September hedge fund performance is looking positive at +3.09% with 42% of single fund's performance received, taking YTD results to +7.79%. For full details and returns by sector, click here.
Meanwhile this week I spent an evening sitting in a hotel Restaurant in Melbourne reading the Bloomberg newsfeed on my iPad. It was very sad. Not just the fact that in one of the country's most vibrant cities I was reduced to spending the evening away from home, by myself, with just my iPad, but the news emphasised what a basket case Europe is, and more particularly Greece and Spain are.
Angela Merkel was due to dish out some good old Teutonic austerity medicine to the hapless, tax effective Greeks, protected by some 7,000 riot police. No wonder she only intended staying for six hours before legging it back home to face an equally unhappy home electorate. Today's news tells me that 25% of Greeks are now unemployed.In Spain the economy continues to go from bad to worse with unemployment also at horrific levels, particularly amongst the younger generation, and banks unable or afraid to foreclose on defaulting mortgagees for fear of unleashing a tsunami of property, and probably social unrest, onto the already flooded market.
Meanwhile across the Atlantic it was reported that State Street was charging (yes, charging) depositors for holding Danish Krone and Swiss Francs. And it seems those same depositors are prepared to pay for the privilege of safety.
What seemed apparent from reading these and other reports was that it looks as if there are at least five, and possibly ten hard years ahead for Europe. And if that is the case, probably for the Chinese manufacturing sector as well.
Meanwhile the Australian equity market briefly hit a 14 month high. The Aussie dollar jumped back above US$1.02 in spite of the fact that the economic fundamentals are looking decidedly shaky as the resources boom cools, unemployment is increasing, and retailing/consumer confidence continues to decline.
Go figure.
And for something completely different this week, a grumpy garbo who's behaviour wouldn't look out of place in our Nation's capital...
Have a good week-end.
Regards,Chris.
