What Happens in Europe Stays in Europe ...

There’s a very good and little‐known movie starring Anthony Hopkins. The title: World’s Fastest Indian. It’s about a New Zealand man who made it his life’s goal to break the land speed record on his motorcycle. It’s been called a “feel‐good” story.

Kind of like this latest rally in risk.

So Long to Netshitenzhe AND Manuel?

You can look at crude oil lately; or you can look at the Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index. Either way you’re probably going to come away with the idea that commodity prices have been rising. Here’s a chart of the CRB:

Mr. King Comes Clean and the Market Seems to Like It

Mervyn King delivered a speech yesterday on banking reform, and the market seemed to like it—as the pound has surged:

There is no indication monetary policy is changing anytime soon i.e. no one expects a hike in interest rates or change to quantitative easing from the Bank of England. Yet the pound surged on Mr. King’s speech.

Does this bring out the optimist in you?

Let me just run through some timely market developments and when I’m finished I want you to tell me how you perceive the markets; though it’s rather obvious how the consensus is feeling ...

I’ll start with a headline that your average stock investor is happy to see: “World stocks hit new 12-month high; dollar weak” – Reuters. That’s global investing in a nutshell these days.