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Venezuela on the brink. This post is number 52. A full year down and I hope that you’ve found value in the Janus Observer. Thank you for everyone that has been following this blog. More to come. Sincerely, J. Duff Janus Headlines * FT - Niger Delta militants attack oil pipeline
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Chinese corporate debt…geez…Someone’s going to have to take a haircut. US pension crisis. Headlines * WSJ - China's Property Bubble Keeps Getting Bigger 9/19. "With so many parties including banks and local governments all depending on real estate, it may not make sense for them
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It appears there is no “too big to fail” in South Korea. US inflation coming only from a few unproductive sectors. China’s credit hose targeted at housing. Headlines * NYT - Oceans Are Absorbing Almost All of the Globe's Excess Heat 9/12. "Since 1955, more than 90%
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Whoa, that’s a lot of corporate debt… So, who is going to pay for China’s corporate debt balance? High Yield Bond Market decoupling from reality. Headlines * WSJ - Hanjin's Demise: Why Global Shipping Glut Isn't Going Away 9/2. "Despite efforts to consolidate and
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A novel way of paying off debt – issue more of it, the savings are already accruing. It’s official, Nigeria is in a recession. Headlines * WSJ - Food Price Deflation Cheers Consumers, Hurts Farmers, Grocers and Restaurants 8/29. "The U.S. is on track this year to post the
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It’s getting hot out there. When picking your emerging market investments, be mindful of its exposure. Headlines * WSJ - Russian Builds Up Army Near Ukraine Border 8/19. "Russia's plans around the Ukrainian border show a real intent to use force if needed." - Anton Lavrov * FT
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It’s a low-growth world for us…instead of high returns, we get zilch… Thus it is no surprise that funds are being pushed back to emerging markets in a big way. Headlines * WSJ - Annuity Loss Adds to MetLife Drama 8/4. MetLife just took a $2 billion charge
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Insurers having to rethink their business model. India makes a giant leap forward in tax reform. Headlines * FT - Venezuela's armed forces tighten grip as food crisis grows 7/29. Maduro has handed over more powers to General Padrino Lopez making him "the most powerful man in Venezuela.
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How much spare crude oil is there – hard to tell. Nontraded REIT sales struggling. There are a lot of dangers lurking in the Chinese P2P market, but the yield is just SO GOOD… Headlines * FT - Singapore vows more 'intrusive' bank probes after 1MDB scandal 7/24. Turns out
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Helicopter money coming to Japan? GMO on EU immigration and the Brexit. Hong Kong and China at a cross road. ECB coming up against its quantitative easing boundaries. Headlines * FT - BP draws line under Gulf spill costs 7/14. All told BP's costs from the Deepwater Horizon disaster
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The bad debt in Italian banks is looking like a BIG problem. The world has become more reliant on Middle Eastern oil. Not looking so rosy for hedge fund reinsurers. Headlines * Bloomberg - Spain Runs Out of Workers With Almost 5 Million Unemployed 6/30. "The unemployment rate is too
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Japanese banks wary of property risks. Negative-yielding sovereign debt jumps to $11.7tn. This week all the media outlets were blanketed with coverage on the Brexit and of course the synopsis varied from catastrophe (a lot of money was lost in the equity markets around the world immediately – which