There are two things that matter in investing: what the fundamentals, such as earnings and the economy, are doing, and where they are expected to go. Investment editor James Mackintosh says when sentiment is extreme, investors will react much more strongly to any sign of bad news.
No excuses for Britain’s dire exports
Brits wanting a holiday in the sun have to stump up a lot more since the pound’s crash during the financial crisis. Even after a partial recovery, the pound remains down almost a fifth in real terms against its trading partners.
On the plus side, exports should be booming. Sadly, they aren’t. There are plenty of excuses explanations, but one stands out: British exporters have too much focus on slow-growing European economies and not enough on the whizzy emerging markets. The killer statistic is that the UK exports more to tiny troubled Ireland than to all the Brics put together. Read more
The yen’s collapse was rudely interrupted on Tuesday. James Mackintosh, investment editor, points out that the yen’s premium as a haven from the global crisis has now evaporated, and examines the implications for the carry trade.
The parade of best bourses so far this year is a rogue’s gallery of the past few years’ basket cases: Greece, Dubai, Egypt and Argentina, with the eurozone periphery close behind. James Mackintosh, investment editor, analyses whether this dash for trash is wise.
Keynes stands tall among investors
Was Keynes a Keynesian? I had to answer this essay question at university and managed to answer No. The issue was whether John Maynard Keynes’ 1930s ideas really entailed the interventionist policies that bore his name, and which rightly took much blame for 1970s stagflation.
Since then, an era of distinctly non-Keynesian economics by any definition has culminated in a global crash, leaving the world in what looks like what Keynes called a “liquidity trap” – where lower interest rates have little or no effect. In a week when the European Central Bank, the People’s Bank of China and the Bank of England have all eased monetary policy, the debate about Keynes’ legacy rages. It is barely a debate at all – a sterile recitation by each side of a preconceived position. Read more
| About this blog | Blog guide |
James Mackintosh is the Financial Times' Investment Editor, writing and presenting the daily Short View column and video. In 16 years at the FT his posts have included comment editor, motor industry editor and hedge funds correspondent, as well as spells in the Parliamentary lobby and Paris. He was the first reporter hired for FT.com, joining two weeks before it launched.
John Authers is the Financial Times' Senior Investment Columnist, writing the Saturday Long View and a regular Monday column. In a 22-year career at the FT, his previous posts have included global head of the Lex column, investment editor, US markets editor, Mexico City bureau chief and US banking correspondent. His latest book is The Fearful Rise of Markets. 
Related columns