by Markus

How useful is financial engineering for economic development? Quants were the kings of the kings during the last business cycle, running the hottest story in town. A PhD in Mathematics with no what-so-ever market background was paid stellar money for number crunching to achieve decimal place performance optimization. An analysis.

by Gregory

My name is Gregory Gadzinski and 3 months ago, at the Melange Team request, I had the duty and extraordinary challenge to come up with a weekly wrap; and when you owe someone something you pay it back (hat tip Edward Liddy). So, here is another edition of weekly wrap dominated by AIG and the [...]

by James

Volatility rebounded during what could easily have been a quieter time last week. Absent major drivers, the markets continued to price in the economic impacts of a total credit freeze. Global equities are beginning to reflect a significant downturn, and prices are beginning to look attractive, short-term risks not withstanding. The S&P 500 lost 6.2% [...]

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 Gregory

According to the latest quarterly data, the European economy is closer to recession than the US. Moreover, the OECD raised its annual forecast for U.S. growth from one it had published in June, to 1.8 percent from 1.2 percent, while it cut a previous prediction for the euro area to 1.3 percent from 1.7 percent. [...]

by James

US equities closed the week almost flat (S&P 500 up 0.15%) last week. They remained volatile on low volumes, and held within their trading path of the previous week. A couple of notable down days did not break the rally. S&P 500 Index – Trading Range Holds This relative flat performance came in contrast to [...]

by James

Investment professionals are so far better able to relax this August than they were last year. It was certainly a volatile first full week of the month, with the S&P 500 trading in a 4% range, but so far the direction is benign, and a series of higher lows is a bullish indication (see chart). [...]

by James

What a day on the market. While the MM Team found the four plus hours of Congressional hearings exceptionally dull, the market danced to a different tune. Equities took a pummelling at the start and fought there way back, only to get slapped down again at the end. I am surprised that the market didn’t [...]