Category Archives: InFocus Market Updates

2011 saw two distinct halves for investors and once being on the right side of the risk on or risk off trade at the appropriate time rewarded investors. Investors with appetite for riskier assets benefited during the first half of the year, but a more cautious approach rewarded investors in the second half. Furthermore the [...]

Europe moves closer to integration, albeit slowly The EU summit meeting on Friday (9th of December) took the first big step in moving towards a fiscal integration which is a major step in addressing one of the major flaws of the Euro and also removes the moral hazard of supporting a government without having control [...]

The Eurozone sovereign debt crisis has now created a sharp decline in confidence in Euroarea assets and robust action is needed to restore confidence.

The Eurozone sovereign debt crisis has spread from the smaller and more manageable countries, Ireland, Portugal and Greece to the larger countries of Spain and Italy. As can be seen in the chart below the Italian and Spanish government bond yields spiked in July just after the EU leaders announced the second rescue package for [...]

Global markets continue to convulse due to fears over the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and the prospect of a double dip recession. A quick survey of global headlines in recent days clearly highlights the level of fear and uncertainty that is prevalent

Ollie’s catch phrase seems quite an apt description of recent events ranging from the Republican and Democratic spat over the debt ceiling in the U.S., to the lack of leadership in Europe over the sovereign debt crisis in the Euroarea to President Obama’s reaction to the S&P downgrade of the U.S. government debt from the coveted AAA status to the less auspicious AA+.

Ireland’s population continued to grow strongly from 2006 to 2011, mainly due to a high number of births.

Despite the on going sovereign debt crisis in the Euroarea, it might be surprising to know that the currency itself has managed to hold up very well versus the dollar and sterling.

Disappointing economic data, concerns over the excessive debt levels, the natural disaster in Japan and higher food and energy prices have all hampered the outlook for equity markets recently and resulted in weaker markets.

Although Irish bonds continued to make losses last week, the CSO confirmed that the Irish economy is on track to meet the expectations of the government. GDP in the first quarter grew by 1.3% since the fourth quarter of 2010.