COMMENT: Dear Martin, From reading your blog and other news I can conclude that the low interest rate has failed to increase the private business activities to the level that normally would require an increase in interest rates. The arguments now are to increase interest rates to save pensions funds and to be able […]

The IMF and many economists (domestic and foreign) are now warning that a rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve, no matter when, will spark a major economic crisis in the emerging markets. They see this crisis being ripe for countries with high budget deficits, such as Turkey, as well as commodity-based economies. This includes […]

Asia saw a good performance today for stocks on the back of the FED’s supportive stance and the chance of a “one and done” approach, an unchanged policy decision by the Bank of Japan but also China cut in its overnight lending facility. In Europe this positive stance continued early in the session but retraced […]

All core Asian indices opened weaker and not one recovered ahead of the weekend. Hang Seng and Shanghai were down 2% and 1% respectively, whilst the Nikkei lost 0.5%. That weak trend continued into the European and U.S. sessions with all (Asian) futures markets currently reflecting an additional 1%+ loss. The momentum across Europe has […]

The 2004 October coup that saw Khin Nyunt replaced as prime minister amid reports of a power struggle and corruption have failed to demonstrate that corruption can be eliminated. Any country that has undergone such an event warns that the same culture is likely to return. Now in August, President Thein Sein dismissed rival Shwe Mann […]

On Sunday, we saw the release of some weak Chinese data (exports fell 6.9% whilst imports 18.8%) resulting in a high trade surplus of $61.64bn. The Shanghai Index closed Monday with a strong gains (+57pts +1.6%). The Nikkei also performed well in Tokyo (+377pts +1.96%) although given the slight reversal in the currency, the futures market in the […]

Asian equity markets were strong ahead of the US data with the Nikkei closing a promising week up 150pts (+0.8%) and Shanghai up 66pts (+1.9%). Worth noting this evening is that the Nikkei futures have built upon today’s cash gains and are currently up an additional 190pts at 19,480 (+1%). Europe failed to participate following the […]

QUESTION: Martin; Why in the world anyone would invest in government debt when they all default in the end? GH ANSWER: Honestly, most people are oblivious to the fact that governments always default in modern times. Jean Baptiste Say took the position that a rational businessman will never hoard money because of inflation and he will promptly […]

Dr. David Evans of the Australian Greenhouse Office says the mathematical model used by the United Nations is simply wrong. The underlying physics of the model is correct, but it has been applied incorrectly. Dr. Evans states that the climate’s sensitivity to carbon dioxide (CO2) is far lower, and at best, accounts for only 20% of any claimed […]

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; Thank you for coming to Athens. After the presentation, there were so many questions that the moderator did not have time for. You answered some for the crowd afterwards that I had never heard anyone ever explain. You said Quantitative Easing was not money printing nor did it really increase the money […]