“It is more sekyr [certain] a byrd in your fest, Than to haue three in the sky a‐boue.” – John Capgrave’s The Life of St Katharine of Alexandria, 1450 The last four months have seen investors move from a futurity (new word for us) approach to a more here-and-now approach. The prices of companies focused on...Read More

“So I just don’t think a lot of people have seen this. When’s the last time anyone here has seen interest rates up 2 years in a row and 6 or 7 times this year and 4 or 5 next? Nobody has seen that. Nobody has seen a lot of a lot of things that...Read More

Inflation is always caused by an imbalance between supply and demand. And that imbalance is almost always due to the actions of government bodies. (Well, we think it’s almost always, but we are not certain.) The oil market is a great example. A tight supply situation was exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prior to...Read More

Two thoughts from Oliver Burkeman (h/t @jposhaughnessey) “True security lies in the unrestrained embrace of insecurity—in the recognition that we never really stand on solid ground, and never can.” “Uncertainty is where things happen.” Over the past two long-drawn-out years, we have discussed the idea that market participants swing between uncertainty and complacency. We have...Read More

Inflation is on everyone’s mind and energy pricing has been a significant contributor. We have been discussing our concern that inflation has taken on a more structural ‘feel’ versus being transitory from the pandemic re-opening process. Supporting this argument is the impact from an aggressive move to renewable energy as demonstrated by Germany. The graphic...Read More

The world’s addiction to low interest rates reminds us of the Sirens of Greek mythology who allegedly (never convicted) inhabited an island between Aeaea (and you thought Auour had a lot of vowels) and the rocks of Scylla. Their sweet songs (low interest rates) attracted sailors (borrowers), only to lead them and their ships to...Read More

In our May 2021 newsletter, Breaking Windows, we discussed inflation and its impact on the investment markets. We said the primary drivers of inflation were the large stimuli injected unevenly into the global economic system through governments and central banks. That newsletter focused on one side of the equation—demand—and in it we noted: “There is...Read More

We are keeping with our summer series of more charts and fewer words. Most of this newsletter will be discussing interest rates, inflation and why many fear the eventual monetary stimulus unwind. The chart above attempts to rebuild a history of U.S. interest rates over the span of the country’s independence. Two items stick out...Read More

“Everyone wants to live at the expense of the state. They forget that the state wants to live at the expense of everyone.” —Frédéric Bastiat Not a day goes by without an article discussing inflation. And since that is the topic of this article, today will not be the exception. Good inflation, bad inflation, deflation,...Read More

In the early 1980’s, Dave Davies, of the English rock band the Kinks, wrote the song, “Living on a Thin Line.” He was writing about England as the last century waned, but it resonates today with our current economic situation. Economic life sits on a changing and unstable ground at this moment. At Auour, our...Read More