Young and Invested

The Era Of Unintended Consequences

Investors like themes, they like to operate and think according to the major themes that dictate new developments. I think one of the biggest themes in this current investment environment and in the next few years will be the dominance of unintended consequences – an environment where the unintended consequences of actions will speak much [...]

First Dose Of Moral Hazard Delivered

Note: See important disclaimers below article.
With an aid package finally being confirmed for Greece, the first dose of moral hazard has been confirmed and the Greek government can look forward to some breathing room now that they don’t have to rely entirely on the market to roll-over the short-term debt that’s coming due. It is [...]

Google Boasts its Backbone

I heard about this in a few podcasts recently and knew it was bound to happen sooner or later – Google finally acted in alignment with its typical image (a fearless, untamed titan) and resisted China’s attempts to continue censoring its search results.
Part of Google’s initial entry into the Chinese market was conditional on censorship [...]

Memory of a Crisis

A few prominent investment banks wiped, a crashed housing market, oil prices plummeted, investors running from the market bears, people hoarding the last remaining gold, American automakers in serious peril … sounds like a financial hurricane went through in 2009, doesn’t it?
Looking back at it now, one question still glows in embers – who was [...]

When Correlations Collide

Note: See important disclaimers below article.
If you pick up any finance textbook, it’ll tell you that international diversification is good. International diversification is good because the returns on stocks in different stock markets, in different regions, are supposed to be un-correlated, hence falling markets in one region can be offset by growth in other regions. [...]

Is the United States an “Emerging Market”?

Note: See important disclaimers below article.
When finance professionals learn about investing in the emerging markets, they are taught to look out for certain key statistics that can provide indications of whether those markets are suitable candidates for investment.
Some of the main indicators looked at include the country’s:

Budget Deficit to GDP: A general guideline is that [...]

It’s Time To Accept The C$ At Parity

Note: See important disclaimers below article.
It has been a long time coming, but investors need to start seeing that the C$ belongs at parity to the US$, if not even higher. The C$ first breached parity in late 2007 when it became stronger than the US$ and in subsequent weeks literally skyrocketed to 1.0722 as [...]

SEC Traffic Light – Green if Disclosure is Green

As our civilization moves into the future, future generations will have their minds boggled at how our attitude towards Earth was anything but mindful. Luckily, we are standing at a cornerstone of a green revolution where organizations and individuals are beginning to internalize the right attitude to preserve our home; the SEC is fortunately one [...]

When PIGS Can Fly

Note: See important disclaimers below article.
And so, as expected by most, the major Western European economies are talking about what they can do to resolve Greece’s fiscal problems. Contagion has already caused anxiety to spread to the fiscally “un-sound” European nations. Specifically, the PIGS – Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain. PIGS is an acronym that [...]

Is this time any different?

Note: See important disclaimers below article.
Another month, another year, another attempt at a correction and another inevitable bounce. The chart below highlights the sentiments carried by many investors.

All the believers of the mantra that “Nothing ever goes up in a straight line”, have been forced to challenge their beliefs when every attempt at a [...]