Author: Tim Shirata

Europe Moving In the Right Direction  Several notable developments occurred in rapid succession this past weekend, leading us to feel cautiously hopeful about Europe’s hitherto careening economic, fiscal, and banking crisis.  We...

We Thank You for Your Continued Support Many of our subscribers have been forwarding our commentary to their friends, family, colleagues, coworkers, and clients.  We thank you for your continued support and comments and we hope...

The Coming Euro Bail Financial volatility and political incoherence have been the order of the day on the continent.  However, with the German vote today there are distinct signs that a political consensus has taken shape in...

Europe’s Banking Swoon Gets Temporary Band-Aid Last week, five important central banks offered one-time funding lines to large commercial banks. Why? Access to capital from money markets was drying up and liquid first aid was...

Under The Radar Screen: Big Developments Getting Little Attention Two developments of great significance — in China and Russia — have attracted little attention from the Western financial media that is totally obsessed with...

Uncertainty — A Drag on the U.S. Economy One thing is becoming quite certain in the current U.S. economy: uncertainty. In conversation after conversation with CEOs, we are hearing a similar litany of frustration. They want to...

QE Watch As we watch the meltdown in Europe, events appear to be developing very much as we anticipated. Gold is up. European stocks and banks are down, and so, too, are world stocks. The fear of a global recession is growing, a...

Investor Risk Perceptions Shifting A major shift in perception is spreading throughout the global investing community — from institutions to individuals.  Increasingly, investors are carefully weighing which countries’ bonds,...

Markets? We think that the months before the U.S. election in 2012 will be much like the months between the fall of 2008 and early 2009, when the U.S. market bottomed. We detect no decisiveness in Europe, which happens to be the...