A long hot autumn?
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EVER since the end of the Balkan wars it has been traditional for analysts to depart for their holidays with the prediction that it is going to be a “long hot autumn” of political and especially social unrest. The strange thing is that this unres...
Who’s “buying” this rally?
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Assigning specific causes to stock market swings is always a mug’s game, and doubly so in summer when volumes have cratered — especially this year.Intuitively we know this....
All roads lead to a euro zone break-up
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For us all roads lead to a euro zone break-up and multiple sovereign defaults. Our reasoning can be summarized as follows: Equities are worthless when associated debt becomes encumbered (risk capital takes the first loss). Equity is not an a...
Volatility ETFs’ crazy churn
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Two volatility ETFs (VXX and UVXY) are having almost half of the trading volume in the world’s largest ETF (SPY). How come? First, the facts: SPY is heavily traded (19% of assets daily turnover) compared to IVV (also referring to the...
Is The Italian Elephant About To Break Loose Again?
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Market nervousness about Italy has been growing in recent weeks, with the Moody’s credit downgrade of the country being only one of the reasons. A bailout is clearly in the offing, with the only real questions being how and when. …...
Dodgy to amazing: where do Brussels communicators lie?
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I have helped to develop a framework for a client over the last few weeks that defines multiple phases of development in digital comms, broadly and in specific disciplines (e.g. content marketing, social media or search, for instance). The thinking i...
From Here to Austerity: Italy Responds to the Crisis
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The global financial crisis sparked off by the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market in the United States had dramatic effects in the Eurozone. However, initially the periphery countries did not seem to be affected any more than the stronger core...
Pussy Riot's crime was violating the sacred. That's what got Jesus in court | Giles Fraser
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The Russian punks invoked that young Palestinian woman who desired that the mighty be brought down and the lowly lifted upUsing swear words in church is an abuse of God," said the prosecutor, demanding three years jail for the punk band Pussy Riot fo...
On the fallacies of Otmar Issing and the need for a European political union
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Mr Otmar Issing is a prominent German economist. He was one of the architects of the euro, serving as a member of the European Central Bank's Executive Board. On July 29, 2012 he published an article on the Financial Times titled "Europe’s politica...
On the fallacies of Otmar Issing and the need for a European political union
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Mr Otmar Issing is a prominent German economist. He was one of the architects of the euro, serving as a member of the European Central Bank's Executive Board. On July 29, 2012 he published an article on the Financial Times titled "Europe’s politica...
Still waiting on looser lending standards (for mortgages)
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In our preview of the last FOMC meeting, in discussing the possibility of mortgage-backed securities included in any further asset purchases, we noted the low net supply of MBS...
One Court, Two Rulings in TNK-BP Saga
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In the latest ruling, the judge said BP hadn't provided sufficient evidence to determine decisions taken by TNK-BP's board of directors.
A Return to their Natural State
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French State Run Broadcaster Delights that they Can Once Again be Irrationally Abusive to an American Political FigureThe francophone branch of France 24 has taken to some rather 2002-esque looking criticism of America, now that Mitt Romney is in Fre...
Sports Magazines For That Sports activities Fans
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Sporting activities writing in devoted sports magazines provides reports on activities such as contests and also competitive events as well as related sports activities news. There are several sports activities publications which were mocked as well...
The Not-So Friendly Skies: Virgin Atlantic v Contour et al (Part II)
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Infringement of 908 The Solar Eclipse headrest With claim construction out of the way, the Judge took a quick trot through the infringement claims. Virgin's main claim was that the requirement for a triangular passenger support element was me...
The Not-So Friendly Skies: Virgin Atlantic v Contour et al (Part I)
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Mr Justice Floyd - the latest of the High Court judges to see the "flat-bed" wars Never one of the lucky travellers to enjoy a flatbed experience on her airplane journeys, the AmeriKat was eagerly awaiting Mr. Justice Floyd's decision in...
Hammer but no Horror: a personal view of the Olympics
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The IPKat has written at length about the Olympic Games (see eg posts here, here, here, here and here) -- but he has been too busy meditating about the event's many economic and legal ramifications to tear himself away from his secret thoughts and ac...
Europe’s Week Ahead: Euro-Zone GDP and Carlsberg
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French, German and euro-zone GDP figures are expected to show that while the German economy grew slightly in the second quarter, the euro zone contracted. Brewers Carlsberg and buildings materials group CRH report earnings. Paul Hannon and Andrea Try...
EUHQ to issue press releases in erotic verse
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The 'Monster is no alien to attempts to depict the EU village through the prosodic arts. Previous efforts by BM and readers have managed, variously through sonnets, haikus and limericks, to sneer poetically at our political masters and mist...
Jumpkick their football clubs
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Post-debut, at pixel time Manchester United shares were clinging to the $14 listing price like the Glazers to Old Trafford. (The stock was $14.06 as we went to pub.)Remember the debt,...
Brussels blog round up for 4 – 10 August: A bad week for Monti, poverty in Poland, and a German referendum on Eurobonds?
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Chris Gilson and Stuart A Brown take a look at the week in Brussels blogging. The EU Centre Stephen Tindale at the Centre for European Reform discusses Iceland’s potential accession to the EU. Although there is some broad support for Iceland’s...
Growing Institutions? Grow the People!
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The current crisis in the eurozone also highlights the importance of coherent economic and political institutions at all levels of economic development. Weaknesses in national macroeconomic and statistical institutions in supposedly “advanced” co...
State of the European migration policy
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In 2011, around 2000 migrants died en route to Europe despite the Commission’s stated goal of ensuring the ”fundamental rights” of migrants. By Martin Lemberg Pedersen, Ph.d., External lecturer, University of Copenhagen In May the Commission pu...
Investors capitulate, investing in bonds while Europe takes a nap
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It’s a trend of late. Beaten up investors struggle to cope with the unique brand of uncertainty that has come with a financial crisis and a sovereign debt crisis. They twitch...
