Apologies for all my calls for a more wintry winter. Now the icy north winds are blowing and poor robin is hiding her head under her wings.
One of my British relatives is making history. As long-term readers know, my nephew, Joe Cornish, four years ago made a movie, Attack the Block. Its star, John Loyega, played Moses, a juvenile delinquent who rescues a London council estate (housing project) from an alien invasion.
Now the British actor who played the teen-age hero is starring as the renegade Finn in The Force Awakens, the new Disney Star Wars movie.
As everyone gets set for a holiday, only central banks are still busy. The Bank of Korea, of South Korea, hinted that it would be more likely to cut interest rates from the current 1.5% next year. Perversely, the signal for easing was that it lowered its inflation target, in theory meaning it would be quicker to raise rates if the world were operating normally. But getting to its inflation target of 2% will in fact require lower interest rates. What this means for our stocks is explained for paid subscribers below.
Also active is the central bank of China. It imposed new rules on insurance companies which may explain why the head of Hong Kong’s Fosun International was detained last week for questioning, before being released. China also extended the hours of trading renminbi to overlap with European markets. The recent 4% rise in Shanghai shares was credited to insurers buying heavily. This too affects our shares.
Global Investing articles in 2016 will be appearing on Thomson-Reuters with links to our partner www.talkmarkets.com in which your editor has invested, under a deal just inked by the two firms.
Fund Fundamentals
*The likelihood of easing in South Korea naturally will help its stocks, and make an argument for patiently owning Korea Fund, KF as well as Shinhan Finance, (SHG), a bank.
*Pershing Square Holdings (PSHZF)Â net asset value hit $21.23 when the share traded at only $20.46. This activist closed-end fund is behaving more like others after problems with some of its big bets.
