Global equities recovered most of the previous week’s losses to continue the long upward 2014 run which began in February. Overall, the bull market is now into its 65th month, the 4th longest bull market in history. Equities continue to be supported by the expectation of reasonably strong corporate earnings’ growth and low interest […]

By : Alberto Martin and Jaume Ventura Jul 11th 2014 Credit markets play an increasingly central role in modern economies. Within the OECD, for instance, domestic credit has risen from 100% of GDP in 1970 to approximately 160% of GDP in 2012 (as measured by the Bank for International Settlements). To be sure, this growth masks […]

Patrick Counihan @irishcentral July 05,2014 04:27 AM American start-ups are flocking to join the tech revolution in Ireland – and it’s not down to the tax regime. Fledgling Silicon Valley companies have recognised Dublin as their gateway to European and global success according to a new report. The start-ups don’t qualify for the tax breaks available to multi-nationals […]

What is Abenomics? Abenomics, or Abe + economics is a term coined for the economic policies of Shinzō Abe, Japan’s current Prime Minister. The economic policies address Japan’s macroeconomic problems – monetary policy, fiscal policy, and economic growth strategies to encourage private investment. Abenomics includes a “mix of reflation, government spending and a growth strategy […]

Aviva Life & Pensions are proposing a major change to their Irish Life and pensions business. They are planning on transferring all existing policies of Aviva Life & pensions Ireland Limited (ALPI) to the irish Branch of Aviva Life and Pensions UK Limited another company within the Aviva Group. As it currently stands Aviva are […]

In 1986, my team lost $100 million dollars. Why? Because we didn’t know as much as we thought we did. At the time, I was running the mortgage-trading desk at First Boston. Mortgage bonds were the hottest investment on Wall Street, and the desk I ran was one of the best—if not the best—in the […]

Most people choose to invest in a ‘fund’ which means their money is pooled with other investors.   What is a fund? A fund will typically invest in a portfolio of individual stocks and shares. the fund manager decides which asset types of investments will be held by the fund. There are four main types […]

There are plenty of headlines about financial advisor’s and an awful lot of the press we receive is negative. So that is why I wanted to clear the air a bit and highlight some of the obvious differences between between using a Financial Advisor and going it direct. Obviously I have a slight bias towards […]

  Despite the roller-coaster few trading weeks we have had to kick start the new year we look to be back on track heading towards the new ‘All-time Highs’. Despite some relatively poor earnings from European companies, we saw a strong bounce from technical levels. We have seen the FED take the foot off the […]

It is not often that we experience the level of market volatility that we have encountered over the last few trading days. It is important to know what is going on and why the markets are reacting in this fashion before making any irrational decisions. So without getting too complicated what has caused all of […]