Forbes: Why Is The Gig Economy Portrayed So Badly?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Why is the press coverage of the gig economy so negative when the people living the gig-life overwhelmingly seem to love it?

It's a strange phenomenon because the two things just don't seem to fit. Read more here.

WSJ: Doctors Turn to Poetry to Relieve Stress

By SIMON CONSTABLE

What is a good gift for a freshly minted physician? In Scotland, it is a book of poetry.

Each year, the 900 or so graduating medical students in Scotland receive a free copy of a poetry book titled “Tools of the Trade: Poems for New Doctors.” It’s a pocket-size book with fewer than 100 pages, so doctors can easily carry it while on duty. Read more here.

NewsMax TV: Are We In A Bubble

By SIMON CONSTABLE


Watch here.

Barron's: Venezuelan Free Fall Would Give Oil a Pop

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Investors in the oil market should keep a keen eye on Venezuela. an upcoming election and the prospect of U.S. sanctions will likely send the country’s wounded energy sector into a tailspin, at least temporarily. It could happen before the summer. And when it does, expect oil prices to jump by up to $10 a barrel.

“Venezuela is headed down, falling off a cliff,” says Victor Sperandeo, chief executive and general partner EAM Partners, a commodity trading advisory firm. “The place will go into chaos and won’t be able to pump oil.”

Such a move could push prices for Brent crude to as much as $75 a barrel from roughly $65 a barrel. Read more here.

Photo by David Thielen on Unsplash

Barron's: Milk Prices Could Head Higher

By SIMON CONSTABLE

After years of decline, milk prices look ready to rally. More frigid winters, lower production in some parts of the world, and more Chinese demand will lead to higher prices.

“People are starting to see that milk isn’t as available as they thought it would be,” says Shawn Hackett, of Hackett Financial Advisors. He sees prices soaring as high as $20 per hundredweight within a year, up from Friday’s closing price of $14.34 for May-dated Class III milk contracts on the CME. Some of this increase is likely to show up in higher milk prices at your neighborhood grocery store. (A hundredweight of milk, depending on whether it’s whole or reduced-fat or skim, is roughly equal to 11.5 gallons.) Read more here.

Photo by Mehrshad Rajabi on Unsplash

John Batchelor Show: The Exotic Risk Parity Trade Inside the Market Turbulence

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Forbes: How Trillions In Risk-Parity/Volatility Trades Could Sink The Market

By SIMON CONSTABLE

There's a problem lurking in the stock market known as the "risk-parity" trade.

The strategy, which involves investors switching between different assets based on changes in market volatility, has now grown so big that it threatens to sink the market.

How big? Some estimates peg the amount of money pursuing this type of strategy at as high as half a trillion dollars. Trades designed to profit from changes in volatility, which are inextricably linked to risk-parity, add as much as a further $2 trillion.

The issue is not the strategy itself, it is when investors decide that it is no longer useful and decide to exit their positions. In other words, when all at once they dump their positions the market will likely tank.

Here's what you need to know.