Prior to the adoption of the EUR, European equity markets were segmented by country. Since the adoption of the EUR, however, European equity markets became segmented by sector, as the funding costs between countries converged. With the recent rise of country risk and the divergence of funding costs, Europe is trading by country segmentation again.

  In a simple world, we eat what we kill today, we consumer what we produce today. With trade in its simplest form, barter, we are able to specialize and be more efficient, focusing our talents and gifts on what we have an advantage in. The invention of money, whether gold or fiat currency, allowed

20% of Nestles business is Europe, 30% in the US, the rest are in emerging markets. 34% of Givaudan’s business in in Europe, 26% is in the US, the rest are in emerging markets. 46% of Swatch’s business in Asia. 30% of LVMH’s business is in emerging markets and Japan. 20% of Carrefour’s business is

The role of ratings agencies has been placed under intense scrutiny in the wake of the 2008 credit crisis. Clearly the ratings agencies have failed in one glaring respect. The creditworthiness of a borrower is tied not only to its solvency but to its ability to generate cash flow to repay, as well as its

  Year to date the top performing strategies have been Event Driven, Distress and Fixed Income Arb. The weakest strategies were Global Macro, CTAs, and Market Neutral. Over a 12 month period Convertible Arbitrage continues its strong run, followed by Distress and Emerging Markets. The weakest strategies year to date were also the weakest over