The next bubble may be forming in developed sovereign debt

The October 2011 edition of Barclays Wealth Compass, entitled “Perspectives on Markets: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” reflects upon the past two decades of market volatility with an eye toward understanding and positioning for the future. The firm’s chief investment officer and heads of regional Investment Strategy, Behavioural Finance and Quantitative Analytics answer five key questions in the special edition.
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The EU and the US economies are not the only headaches for Middle East economies. China’s faltering economy could also hurt the region’s growth prospects.

As the advanced economies were contracting and falling behind earlier in the year, the Gulf and the wider MENA states were hoping Chinese and wider Asian demand to ensure their oil production finding eager buyers. READ MORE HERE
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U.S. Federal Chairman Ben Bernanke says interest rates will remain low and dampened enthusiasm for QE3. But one heavyweight thinks QE3 could come in August.
Forget about a U.S. rate hike and the third tranche of quantitative easing, also known as QE3, say analysts after hearing U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’ speech after its periodic federal open market committee meeting. READ MORE HERE

Even if Saudi Arabia was aware of the IEA’s move to draw from its oil reserves, all parties appear to have lost face, without really upsetting the trend of stubbornly high oil prices. Goldman says buy the oil dip.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) followed through on its threat of releasing oil supplies into the global markets, after OPEC had failed to raise output in its last meeting in early June. READ MORE HERE

HSBC’s energy outlook for 2050 forecasts that we may have as little as 49 years of oil left and we will have to radically alter our energy consuming ways to avoid a massive energy crunch. Read More