Straight from the Desk

Syz the moment

Live feeds, charts, breaking stories, all day long.

29 Nov 2023

Goldman: Hedging against a market crash is the cheapest in more than five years...

The chart below shows the cost of a rolling SPX 1 month 3% OTM put: the current cost is 34 basis points, the lowest level in 5 years. Source: Goldman Sachs, TME

29 Nov 2023

Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's Partner and 'Abominable No-Man,' dies at 99

Munger helped Buffett, who was seven years his junior, craft a philosophy of investing in companies for the long term. Under their management, Berkshire avg an annual gain of 20.1% from 1965 through 2021 — almost twice the pace of the S&P 500 Index. Source: Bloomberg, HolgerZ

29 Nov 2023

Here's a classical example of contrarian signal that can be used in your asset allocation decisions

Entering into 2023, Wall Street strategists were expecting the S&P 500 to decline. This was the first time ever (survey started in 2000) that aggregated 12-month S&P 500 targeted return was in negative territory. Fast forward to the end of November and the SP500 is up 18% year-to-date... As Warren Buffet said: "Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful" Source: BCA research, Barchart

29 Nov 2023

US households still have an estimated $433 billion in excess savings remaining from the 2020-21 stimulus programs

Source: TME

28 Nov 2023

November has been a very long month of frustration for the bears

Source: Trend Spider

28 Nov 2023

For some shoppers, the upcoming holiday season may lead to piling on more debt

About 25% of Americans are still paying off holiday debt from 2022, according to WalletHub’s November holiday shopping survey. But those already carrying a balance could find themselves sinking further into the red if they don’t get a handle on their credit card debt. “If you’re in a hole, stop digging,” Ted Rossman, Bankrate’s senior industry analyst, tells CNBC Make It. One reason you may want to avoid racking up more debt is that higher interest rates are making it more expensive to pay down. As of November, the average credit card interest rate has risen from around 16% to nearly 21% since the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates in March 2020 in an effort to combat inflation, according to Bankrate. A higher interest rate means it could take longer and be more expensive to pay down your credit card debt. Source: make it, www.zerohedge.com

27 Nov 2023

Hong Kong local bank rate (HIBOR) jumped to its highest level in 16 years

Source: Barchart, Bloomberg

27 Nov 2023

Nothing new, but imagine the huge cash pile starts feeling the equities FOMO...

Source: BofA, TME

Thinking out loud

Sign up for our weekly email highlighting the most popular posts.

Follow us

Thinking out loud

Investing with intelligence

Our latest research, commentary and market outlooks