10-21-2016, 10:58 PM
The International Monetary Fund may have gotten things about right in its annual Global Financial Stability Report, which was issued in October. It doesn’t sound an alarm but expresses concern. Short-term risks have actually abated, the IMF says, pointing to rebounding commodity prices, which help some key emerging markets, and the prospect of easier money in developed markets. But, it says, “medium-term risks continue to build.” It cites the unsettled political climate, which makes entrenched problems harder to tackle; some weak financial institutions in developed markets; and heavy corporate debts in emerging markets.
Where the Next Crisis Will Come From - Bloomberg
Some big percentage of voters will be disappointed with what the new president can achieve next year. But a larger percentage of investors may be even more dissatisfied with their financial advisers. A recent study from Natixis Global Asset Management shows that investor expectations about the total return they can squeeze from a portfolio remain sky high compared with what advisers believe is achievable. That means the coming year could be a tough one unless investors choke down a hard dose of reality.
You are probably way too optimistic about your investment returns - MarketWatch
Recently, many observers have been drawing parallels between China today and Japan in the late 1980s – just before its "lost decade", where the country experienced 10 years of secular stagnation. Indeed, the macroeconomic commonalities seem too great to be ignored: both had high saving and investment rates, along with a rapid accumulation of external wealth that funded purchases of prime assets around the world. "Bridges leading to nowhere" is often used to describe both countries' investment bonanzas.
No, China is not the ‘next Japan’
A mixed bag of Chinese economic data this week has unnerved global markets and clouded the outlook for China’s economic growth, days before the release of the country’s quarterly gross domestic product figures.
Conflicting Data Blurs China's Economic Outlook
The leading national contender to go gasoline- and diesel-free is Norway, where plug-in hybrids and all-electric are taking over the new car market the most rapidly. This year, a remarkable one in three new passenger cars sold in Norway was electric... What’s even more remarkable about this is that Norway is of the largest producer of petroleum in Europe. Fossil fuels comprise 45 percent of Norway’s exports and 20 percent of its GDP. As Fortune puts it, Norway’s plan is “the geopolitical equivalent of a drug dealer that refuses to touch their own product.”
Which will be the first country to ban fuel-burning cars: Norway, Germany, India?