The Center Cannot Hold
by ilene - May 8th, 2010 12:18 pm
The Center Cannot Hold
Courtesy of John Mauldin, Thoughts from the Frontline
The Risks from Fiscal Imbalances
The Challenge for Central Banks
Bang, Indeed!
The Center Cannot Hold
A Decent Employment Report
Montreal and New York and Italy
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
- William Butler Yeats
Last week we focused on the first half of a paper by the Bank of International Settlements, discussing what they characterized as the need for "Drastic measures … to check the rapid growth of current and future liabilities of governments and reduce their adverse consequences for long-term growth and monetary stability." As I noted, you don’t often see the term drastic measures in a staid economic paper from the BIS. This week we will look at the conclusion of that paper, and then turn our discussion to the fallout from the problems they discuss, initially in Europe but coming soon to a country near you.
But first, what a week in the markets! I’m sure more than a few investors felt like they had a severe case of whiplash. We will discuss the volatility a little more below.
First, a very quick three-paragraph commercial. In the current market environment, there are managers who have not done well and then there are money managers who have done very well. My partners around the world would be happy to show you some of the managers they have on their platforms that we think are appropriate for the current environment. If you are an accredited investor (basically a net worth over $1.5 million) and would like to look at hedge-fund and other alternative-fund managers (such as commodity traders) I suggest you go to www.accreditedinvestor.ws and sign up; and someone from Altegris Investments in La Jolla will call you if you are a US citizen. Or you’ll get a call from Absolute Return Partners in London if you are in Europe (they also work with non-accredited investors). If you are in South Africa, then someone from Plexus Asset Management will ring.…