Recently, I’ve come across a piece about Amazon written by a prize-winning asset manager. After a painstaking sales pitch, she cites analysts’ expectations and adds that “Amazon will triple its earnings in 2014 and then double them again in 2015”. “Investors should not look at the insanely high price / earnings ratio”, she assures readers. When I saw the disclai... »
Amazon: Don't Play the Losers' Game
April 25 2014
Olav Dirkmaat
Deflation: Really?
April 17 2014
There is a public outcry over lower inflation. Many pundits fear deflation, as if it was the devil himself. IMF’s Christine Lagarde is one of many alarmists that warn for a deflationary spiral, calling it the deflation “ogre”. Lagarde has been very outspoken about the dangers of falling consumer prices and even urged ECB-president Mario Draghi to actively “fight low inflati... »
Olav Dirkmaat
Why the Gold / Silver Ratio is Next to Useless
April 11 2014
Many opt for silver instead of gold due to the “magical” gold / silver ratio (the gold / silver ratio is calculated by dividing the price of gold by the price of silver). They then point at the “historical” 16:1 ratio as a “fair estimate” of the mean ratio, and predict a “regression... »
Olav Dirkmaat
Why China Matters for Gold in Three Charts
April 3 2014
Why does China matter to gold investors? The answers are quite straightforward, but perhaps better explained by the three graphs we’ve laid out for you today.... »
Olav Dirkmaat
