by Bill | Oct 29, 2014 | European Economy
Target2 – the payment system used for intra-eurozone transfers – has widened again, with the largest two-month move since mid 2012. A look into its breakdown reveals that it is Italy that is almost completely responsible for the increase in liabilities. Ceteris...
by Bill | Aug 19, 2014 | European Economy
Eurozone growth goes from setback to setback with last week’s GDP number being just the latest in a long line of similar disappointments. Soft indicators have consistently overstated the strength of this year’s recovery, and the unpleasant truth is that as one...
by Bill | Mar 20, 2014 | Emerging Markets, European Economy, Featured, Global Economy, Leading Indicators, US Economy
One of the themes we have been tracking in the past 6 months is the slowdown in global money growth and excess liquidity. The focus on the second derivative is important here. The level of growth in liquidity and money growth indicators is decent but the annual...
by Bill | Mar 18, 2014 | European Economy, Featured, Leading Indicators
One of the equity themes we have been highlighting in the recent month is ongoing mismatch between high expectations in Europe relative to lacklustre growth in profitability and growth. European equities are overvalued based on what our models are telling us about...
by Bill | Feb 18, 2014 | European Economy, Featured
The composite eurozone January flash PMI showed accelerating expansion led by Germany, but the PMI readings are still only showing moderate growth, considerably below the momentum achieved, for example, in the 2009/2010 green-shoots revival. (click on pictures for...
by Bill | Feb 6, 2014 | Banks, European Economy, North America, Uncategorized, US Economy
Global growth has been well supported going into this year, and short-leading indicators had intimated this would continue into the latter part of the first quarter. However, data has become more mixed with some releases giving cause for concern. Some US data may...
by Bill | Dec 13, 2013 | European Economy, Featured
There is an interesting story this morning on Bloomberg about the travails of European automakers and the strong euro. According to Bloomberg, the already troubled French automaker Peugeot will take a €1.1 bn non-cash charge due to adverse currency fluctuations in...
by Bill | Nov 11, 2013 | European Economy, Featured
There are some notable reasons for near-term reasons for optimism in the UK. The housing market seems to be picking up, industrial production growth is looking up together with PMI data and the equity market has done well. All these are real and significant signs of...
by Bill | Oct 1, 2013 | European Economy, Featured, Global Economy
The notion of a perfect storm is a tired cliché but in Portugal’s case, its use has rarely been more apt. Our view is that the market is underestimating the risks surrounding Portuguese debt roll-over and planned exit from the Troika programme in 2014. According to...
