Markets

Yesterday, oil fell the most in one day since the start of the Gulf War in January 1991 to close at $136.03 in New York trading. Now is the time to evaluate whether we have seen the top in oil prices? On Thursday in my post "Oil close to…

Zeitenwende, a German-language blog from Switzerland I subscribe to made a very good point this past holiday weekend after the Dow reached bear territory. U.S. investors had lost 20% on the Dow, but European investors would have lost much…

We have lost one of the greatest stock pickers of all time. John Templeton passed away today.Global investor and philanthropist John Templeton has died at a hospital in the Bahamas. Spokesman Don Lehr said Templeton died Tuesday from…

One cannot expect double digit returns from the U.S. market over the medium term as there are significant headwinds impeding that from high P/E ratios, reversion to the mean, consumer price inflation, credit deflation, high debt, to a…

When the Economist warned in 2005 that residential property prices were in bubble territory in many national markets, South Africa led the list by far with an eight-year price appreciation of 244%. Now it seems that bubble has popped…

Here are some charts from the latest issue of Barron's. They have a readable article on bear markets (for those of you subscribed to it) as the Dow was down over 20% last week. That's supposed to mark the beginning of a bear market as the…

The tenor was downbeat at a panel put together by Pensions and Investments online that included well-known Boson-based investor Jeremy Grantham. Grantham is on record as being a sceptic of the current investment climate and sees the rally…

In the Wall Street Journal today, Ted Forstmann, of LBO giant Forstmann and Little fame, has warned that the credit crisis is far from over. Forstmann, who presciently called the bubble in High Yield ad LBO financing twenty years ago, is a…

No one is paying a whole lot of attention to Australia right now because of the massive busts in the US, the UK, Spain and Ireland. But, Australia has had a property boom as well. And this boom looks like it's coming to an end.IN further…

Oil tightened its squeeze on world economies today soaring to a new high of over $145 a barrel. Eurozone growth is also expected to take a further hit at lunchtime when the European Central Bank is expected to raise rates to curb…