WSJ: A Replacement for Libor Gains Traction

By SIMON CONSTABLE

A benchmark borrowing cost known as the secured overnight financing rate, or SOFR, is gaining traction as a replacement for the better known but sullied Libor as the rate underpinning a range of global debt instruments. Read more here.

Avsankur©, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Barron's: Italian Bonds Are Cheap — but for Risk Takers Only

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Italy’s political circus is sending local bond prices tumbling and yields higher. But the country’s real economic risk also offers a contrarian opportunity to buy long-dated Italian bonds at discounted prices.

“If you think the current political situation gets resolved, then Italian bonds offer really good returns,” says Ihab Salib, head of international fixed income at money-management firm Federated Investors. He concedes that this isn’t a consensus opinion. Read more here.

John Batchelor Show: The Euro, Brexit etc.

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Photo by Maryna Yazbeck on Unsplash

Forbes: Why Investors Should Expect Gold To Jump

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Gold traders are now extremely bearish on the price of gold bullion.

It's a sign that the price of the yellow metal will likely jump. Read more here.

Forbes: Blame The Banks For Low Productivity Growth

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Economists have long wondered why productivity growth slowed over the past few decades. But now there could be an answer.

The banks did it, at least according to the conclusion of a recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

What's more, the authors have a stark warning about the reliance on finance for economic growth. Read more here.

Forbes: Will Venezuela Get The Government It Needs?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Earlier in September the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, joined a group of people on the street who were protesting the President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro.

“We need your voices to be loud, and I will tell you going to tell you the United States voice is going to be very loud,” Haley said.

Her words raise the chances that Venezuela's rotten regime may bite the dust, which has the potential to be great for the downtrodden people of that country and also for investors. Read more here.

Nicolas Maduro

Photo by Eneas De Troya,

CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>,

via Wikimedia Commons

Barron's: The Euro Is Due for a Rebound

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The euro looks set to bounce.

The rebound will come once investors perceive that the European Central Bank is becoming more assertive in managing the common currency area’s monetary policy.

“It’s not yet priced into the financial markets,” says Axel Merk, founder and chief investment officer of money management firm Merk Investments. Read more here.