As has become increasingly obvious to many, unconventional central bank policies have resulted in an unprecedented level of crowding – a "herd mentality" to trade positioning on the basis of a similar theme – throughout global equity markets. UBS quant team guages the "barometric pressure of developing investment bubbles" across various factors and looks for the inflection points with the dollar, oil, and politics as the main catalysts.
Well, we've seen some ridiculous moves in markets before but today's cross asset-class malarkey takes the proverbial biscuit...
Or put another way...
Hoo boy. Newell Normand, the Republican sheriff of Jefferson Parish (suburban New Orleans), seeing the complete disaster that former Gov. Bobby Jindal and the GOP-run legislature made of the state’s fiscal situation, is volubly repenting. Excerpts:
“The state budget, what a mess,” Normand said. “Bobby Jindal was a better cult leader than Jim Jones. We drank the elixir for eight years. We remained in a conscious state. We walked to the edge of the cliff and we jumped off and he watched us.
In his latest must read presentation, Citigroup's Matt King continues to expose and mock the increasing helplessness and cluelessness of central bankers, something this website has done since 2009 knowing full well how it all ends (incidentally not in a deflationary whimper, quite the opposite).
Submitted by Axel Merk via Merk Investments,
Gold never changes; it's the world around it that does. Why is it that we see a renewed interest in gold now? And more importantly, should investors buy this precious metal?
Key attributes in a 'changing world' that may be relevant to the price of gold are fear and interest rates. Let's examine these:
Gold & Fear