Columns
What to buy: countries or companies?
Ten years ago, risk-averse bond investors never had to doubt where to put their money. Government bonds were the place to be.
2010: an easy year for investors?
When reading the forecasts of the big investment banks one can only conclude that 2010 will be an easy year for investors. Consensus has rarely been so strong.
Cheap money: a recipe for bubbles?
2009 has turned out to be an excellent year for investors, partly reversing the steep losses of 2008.
Inflation fears: deeply rooted but unjustified
Inflation fears are still surprisingly deeply rooted among private investors.
Will corporate take-overs drive the next phase of the rally?
The recent bid by Kraft Foods for Cadbury may signal the start of a new period of Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A).
Can an abnormal downturn result in a normal recovery?
Financial markets have entered a new phase. The strong gains in the past months have largely been the result of investors discounting the end of the recession and the credit crisis.
Are consumers too pessimistic… or investors too optimistic?
Lately we have seen a few market developments which appear to be inconsistent with one another. Equity markets have rallied strongly, but consumer confidence has fallen.
Bad news for savers: the crisis is over
The credit crisis appears to have run its course, a fact which is good news for the economy but bad news for savers.
Senior economist Valentijn van Nieuwenhuijzen about Fixed Income in February.