Author Archives: josh

China in one statistic

Posted on February 22, 2012 by josh

“60% of […] Chinese people with assets over 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) were either thinking about emigrating or taking steps to do so.”

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How to retire by forty OR NINETY

Posted on February 20, 2012 by josh

Well, yes, Melbourne Age, leveraging up 10:1 in a risky asset class will let you “retire by 40″ .. if prices go your way. If not, well… what’s this “retirement” thing you’re talking about? Is it like “bankruptcy”?

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Don’t look directly at it; it’ll burn your retinas

Posted on February 15, 2012 by josh

An astounding scientific discovery has been made in northern Italy, near the town of Maranello: the heretofore unknown red-and-white buck-toothed small-winged duck-billed platypus. The paper will appear in next month’s Nature.

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You got it good / you don’t know how good you got it

Posted on February 14, 2012 by josh

Economic Hypochondria Down Under is one of an armful of great pieces from the just-launched Global Mail – per their website, “a philanthropically funded, not-for-profit news and features website. Our mission is to deliver original, fearless, independent journalism”, and they … Continue reading →

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Laws, sausages, and earnings articles

Posted on February 8, 2012 by josh

This leaked out onto the Ruetres wire yesterday afternoon: 15:37 08Feb12 RTRS-HOLD-UPDATE 1-Lenovo Q3 net profit // slows for 3rd straight quarter (Adds quotes, details) * Q3 results up XX pct to hit record * Weak Europe demand, Thai floods … Continue reading →

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Not that I was planning to go there anyway.

Posted on February 2, 2012 by josh

The Iranian rial’s plunge seems to have stalled at the 18,000 mark, but Iran is still determined to take some… erm… serious measures against currency speculators: In addition, the hard-line chief of Iran’s judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani, threatened Wednesday to … Continue reading →

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“China inflates bubble in obscure asset class” is the new “dog bites man”

Posted on January 31, 2012 by josh

The country that gave us bubbles in equities, jade, paintings, shares in paintings, table salt, fermented tea, fake French wine, 19th-century stamps and silver is now inflating a bubble in – hold your nose - dead-caterpillar fungus. The price of a pound of the fungus (which grows in the brain … Continue reading →

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Also back: padded shoulders and dollar-sign suspenders

Posted on January 26, 2012 by josh

In the eighties, it was Aussie farmers. In 1998, it was Indonesian noodle makers. In 2008, it was Icelandic car-buyers and Chinese steelmakers. In 2010, it was Hungarian homeowners. In 2011-12, it’s Indian car-makers. Yep, foreign currency loan explosions are back. … Continue reading →

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In which Iran’s economy implodes (and the Buried Lede would be a great name for a Fleet Street pub)

Posted on January 24, 2012 by josh

The buried lede in today’s news seems to be the rapid collapse of the Iranian rial. The official central bank peg is currently USDIRR 11,240, but the black-market rate has been slowly ticking higher for months – and in the last … Continue reading →

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A channel check: what’s happening to Australia’s retail sector?

Posted on January 19, 2012 by josh

“…and then in October, it all suddenly… died.” The Aussie retail sector has been in dire straits lately. The economy is chugging along nicely – GDP growth is running in the mid-to-high 2s, inflation is in the mid-3s, and terms … Continue reading →

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