| December |
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An unseemly spat
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| 16 December 2011 |
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| The spat that has broken out between France and the UK is perhaps a fitting end to what has been a year racked by division and uncertainty. The... |
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Splendid isolation?
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| 09 December 2011 |
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| The UK spent most of the late 19th century in splendid isolation and looks set to do so again in the current century. But over 100 years ago... |
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Waiting for an Encore and More
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| 02 December 2011 |
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| Central bank interventions to free up dollar liquidity helped risky assets rally this week but the Dec 9 EU leaders' summit has become all critical. |
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| November |
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A Pyrrhic victory?
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| 25 November 2011 |
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| Angela Merkel is a scientist by background but she is no doubt familiar with classical history and, in particular, the story of King Pyrrhus of... |
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Breathing contagion
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| 18 November 2011 |
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| Watching Hamlet at the Young Vic this week my attention was briefly diverted from Michael Sheen's bravura performance when he uttered the words... |
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Fragile solidarity
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| 11 November 2011 |
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| A new Greek prime minister has been sworn in and the incumbent Italian premier may have gone by Sunday. The markets can be forgiven for grasping... |
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Volatile times
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| 04 November 2011 |
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| If someone had come back from a long, remote holiday today this morning they might conclude that it had probably been an uneventful week. There... |
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| October |
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Regaining trust
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| 28 October 2011 |
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| The recent rally in the financial markets has been remarkable not only for its magnitude but also its genesis. Signs that the US economy will... |
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Strong, powerful and durable
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| 21 October 2011 |
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| “Strong, powerful and durable”. Only an optimist would describe the euro as such – particularly the latter characteristic -... |
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A triumph of hope over expectation?
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| 14 October 2011 |
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| Samuel Johnson declared that a second marriage was a triumph of hope over expectation. The same might be said of the financial markets'... |
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In the mood
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| 07 October 2011 |
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| Glen Miller's version of “In the Mood” was recorded in 1939, when the US economy was struggling to recover from the premature... |
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| September |
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A familiar bubble in China
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| 30 September 2011 |
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| September has come to an end and here in the UK we have the unusual pleasure of basking in glorious sunshine. Unfortunately this is no pathetic... |
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Warm words
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| 23 September 2011 |
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| UK Prime Minister David Cameron warned on Thursday night that the global economy is close to “staring down the barrel” and berated... |
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Can it be all so simple?
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| 16 September 2011 |
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| Just when it seemed the market was heading for armageddon along came Trichet and his friends to save the day. The sober ECB head makes an unlikely... |
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It's just not enough
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| 09 September 2011 |
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| Here in the UK we have become accustomed to spin from politicians. New Labour were past masters at using the media to gauge and manipulate public... |
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Get ready for action
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| 02 September 2011 |
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| Predictions of US relative decline are now so common that a whole sub-genre of geopolitics literature has emerged.. Titles such as “When... |
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| August |
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A policy maker's predicament
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| 26 August 2011 |
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| The US state of Wyoming is better known for its spectacular landscape rather than its economic influence. But today the bucolic valley of Jackson... |
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Uncertain times
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| 19 August 2011 |
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| Focus has shifted from Merkel-Sarkozy to European banks and a stagnating US economy, prompting renewed volatility. |
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Shut up and listen
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| 12 August 2011 |
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| It was a volatile week all the way around. Everyone needs time to reassess. Will the temporary ban on short selling aid that process? |
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“Move along, there’s nothing to see here"
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| 05 August 2011 |
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| “Move along, there's nothing to see here”. The old trope from comedy films was being deployed – in less funny ways – by... |
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| July |
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A northern front?
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| 29 July 2011 |
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| Month-end trading sessions in the credit markets are typically prosaic affairs. A month-end that falls on a Friday in mid-summer, in particular,... |
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Is this time different?
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| 22 July 2011 |
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| “This Time is Different”, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff's history of financial crises, posited that investors often dismiss the... |
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Waiting for grades
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| 15 July 2011 |
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| European financial and sovereign spreads move wider ahead of stress test results for European banks. |
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Italy in the firing line
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| 08 July 2011 |
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| If participants in the credit markets were hoping this week for a respite from the recent volatility then they would have been disappointed. Today'... |
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Can we forget about Greece?
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| 01 July 2011 |
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| The second-half of the year started on a subdued note ahead of a holiday-extended weekend in the US. Flows were reported by traders to be very quie... |
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| June |
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Sino-Hellenic relations
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| 24 June 2011 |
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| China and Greece can boast that they possessed two of the ancient world's most advanced civilisations. Indeed, the “east”, led by China... |
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"A superficial alliance"
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| 17 June 2011 |
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| Jacque Delors, the former European Commissioner, called the relationship between Angela Merkel and Nicholas Sarkozy a “superficial alliance&r... |
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The "thin line"
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| 10 June 2011 |
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| When there is an information vacuum in Europe it seems that it invariably gets filled by news on the sovereign debt crisis. This week was a typical... |
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Flattening Greece
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| 03 June 2011 |
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| For a week interrupted by several holidays – Monday in the US and UK, Thursday (Ascension Day) in most of Europe – there was an unusual... |
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| May |
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No point resisting
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| 27 May 2011 |
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| It was noted last week just how resilient credit had been in the face of renewed volatility in sovereigns. The Markit iTraxx Europe index had been... |
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Off the table?
