A growing uncertainty over the outcome of next week’s independence referendum in Scotland, exemplified by the result of a Sunday Times / Yougov poll putting the “yes” vote ahead for the first time, has caused a right old palaver, not just north and south of Hadrian’s Wall, but also on the international capital markets. What
In a busy week for Emerging Market (EM) elections, both India and South Africa have been in electoral mode. In what was a predictable result across South Africa, with a good voter turnout, the “born frees” (those born since democracy arrived in South Africa) certainly didn’t show apathy. India’s election, on the other hand, is
The first quarter of the year, in terms of the equity markets, pretty much played out as we predicted at the end of 2013, with a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, but markets generally remaining range-bound over the quarter. In fact U.S. equity investors saw the weakest first quarter in five years. Emerging market equities once again
It is not the Great Rotation, the Great War, the Great Depression, the Great Gatsby, Great Expectations or From Good to Great, but The Great Deceleration. This was the title of a recent Economist cover article in which it concluded that emerging markets are not at the beginning of a bust, but it is a
“The second quarter of the year saw new highs being achieved by the US markets and strongly trending higher Japanese markets – until the dreaded words of tapering were uttered by the US Fed. Volatility levels are spiking, as market participants start to price in the eventual removal of the punch bowl. As Bill Gross
