by Markus

Abu Dhabi leads the race of building the world´s first CO2 neutral city: Construction began in 2008, and just two years later, the first buildings are scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2010. The city will be home to international corporations and leading minds in the field of sustainability and renewable energy. A [...]

by James

The Russian equity market has soared a remarkable 100 percent since January. At the same time, investors may have noticed a curious silence from the nation’s once-raucous investment management community. Considering how the RTS Index fell in 2008, this newfound discretion is welcome. What is the outlook for the market for the remainder of the [...]

by James

This is our ninth Outlook & Review of the year, and the seventh time this year that we have reported a week of falling equities. To be frank, the misery is getting infectious and it is becoming hard not to sound monotonous. Last week the S&P 500 lost 7.0%. But, let’s start the week on [...]

by James

This week we again visit several of the indicators that we have been tracking to understand the progress of the global economy. The signs are very mixed, and the overall forward visibility has not improved. But, there are still some tentative signs of hope. At the global level, there are hopes that we have stabilised, [...]

by James

It is some months since my strategy on Russia switched defensive in the summer. That decision was made easy thanks to a range of domestic factors. If the attack on Mechel wasn’t warning enough (coming on the back of an aggressive campaign against TNK-BP), the war in Georgia certainly was. Leaving aside feelings and opinions [...]

by James

The near 20% bull market of recent days not withstanding, equity markets are down around the globe, reflecting a financial market shock the likes of which has rarely been seen. Economies are reeling in response, meriting further nervousness about equity market perspectives. On many ratios, equities look cheap, but the prospect of a global recession [...]

by James

Financial markets remained in a state of heightened volatility throughout the last week of October, but showed reassuring improvement from earlier weeks. During the month, the S&P 500 lost 16.9% and oil lost 32.6%, while the dollar gained 6.8% against the broad basket. Financial actions to prop up banks and restore liquidity – both within [...]

by James

Over the last week, I have been travelling – to London and Monaco – to meet with investors and commentators to discuss the ongoing crises, both global and local. This post summarises my experiences and thoughts. Summary > Global financial community is in shock. > Central Banks have done most of what is needed, now [...]