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| 24 May 2011 |
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| After a week of intense speculation about Greek sovereign debt restructuring, Markit Credit Wrap discusses the implications for Greek sovereign CDS... |
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Don’t mention solvency
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| 13 May 2011 |
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| Greece, Ireland and Portugal only have liquidity, not solvency problems at the current time. Such a statement would
probably be met with derisive laughter by most mark... |
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Move over credit
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| 06 May 2011 |
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| Credit has been used to hogging the headlines over the last few years. The beginnings of the sub-prime meltdown,
Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy and the ongoing sovereign... |
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| April |
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A Perfect Dry Spell
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| 29 April 2011 |
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| Rather than a ‘perfect storm’, it was a ‘perfect dry spell’ and risky assets rallied. Short credit investors seemed to be caught flat footed. |
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Holiday rumours
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| 21 April 2011 |
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| It was a relatively muted end to a holiday shortened week. European credit underperformed equity as mounting concerns over peripheral sovereigns offset gains from soli... |
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What's in a euphemism?
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| 15 April 2011 |
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| If these conditions aren’t met, then “further measures” must be taken. It sounds like a euphemism for an assassination taken from a bad thriller. |
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Dam Straight
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| 08 April 2011 |
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| Events this past week provided a lot of clarity on some major issues particularly around the issue of haircuts for senior bondholders and Portugal’s fate regarding a b... |
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Markit Sovereign Report Q1 2011: A New World Order?
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| 04 April 2011 |
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| A changing of the guard. A global realignment. A new world order. Just a few of the hackneyed phrases used to
describe the shift in power from the developed world to e... |
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A relief rally
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| 01 April 2011 |
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| Risky assets are ending the week and starting the second-quarter on a high, helped by strong economic data and a positive reaction to Ireland’s bank stress tests. |
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| March |
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Muddling through
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| 25 March 2011 |
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| It was a quiet end to what was billed as a potentially momentous week. The two-day EU summit that began yesterday has now concluded, and the “grand deal” that was expe... |
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Markit Update: Markit CDX NA HY Index Roll
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| 23 March 2011 |
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| The final membership of the new Markit CDX NA HY index will be announced this week. The following report outlines the changes and provides some colour on the constitue... |
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Delivering on promises
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| 18 March 2011 |
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| Typically, the week before a CDS index roll used to be a relatively quiet affair. Activity was dominated by position adjustment; technical factors would normally trump... |
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Markit iTraxx Europe Index rolls: An update
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| 17 March 2011 |
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| The final membership of the new Markit iTraxx indices, scheduled to roll on 21 March 2011, as announced this week. |
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Markit Update: Markit CDX NA IG, HVOL and EM index rolls
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| 17 March 2011 |
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| The final membership of the new Markit CDX NA IG, HVOL and EM indices was announced this week. The following report outlines the changes and provides some colour on th... |
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Peak risk
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| 11 March 2011 |
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| Participants in the financial markets already had their hands full before this morning’s massive earthquake in Japan. |
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Conflicting forces
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| 04 March 2011 |
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| Two conflicting forces have been vying for influence over the credit markets this week. Oil, the cause of several recessions during the last 40 years, has had a signif... |
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| February |
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Economics trumps politics
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| 03 February 2012 |
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| In the credit markets we have become used to politics driving sentiment. Understanding the intricate, sometimes baffling policy machinations of... |
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MENA liquidity special
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| 25 February 2011 |
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| The popular uprisings of 2011 in North Africa and the Middle East have been compared with revolutions in 1989, 1979, 1968 and even 1848. |
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The traditional bugbears
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| 18 February 2011 |
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| The G20 meets today in Paris, and it is no secret what is top of their agenda. French President Nicholas Sarkozy has made it quite clear that he intends to tackle the... |
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Inherent uncertainy
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| 11 February 2011 |
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| Daniel Defoe once said that “credit makes war, and makes peace”. He was writing in 1725 about the new methods of financing that were allowing Britain and the Netherlan... |
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Inherent uncertainy
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| 10 February 2011 |
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| Daniel Defoe once said that “credit makes war, and makes peace”. He was writing in 1725 about the new methods of financing that were allowing Britain and the Netherlan... |
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Awaiting clarification
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| 04 February 2011 |
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| The week’s newspapers were, rightly, dominated by one major story: revolution. The anti-government protests in Egypt have had a resonance internationally that has surp... |
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| January |
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The last line of defence
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| 27 January 2012 |
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| A US economy on the up; a Chinese government ready to boost growth if necessary; even tentative signs of progress in tackling the eurozone's debt... |
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Plenty to chew on
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| 20 January 2012 |
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| A subdued end to what has been a busy week in the markets. Greek private sector involvement, eurozone bond auctions, IMF interventions, US... |
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Unlucky for some
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| 13 January 2012 |
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| We all know that markets are perfectly efficient and superstitious nonsense such as Friday 13th isn't countenanced by rational participants. But... |
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It’s the politics, stupid
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| 28 January 2011 |
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| Mention the word “contagion” to people in the credit markets and most of them will immediately think of the eurozone debt crisis, Greece, Ireland and the rest. |
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Balls livens things up
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| 21 January 2011 |
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| Those of us in the UK woke up to news of Alan Johnson resigning as shadow chancellor and Ed Balls taking his place. |
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Great expectations
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| 14 January 2011 |
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| “Don’t get your hopes up” is an admonishment familiar to many an excitable child and weary parent. Unrealistic expectations have a nasty habit of getting shattered. |
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Confidence and supply
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| 07 January 2011 |
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| The first week of January is often a positive one for risky assets as investors return from their holidays. Indeed, that pattern looked like it was going to be repeate... |
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