan and gold...

The annual BRICS summit in Xiamen – where President Xi Jinping was once mayor – could not intervene in a more incandescent geopolitical context.