QUESTION: It certainly seems that the cryptocurrency world has its flaws and may even be worse than traditional bank accounts and credit cards. They keep getting hacked. So they are trying to defeat central banks but may be running into the arms of scammers and thieves. I read one guy even claimed Bitcoin would be […]

The Shanghai was holding-in initially and even spent much of the day trading unchanged until late afternoon. Talk that President Trump could be planning additional Trade tariffs coupled with speculation of curbing Chinese tech investment wobbled markets. These rumblings hit all of Asian indices and also DOW futures as the uncertainty over the global trading […]

QUESTION: Regardless of all the hype about the euro, from my perspective, the economic growth was far better before the creation of the euro. It just seems as though any improvement is marginal at best. What does your model show for the Eurozone growth rate? Thank you for what you do JE ANSWER: You are […]

Angela Merkel promised the German people that she would not just hand Greeks money as she does with the refugee, no, she would make them pay dearly for allowing Goldman Sachs to structure deals to get them in the Eurozone. Indeed, she has kept her word. In response to a parliamentary question from the Green Party, […]

  QUESTION: Hi Martin, First, I’d like to offer my condolences on your mother’s passing. It feels to me that you must take great satisfaction in the fact that she must have been very proud of your accomplishments, and what you are trying to do for the average person. To me, that is the ultimate […]

Good to see a healthy rebound in todays Asian markets with strong performances across the board. It still appears however, that the market is not that confident that the US and China have settled for the moment as the Shanghai bounced just +0.3% and Hang Seng +0.75%. It was a different storey for countries with […]

QUESTION: Can you shed any light on the history of money in Portugal. There seems to be scant discussion of this subject. Thank you ANSWER: The first coinage of Portugal really is Roman and it appears to be struck by the first Roman Emperor Octavian/Augustus (27BC-14AD). The location of the mint was the city of Évora. […]

A weak session for Asia to start the new week. With little data due, we are left to concentrate on the ongoing US/China trade tit-for-tat, the OPEC meeting and political headlines. The Nikkei and Shanghai both lost around -0.75% and with currencies not lending a supporting hand this time. The Yen remains mid 110’s following […]

Angela Merkel has been effectively overthrown over the refugee open-door policy and we may see this officially in a matter of weeks by 07/02 or the week of 07/09. She was given two-weeks to reverse her policy which is effectively a polite way of saying to hit the road. Some are trying to claim that […]

Mario Draghi said the euro-area economy is strong enough to overcome increased risk,  and therefore this justifies the European Central Bank’s decision to end bond purchases bringing to an end a decade-long failed experiment. The truth behind this statement is starkly different than being portrayed in the press. Draghi also pledged to keep interest rates unchanged […]