Is it time for a New World Order? Ever since the double shock of collapsing oil prices and the advent of the pandemic six months ago, it has looked as though the existing order cannot hold. That order, associated primarily with the names of Paul Volcker, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, was…

Tech stocks didn’t have to endure much of a correction. All the sectors that had been doing mighty well until hitting a traffic bump at the end of last week rebounded Wednesday. It would be unwise to assume this is over, but for now the most important point is that the excesses of the post-Covid…

Maybe it is a sign of normality finally returning after the pandemic that Brexit is back in the headlines, and that politicians feel they have the license to put it there. But for now, the market is making a dangerous bet that the positioning from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson doesn’t need to…

Britain has moved on from the Brexit debate. One of the passionate political arguments at present is over the songs that should be sung on the Last Night of the Proms, an annual opportunity to wave union jacks and be patriotic. At least two of the songs, from the Victorian era, are a little…

The coronavirus pandemic has stress-tested the world. Beyond challenging human fortitude, national health services and international rivalries, it has forced a series of moral choices. Many have provoked impassioned disagreement — over whether governments can force businesses and schools to close,…

What follows is dedicated to Donald Rumsfeld and to Athanasios Vamvakidis, foreign exchange strategist at BofA Securities Inc. Rumsfeld, a former US defense secretary, bequeathed to humanity the endlessly useful concept of “known and unknown unknowns.” It turned out that there were far more…

As I write, gold has surged to yet another record, topping $2,050 per ounce. Is it overpriced? The question is impossible to answer. Gold’s value rests in the eye of the beholder, and over recorded human history people have continued to find it beautiful. It pays no income, and its intrinsic…

The Federal Reserve and the stock market often appear to be moving together. Just who is moving who? Some new research suggests an answer. First, let’s define the issue. Between the summer of 1998 and the end of 2008 — spanning the period from the Russian debt default and collapse of hedge fund…

Is the decline of the dollar over? The US currency has been falling steadily ever since the world exited the initial stage of the Covid-19 crisis. It has done so in line with the spectacular decline in real yields. This makes perfect sense. With lower yields, there is lower “carry” to be earned by…

It seems odd for familiar rhythms to continue in the time of Covid, but Wednesday will bring the latest announcement from the Federal Open Market Committee. It is easy to forget because, after some of the most dramatic months in central banking history, there is little question about what the Fed…