Category: Focus
Is the US oil industry undergoing a significant shift in its relationship with its government, now accepting levels of influence or direct control that would have been unthinkable only a few months ago? Are the large oil companies, and the supply of energy they oversee, now so important to national security that they must be […]
Markets/financial products – Do we really need to mention this? You don’t need our insight to realise this, but for the sake of clarity: it’s time to stay away from the financial markets. The strength of the evidence for this says a lot about the psychology of investors and its outlook for the market. Don’t […]
2019 was a bumper year for US stocks and, while much of Europe and the Far East faced tougher growth conditions brought on by more local concerns (Brexit, Hong-Kong etc.), full steam ahead was the order of the day. As the year reached an end, dollars continued to flood home and indirect stimulus through the […]
Gold: ready to shine even brighter? 2019 was a big year in Precious Metals (PMs). After two years of declining prices following the 2016 peak, a floor was reached around $1180 in August 2018 and the bull market ensued in line with our anticipations outlined in January 2019.[1] The summer saw a gain of over […]
For the last ten years we have been told that, while the world economy took a hit during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008/9, it is now recovering well. Mario Draghi did his magic, the Fed saved the day and American securities, in particular, are now going from strength to strength. Climbing well above […]
Bitcoin: Digital Gold The fairly sharp rise in the price of Bitcoin at the time of the Iranian-American crisis confirms the intuition we had in June: Bitcoin is acting as a safe haven. This observation leads us to recommend that you keep your Bitcoin, or even add moderately to them, in the light of the […]
As we do every year, GEAB by LEAP is presenting a landscape of the key trends for the coming year. Besides the intellectual value of this LEAP contribution, which, of course, reflects many of the analyses of our researchers over the last few months, we aim to provide a better understanding of the main issues […]
Corporate: Watch your back! The world is realigning itself according to its major regions. This trend, identified a long time ago by the GEAB and repeatedly validated, obviously doesn’t only concern government dynamics. It has direct consequences for companies as well. Particularly this one: don’t abandon your foundations! Certainly, a company needs to grow. And […]
As we do every December, we have completed an evaluation of the trend anticipations we published last January. This time, we have ended up with a final score of 27.5 over 39 key trends, or a 70.5% success rate, 2.5 points higher than last year (68%). We organised the “up & down” trends for 2019 […]
Aramco’s IPO: another game-changer Saudi Aramco is a wonderful illustration of the problem that we see beginning to be solved in 2020 with the establishment of a new monetary and financial system – the old one being no longer in line with the global economy of the 21st century. Since 2018, we have regularly heard […]
We have been anticipating the arrival of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for a year.[1] And it was Christine Lagarde’s speeches at the IMF last November, in particular, that encouraged us to do so. Inevitably, Christine Lagarde’s appointment as head of the ECB indicates that this type of agenda is likely to be accelerated in […]
Monetary Policy – beware of the direction change The shift towards the green colour of the economic indicators linked to the reduction in trade tensions at the end of the year, combined with the rebellion against accommodative monetary policies expressed by major central bankers, suggest a proportional reversal of the trend, particularly in key interest […]
The chemical industry in Europe is facing many challenges resulting from changes in its competitive position, global and local environment issues, as well as regulatory and technological innovation. A priori, Europe is not well positioned right now; but this could be turned into an advantage, if there is an entrepreneurial will – and the preparedness […]
Since July 8, the ‘Tsipras parenthesis’ that did so much to enrage the European Union, the United States and so many other interests, was closed. The wind of hope and renewal that blew over the country in 2015, when a man who didn’t come from one of the great dynasties (Samaras, Mitsotákis, Papandreou, Karamanlis) succeeded […]
Finance – First openings in the Chinese market Our investment recommendations on the Chinese financial market are not easy to follow due to lack of accessibility. However, gradually the Chinese financial market is opening up to the outside world and the first trading platforms are on the horizon. During our research in Hong Kong, we […]
Between a USD-pegged currency (the HKD) and the reaffirmation of its Chinese nature after its handover in 1997, Hong Kong lies right at the heart of the famous trade war between the United States and China. This context largely explains the island’s economic difficulties, creating the conditions for the well-known troubles. A longer-term perspective also […]
It’s not only Hong Kong that finds itself in the middle of the crossfire of the US-China trade war. The IMF may also be on the list of collateral victims of the great tectonic plate movement currently at work. In recent years, Beijing has increased its voting weight and added the Yuan to the basket […]
Air transportation: Turbulence zone We have already warned against the risk of crisis in this sector (aircraft manufacturers, airline companies and infrastructure). In fact, the crisis is already well under way, as shown by the difficulties Boeing has encountered, the challenges to the Airbus-Boeing duopoly following the emergence of Asian competition, the crisis of low-cost […]