If we recall the middle of 2009, one of the hottest debates among traders and economists was revolving around the subject of US economy experiencing inflationary or deflationary pressure. Many experts expected that, following the unprecedented central banks’ expansionary money supply policies, the G7 countries would witness a rapid increase in the level of prices. Exactly like the first half of 2009, the US CPI during the 1H10 has hovered near the flat line. Moreover, the all-item inflation numbers shifted into negative territory when oil went through a price correction. The annualized core inflation rate from December 2009 to May 2010 stands at only 0.3%, the tamest five-month annualized rate since early 1960s. If things remain status quo, is US in danger of turning into a Japanese non-inflationary experience? Continue reading ‘Back To Safe Heaven’
Monthly Archive for July, 2010
The 2010 World Cup has a strong South American flavor. During the group-level stage, the five teams from that continent – Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, have won 76 percent of the total available points, whereas the thirteen teams from Europe have posted a 47 percent record. Not surprisingly, four out of five South American teams have qualified for the quarter-final stage, whereas three out of thirteen European teams have made it to the last eight. This is the best ever world cup record, where South Americans clearly dominated the Europeans. Continue reading ‘South America 4, Europe 3′
One-Year Anniversary
A year to the day, I took the dazzling initiative of setting up the “It Is What It Is” blog. First and foremost, all I intended was to share with my readers an unbiased and educated opinion about the complicated world of finance. Today I would like to walk through the main topics that I have addressed over the last twelve months. Where should I start? Maybe back in the summer of 2008, when I have been invited to the Romanian Diaspora Conference and where I presented my research paper “Financial Meltdown – Effect on CEE Credit Markets”. The conclusion of my work stated that Hungary, the Baltic countries and Romania are the most vulnerable economies to the global credit crunch. We all know what happened in the following months thereafter. Continue reading ‘One-Year Anniversary’