Forbes Russia: Time to Bet on Putin

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Санкции против Ирана, который скоро будут введены, а также невысокие котировки будут способствовать повышению стоимости акций российских компаний в краткосрочной перспективе. Хотя это ралли может продлиться недолго, там тем не менее существует возможность получить некоторое количество легких денег.

Read more here.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Barron's: It’s Time to Bet on British Stocks — Even With Brexit Looming

By SIMON CONSTABLE

It’s an opportune time to bet on British stocks.

The country’s economy is strong, stocks are inexpensive relative to those in the U.S., and when the Brexit drama passes, the pound sterling should rise.

Investors playing a likely rally should purchase the iShares FTSE 250 exchange-traded fund (ticker: MIDD.UK). Read more here.

Forbes: Time To Bet On Putin?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Love him or hate him, now might be the time to place a bet on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Not exactly him, but rather the Russian stock market. Read more here.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

SFS: Borrowing and Business -- What You Don't Know Can Hurt Your Finances

By SIMON CONSTABLE

So, you’re feeling confident enough about your business to go shopping for a loan. 

Congratulations! But before you start looking you should understand these five important areas impacting loans, beginning with the difference between interest rates and APR. Read more here.

Korn Ferry: Has Brexit Hit the Disaster-Prepping Phase?

The EU and UK split-up is still not until the end of next March, but the warnings have already begun--with the British government preparing citizens for a world with no agreement or regulations set between its own country and Europe. Indeed, one memo sounds very much like a disaster-prep, suggesting companies stockpiling goods and products. Read more here.

Barron's: Bayer Battling Back Against Legal Woes

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Shares of struggling German health-care and chemical giant Bayer revived a bit on Thursday as the company got at least a temporary reprieve from a huge jury award that held its weed killer Roundup liable for a plaintiff’s cancer.

There is likely to be more positive news for long-term investors, as this and related cases against Roundup proceed through the court system. Read more here.

Daniel Case, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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.

Forbes: Jeremy Corbyn A Bigger Threat To London Than Brexit

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Move over Brexit, the biggest threat to London's status as Europe's leading financial center is now Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Britain's increasingly left-leaning Labour Party. Read more here.

Jeremy Corbyn

Photo by David Martyn Hunt from Warwick, UK,

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

via Wikimedia Commons

Korn Ferry: The United Nations’ Entourage

They descend each fall into New York City, ambassadors and consuls attending the annual United Nations General Assembly. And as they give speeches and make headlines, each dignitary comes along with a retinue of diplomats, helpers, and hangers-on—a little noticed but key entourage. Read more here.

Forbes: Why The Mid-term Elections Means Stocks Will Surge

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Smart investors should consider buying stocks now.

The reason is that the market usually does far better in the fourth quarter (October through December) in years when there is a midterm election than when there is not one, new research shows.  Read more here.

Barron's: Turkish Stocks Might Be Ready for A Bounce -- If You Hurry

By SIMON CONSTABLE

There’s potential for some trading profits in Turkey.

 

So far this year Turkey’s stocks and currency have taken a hammering. But the recent stabilization of the Turkish lira may be paving the way for a bounce in stocks. “We think that the lira has fallen so much that it has gone from overvalued to undervalued and now is cheap from a fundamental perspective,” says Sergi Lanau, deputy chief economist at the Washington D.C.-based Institute of International Finance. 

Read more here.

Photo by Meg Jerrard on Unsplash

Korn Ferry: Do We Really Need To Meet Again?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

It sounds like something out of a Dilbert cartoon—having a meeting about a meeting—but it happens more often than many leaders want to admit, and this week it’s happening at the highest echelons of government.

Starting Wednesday, leaders in the European Union will be meeting in Austria to decide whether they should have another confab in mid-November. Blame the negotiations over Brexit, Britain’s exit from the EU bloc, for the sudden proliferation of such gatherings. This week’s effort will be an additional meeting to the already scheduled regular one for mid-October. The October date is considered too soon to expect any progress in the wrangling over how the EU and United Kingdom will interact with each other after the split. Read more here.

Korn Ferry: Beyond Theresa May

The talk is gettering louder—months after questions about Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May’s tenure first made news. Now, the opposition Labour Party claims it could come into power by year-end, forcing even skeptical UK executives to consider what that might mean to their business—particularly the HR side of it. Read more here.

Barron's: ObsEva -- A Small Biotech With a Promising Pipeline

By SIMON CONSTABLE

A small Swiss biotech company focused on women’s reproductive health has three promising treatments reaching key development stages in the next few months that could pay off for investors. Read more here.

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash