bear1

It’s been a difficult market since the dog days of summer. After 10-months of exceptionally low volatility, a fierce downdraft set in during mid-August. Lower stock prices, and volatility, will persist, simply because the conditions to go right back to the old dynamic aren’t in place. There isn’t enough global growth to support stock prices…

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Nike sneakers

Maybe the economy in China isn’t collapsing. Nike reported a bone crusher of a quarterly report last night; a stark wake-up call for China bears. Nike management credibility is higher than that of the Chinese government, and this earnings report, at this juncture, is stunningly good. Nike segment reports its future orders by geography, adjusted…

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primark

Business models that don’t evolve are always threatened by disruption. The US specialty apparel sector is a fascinating case study in businesses, and brands, entrenched for long periods of time (decades), seemingly safe, but now facing imminent destruction. The concept of the shopping mall is dated; millennials have different habits than teens in the 80s…

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dove cartoon

The Fed’s lack of policy response, and subsequent press conference, evokes memories of a scene in Bronx Tale… What’s going on here?  Now you can’t leave.  I will never forget the look on their faces.  All eight of them.Their faces dropped.  All their courage and strength was drained from their bodies.  They had a reputation for breaking up…

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oil rig

The depth of corruption and scandal at Petroleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) isn’t your typical run of the mill emerging market scam. A conflux of events around the world, built up over decades, fostered the conditions for a defrauding of this magnitude. Post financial crisis, global central bank stimulus, created an environment devoid of scrutiny, resulting in…

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jacks

While the odds on a Fed rate hike are still vacillating, the strong jobs report, and recent market action are now forcing the Fed’s hand. The Fed needs extreme market conditions to justify not hiking. The point has arrived where stock and bond markets are strong enough, even with the prospects of a hike, that diminished Fed credibility should…

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Zhou_Xiaochuan

News out of China is opaque; often altered, editorialized, or outright censored. It is rare to receive a straightforward assessment, based in fact, irrespective of the congruence with the China governmental aims. Zhou Xiaochuan (ZX) is a maverick Central Bank governor, versed in global economics, and financial markets. ZX is a reformer, pushing to open…

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yuan

China is at the end-game of its great economic transformation. Multiple iterations of 5-year plans, and flawed central economic planning, created a massive build-up in debt that can no longer be continued. China’s debt fueled growth is understood, but the impact of the deleveraging phase is becoming evident in real time. Various estimates of China…

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gusher

This weekend’s Jackson Hole speeches, and subsequent commentary, outlined the guideposts for a Fed rate hike, potentially in September. The explosion in crude, if it holds for two more weeks, will pressure the Fed to hike. The Fed clearly highlighted the USD, employment, and oil, as drivers of inflation. The fast 10-point in rally in oil, from sub-$40,…

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