The Justinian

Ok it’s an admittedly arrogant title, especially considering we’re not in the business of writing recommendations.  While I will make statements of opinion from time to time, I’m mostly interested in providing a daily sampling of the most interesting developments in the financial world. 
Nevertheless, the news that China will be diversifying its $1 trillion + […]

There’s rarely been doubt that Google is “master of its domain.” But when newspapers and other traditional media sources start clambering to work with the Goog, it makes one wonder whether the company’s dominance can extend beyond its natural realm.

Word is that Google is marrying its existing technology, which allows advertisers to better pinpoint […]

Read any semi-sophisticated financial mag or publication and you’ll see the same terms used over and over. The same five to ten catch phrases are used daily to explain a wide variety of market movements. The classics? “Reserve diversification” explains the forex market’s gyrations, “inflation fears” are to blame for falls in stocks and rises […]

For newbie forex traders, a mere mention of the term Non-Farm Payrolls (NFPs) brings delusions of grandeur. Fifty points or pips made in 50 seconds, that kind of thing. For stock traders, NFPs stand for fear perhaps more than anything else, as huge market swings can occur before the market open. This leaves most equities […]

Traders are often overly sensitive to words springing from the mouths of politicians and government economists. This is no different for those tracking the New Zealand (or “kiwi”) Dollar, where last month Finance Minister Cullen talked down the country’s currency and caused a 150-pip drop. Those buying up kiwi-denominated assets for their attractive yields were […]

The World Gold Council regularly publishes stats on which central banks around the world are owners of gold (you have to register to view the doc, but it’s free). The long and the short of it is that Europeans and the US are far and away the largest owners of the metal overall. A more […]

This is old news but underreported and rather relevant. It seems that, according to a semi-recent survey from the University of Maryland, the French are, to say the least, not fans of capitalism. Not only are most French in doubt about the value of free enterprise, but most have low opinions of both […]

After being in production for over twenty years, the last Ford Taurus rolled off the assembly line this past week. Breaking trends with creativity when the Taurus began, the modern Ford Motors managed to finally kill the former #1 best selling car in America. Forbes put it well:
In failing to evolve what was […]

With online news being so accessible and free, how long will companies be able to keep high circulation and ad revenues? Some say longer than most people think.

Gatehouse Media, which owns 75 local papers (and some websites) had their IPO yesterday and the share price rose 18%.
Former GE CEO, Jack Welch is eyeballing the Boston […]

Central bankers, especially in the US and Eurozone, try to be as methodical as possible. The market, however, tends to overreact to near-term news and get out of line with real central bank expectations. Weeks ago, the markets had priced in that the Fed would not hike again, and might even pause prior to the […]