Blog Posts

This article was published on July 18, 2019 In interest rate swap contracts, traders betting on rates declining will do what’s called “receiving” – or receive the fixed rate while paying the floating rate. Those who bet on interest rates rising will “pay” – pay the fixed rate and receive the floating rate. Central banks […]

This article was published on July 16, 2019 Markets are sensitive to bank problems, given the scenario that transpired in 2008. Deutsche Bank is currently shaking up its operations, one of the largest bank restructurings since the financial crisis. So, there are all the natural questions that would emanate from the Deutsche scenario: 1) Will […]

Inflation is one of the main overarching fundamental drivers of asset prices (the other being economic growth). Both central bankers and macro-oriented traders tend to have an obsession with inflation and its forecasting. Inflation and inflation expectations feed into interest rates, which are the bedrock of finance and how financial asset prices are valued through […]

Published on June 25, 2019 On 18 June Facebook announced it will be launching an innovative global currency named Libra to mixed reactions from news sites and financial experts across the world. In the UK, the Bank of England has issued a cautious but positive welcome to the move, although Mark Carney, Governor of the […]

This article was published on June 17, 2019 US markets have been battered with multiple pieces of bad news over the last few weeks with indicators pointing to possible recessions, or at least a significant slowdown in the rate of economic growth across the globe. Many have pointed the finger at President Trump’s increasingly harsh […]

This article was published on June 13, 2019 As President Trump once again unexpectedly announced tariffs on the United States’ biggest trade partner, the American economy is beginning to show signs of serious damage from the fallout of his demands. New figures from the US Department of Labour show that the ongoing trade war between […]

This article was published on June 6, 2019 Neil Woodford is one of the most famous stock pickers in the UK, and his flagship Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF) managed £10.2bn at its peak. But it’s fair to say that Woodford is going through a bit of a dark time at the moment. At the […]

With fundamental change occurring across many industries like oil, gas, retail and tobacco, driven by changing consumer attitudes and newer technologies, many are calling this the age of disruption. Many big, publicly traded companies are being impacted by that, and the common feature is that they are the ones being disrupted, not the ones causing […]

This article was published on May 22, 2019 The online marketplace superpower Amazon has this week announced a huge investment in the food delivery service Deliveroo in a move that is expected to significantly boost the company’s cash flow for the next year. While the exact figure has not been given, reports suggest that Amazon […]

The recent listing of Jumia, an African based e-commerce giant on the New York Stock Exchange has caused ripples among traders around the world. On one hand, Jumia, a company often dubbed “the Amazon of Africa’ is only a recent start-up. On the other, the company has been a darling of investors who are looking […]