“I do not believe that the ECB has hit the effective lower bound on policy rates.” & Christine Lagarde, 1956 – present, incoming president of the ECB “It will not be long before the spread of negative interest rates reaches the U.S.” & Alan Greenspan, 1926 – present, former chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987-2006 Will Interest Rate Cuts Be Enough to Forestall a Recession? In his widely… Read More
July 2019: Caught Between a Trade War and Interest Rate Cuts
“In other words, … an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So, I think that is a valid way to think about policy in this era.” & Jerome Powell, 1953 – present, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Caught Between a Trade War and Interest Rate Cuts As one of the world’s greatest military leaders and governor of the Roman province of Gaul (modern-day France and Belgium),… Read More
April 2019: Fed’s Policy Pivot Triggers a Global Snap-back Rally
“The stock market has predicted nine out of the last five recessions!” & Paul A. Samuelson, 1915 – 2009, first American to win the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences Fed’s Policy Pivot Triggers a Global Snap-back Rally Originally written in response to the popular desire for ghost stories around Christmastime, Scottish author R. L. Stevenson’s popular novella “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was an immediate success in both… Read More
January 2019: Change Is the Investor’s Only Constant
“Far more money has been lost by investors trying to anticipate corrections, than has been lost in the corrections themselves.” & Peter Lynch, 1944 – present, legendary manager of the Fidelity Magellan fund Change Is the Investor’s Only Constant The pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 535 BC) was known to his contemporaries as the philosopher of eternal change. While very little of his work has been preserved… Read More