We are now seeing the first major effects of the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. National governments have finally decided on the appointments for the new roles of president of the European Council and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Both are going to be filled by politicians, who, to put it charitably,… [Read more]
One stock market that has really underperformed global equity markets in recent months is Japan’s Nikkei index. While other developed markets have rallied by over 50.0% since the March lows, and some EMs by around 200%, the Nikkei has only recovered by around 35.0%. The price action has turned lower and is starting to form… [Read more]
Risk Watchdog is not shy about promoting his views to anyone who will listen. Yesterday, I had the opportunity yesterday to talk to a group of potential exporters to East Africa at an event organised by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and hosted by Barclays, about why I and my colleagues at Business… [Read more]
Cautious appears to be the best way to describe sentiment among Mexico City’s executives and bureaucrats at present, or at least that was the feeling Risk Watchdog came away with after spending a week on the ground there. This is not surprising, given the severity of the blow to Mexico’s economy from the recent downturn…. [Read more]
On November 12, Business Monitor International hosted a major investors’ conference on the risks, opportunities and outlook for emerging markets over the coming decade. Justin Patrie talks with senior BMI strategists Terry Alexander and Tim Cooper about some of the themes and surprises that emerged from the conference. Highlighted topics include EM outperformance, structural drivers… [Read more]
Risk Watchdog and his colleagues at Business Monitor International (BMI) have grown very bullish Latin American currencies. Three views in particular stand out and form part of the BMI Global Key Market Views portfolio: Last Friday, my colleagues at BMI initiated a long Chilean peso/short US dollar view, which hit the initial CLP510.00/US$ target within… [Read more]
US President Barack Obama, en route to ‘Asia’ (I use the speech marks, because Asia is so diverse and it is inaccurate to consider it a single entity), has no shortage of issues to deal with when he gets there. There seems to be a general feeling that US influence in Asia is on the… [Read more]
