1. Two Ton Teslas do not save the planet

    Published: Fri 01 October 2021
    Updated: Tue 22 November 2022
    By steve

    In Markets.

    1 Oct

    EVs are the lard arses of the road

    319c459460ed8102701a3f2ded7f7dee.png Most EVs weigh in excess of two tonnes. In comparison, the kerb weight of the old Renault 4 (admittedly, a flimsy car) could be as low at 600kg, 30% of the EV’s weight. It doesn’t make sense to …

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  2. Will the Old Lady tip the UK into recession?

    Published: Thu 30 September 2021
    Updated: Tue 22 November 2022
    By steve

    In Markets.

    30 Sept

    GBP.USD

    The pound has been cratering lately. The current account is terrible (?GBP 110 B, ~ 5% of GDP), the budget deficit is worse (14% of GDP). The UK is not the US: it’s currency is not a reserve currency, it doesn’t export any oil, or …

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  3. Priced for perfection, poised for panic

    Published: Wed 29 September 2021
    Updated: Tue 22 November 2022
    By steve

    In Markets.

    29 Sep

    Markets position

    The US equity markets are mostly at or near all time highs. The SPX P/E ratio is around 31, according to something I read, although measuring this is probably tricky as headline earnings are almost never GAAP now, but “adjusted.” It seems hard to believe …

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  4. Not so transparent

    Published: Mon 27 September 2021
    Updated: Tue 22 November 2022
    By steve

    In Markets.

    27 Sept

    Transparency International and the UK

    Transparency International maintains a league table of corruption. It’s the the sort of league table one doesn’t want one’s home country to be at the top of. To be fair, there are many countries which are less transparent than the …

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  5. How to live without working

    Published: Fri 24 September 2021
    Updated: Tue 22 November 2022
    By steve

    In Markets.

    24 Sept

    Living without working

    This article runs through a number of explanations of how 30MM US American men can live without being in the formal workforce. There is nothing very extraordinary about the ways: basically, the black economy is probably bigger than you think, and quite a few people …

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  6. Money, money everywhere, but nowhere a cent to loan

    Published: Thu 23 September 2021
    Updated: Tue 22 November 2022
    By steve

    In Markets.

    23 Sept

    Collapse in US lending

    Various reflation skeptics, such as Lacy Hunt, Harley Bassman, Jeff Snider have been saying that inflation is going to crater. As I blogged a while ago, the increasing inequality in the US and elsewhere has caused the propensity to spend to plummet. In my …

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  7. Does macro matter any more?

    Published: Wed 22 September 2021
    Updated: Tue 22 November 2022
    By steve

    In Markets.

    22 Sept

    Macro matters, or does it?

    When I was a kid, Dominick Harrod would have a slot on the six o’clock BBC news explaining the latest twists of the economy. He dutifully reported the latest trade figures, always pointing out how important “invisibles” were to offsetting some of …

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  8. MREITs

    Published: Tue 21 September 2021
    Updated: Tue 22 November 2022
    By steve

    In Markets.

    21 Sept 2021

    MREITs

    Harvey Bassman has written a nice short tutorial on how mortgage REITs work. You can read it here (pdf). He focusses on the non-linear response of the value of the security to interest rates. These things are pretty high risk, but if you think that short …

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  9. Evergrande drags down global markets

    Published: Mon 20 September 2021
    Updated: Tue 22 November 2022
    By steve

    In Markets.

    20 Sept 2021

    Evergrande

    Well, there is rarely just a single company that has found a way to inflate assets and lighten liabilities. The big question on everyone’s lips is whether is it the new Lehman or just a freak outlier. (Or, if it is the new Lehman Brothers …

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