Average hourly earnings are growing at 2.7% YOY, well below the 3.6% growth rates seen pre crisis 2008. The unemployment rate has fallen steadily from 10% during the crisis to 3.8%. The JOLTS Quits Rate (which measures voluntary quits, presumably in search of better prospects) has risen steadily since 2009 to 2.3%, near its post

On 9 May 2018, the Malaysian general election saw an unexpected win for the opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition against the Barisan Nasional juggernaut despite extensive gerrymandering. Malaysians ended UMNO’s 61 years of rule, albeit with the efforts of UMNO alumni, ex PM Mahathir Mohammed, ex Deputy PM (and ex political convict) Anwar Ibrahim, and a few UMNO defectors

The European economy has long been bogged down with structural impediments and the challenges of a partially unified single market. Yet in 2017, the European economy experienced a significant pick up. PMIs surged and GDP growth recovered to levels before the 2011 European crisis. Some of the strength has come from a rebound in international

Humphrey: This fake news has to stop and we are going to be the ones who have to stop it. As it is information or possibly misinformation has proliferated around the internet while our reliance and faith in Google or Wikipedia has grown to dependence. It’s a dangerous state of affairs when people trust wholeheartedly

Equities and expensive and credit spreads are tight. Some investors may be able to eke out further returns, even safely, if they are familiar with certain markets such as the ABS and leveraged finance markets. Eventually, given the weight of capital chasing returns, even these pockets of value get crowded. In the long only world,