Tag: Ben Laidler

Struggling commodities are finally seeing some relief, thanks to firmer global growth, a stabilizing US dollar, and supply-side weather disruptions. Cotton has been a leader in this catch-up. This ‘fabric of our lives’ plays...

DEBT: Global debt trends matter and the current levels are eye-poppingly high. However there are big differences across the segments of governments, companies, or households with very disparate sensitivity to interest rate changes given...

The 10 largest global footwear brands saw a total increase in stock prices by 387% over the last decade, compared to a 155% increase in the S&P 500 index. Footwear brands Deckers...

WEATHER: The world is potentially facing one of the most powerful El Niño weather events in history. The impacts would be numerous, global, and an additional burden on top of existing climate change trends....

VIEW: ‘Sell in May and go away’ is one of the most famous adages in finance. This performance seasonality is strong and well supported by the data (see chart), and it is even bigger...

LAYOFF: High profile tech sector layoffs, from Amazon to Twitter, have surged to 135,000 globally at 850 companies and investors are worried about a white collar-led recession. This is unlikely. The sector employs too...

Luxury car maker Porsche is set to defy the global drought in stock market listings this year with a bang. Its spin-off from Volkswagen seems set to price at the top of its price...

The upcoming Communist Party Congress, which takes place every five years, starts on October 16. The twentieth such congress is set to give President Xi an unprecedented third term and provide a platform for...

ELECTION: Brazil’s presidential and congressional election campaign started last week. Leftist ex-President Lula is favorite to regain power in an October 30th run off, but the race is tightening (see chart). The sluggish economy will...

The US midterm elections are due in four months, when US voters will go to the polls to elect the entire 435-seat House of Representatives, a third of the 100-seat Senate, as well as...

CRISIS: Europe and UK natural gas prices have surged again, confirming the region's worst energy fears. This is stoking inflation and recession risks, and driving currency weakness. The immediate cause is cuts to the...

A 55% surge in our ‘breakfast’ cost index the past year is outpacing the commodity rally and piling cost pressures on many. This is boosting inflation, interest rates, and price restrictions in emerging markets...

Equities have set new records and are resilient to rising inflation. We are positive on the fundamentals, seeing more profit surprises ahead, and still low bond yields supporting high valuations. History also shows 1,...