The U.S. government reopened this week although – coincidentally or not – U.S. equities swooned. The issue remains full-on valuations of U.S. stocks coupled with growing concerns with the enormous amounts of A.I. spend being put forward by many tech companies.

There are no shortage of investors which think stocks are well over-baked, especially stocks of companies that are directly or indirectly associated with the ongoing A.I. hype.  It has appeared for weeks that this was nothing more than scaremongering as stocks continued their stratospheric rise.  However, the past week saw scepticism start to set in as investor concerns regarding valuations broadened.  Tech stocks led the sell-off, although there were few places to hide as mo

This is an update of my personal portfolio for the third quarter and YtD. To say the market has been cooperative since the poorly-received "Liberation Day" blanket tariffs would be the mother of all understatements. It wasn't hard – just be long, nearly anything!

I am not expert in artificial intelligence, although I do have a basic grasp of its expected benefits balanced by the possible social implications. However, this article focuses on A.I. from an investor's perspective, since the stocks of companies that can attach themselves even loosely to the A.I. narrative have taken off like a rocket.

As risk markets surge, especially US stocks (but also corporate bonds), it's hard not to scratch your head and ask how long this can carry on? I have no idea, but I think the end might be near. In the meantime, I stick to my standard investment approach.

This article is an update of my personal portfolio at the end of 1H2025 (June 30, 2025). To say it was a volatile quarter is the mother of all understatements. Fortunately, I came out OK thanks to the fact that investors – especially in the bond market – provided guardrails for the nutty economic policies of Mr Trump. I saw the train wreck coming, but I failed to anticipate the shockingly fast recovery. You can read the gory details in this article.

This article contains tables and commentary regarding the rather volatile but ultimately positive first half of 2025.

NATO was front and centre last week as the annual NATO Summit was held in The Hague on Tuesday and Wednesday, making it an opportune time...

Inspired by Mr Trump's false claims that he inherited the "worst economy ever", this article looks at administrations' economic performance.

This article summarises two articles and one podcast that are topical,: US/EU automotive tariffs, social security "fraud", and steel tariffs

The week started with the Trump Administration announcing tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, the first two of which were quickly rescinded

Better late than never, in that this article is about my views on American exceptionalism, both economically and as far as US stocks.

This article contains a summary of full-year 2024 performance of the indices and assets tracked by EMC, plus historical data, too.

I "guessed" at how markets would perform in 2024 last year at this time. Some I got right, some I got wrong, not different from the pros.

MicroStrategy (MSTR) has had an amazing run since it adopted its Bitcoin accumulation strategy in Aug 2020. Has it run too far too fast?

Some stocks that clearly "track" President-elect Trump's varied campaign promises have rallied hard, including TSLA, BTC, COIN and KRE.

This article is short and covers the blowout results and reasons, what Trump 2.0 means for investors, and Mr Trump's promises.

Here are a few last-minute thoughts on the US election which will be held on Tuesday, Nov 5. A lot is at stake, but Weds, the world goes on