A number of important themes are emerging in the financial services sector, which in North America alone includes over 1,000 companies, and over $4.5 trillion of market capitalization. Macro risks remain, but we believe that over the next 24 months, several themes offer excellent investing opportunities. Here is a description of just three…
Insights: Europe
U.S. Fiscal Cliff Takes Centre Stage as Europe Recedes (for Now)
Throughout most of the year, the market has moved easily from “risk-on” to “risk-off”, almost exclusively due to changing circumstances/concerns out of Europe. As a result, the last two years have seen some tremendously volatile months, with large corrections being followed by large rallies.
Policy Makers vs. Markets (Again)
The market continued to move easily between “risk-on” and “risk-off” in July. Last month felt a lot like the past several months, i.e., it was characterized by weak economic data in the U.S. and continued evidence of a recession in Europe. As has been the case for much of the past two years, the European debt crisis continued to be the biggest driver of market volatility,…
Crunch Time for Europe
It is an understatement to say that the markets were very challenged in May. After a reprieve of several months, the European debt crisis re-emerged with a vengeance as the Greeks failed to form a coalition government after the May 6th election, throwing the country’s future in the eurozone into question. Equally troubling is that the crisis has spread from the peripheral countries to Spain, one of…
That Was Then, This is Now: Comparing the European Debt Crisis to the Credit Crisis (Globe and Mail)
Europe’s current sovereign debt crisis bears many similarities to the recent U.S. Credit Crisis. Both crises involve(d) two roughly $14 trillion dollar economies weakened under the weight of too much leverage, particularly within the financial system. Both have seen central bankers provide unprecedented monetary accommodation as they struggle for ways to support economic growth. What’s more, bank stocks have acted in both cases as a daily…