Looking at the net movement over the past 10 years there is a mixed picture: Broadly the USA has done best; Bank of America +1066%; JP Morgan +756%; Wells Fargo +505%. Europeans the worst Deutsche -595, Intesa -11% and Unicredit -86%. But having said that, ING +332%, KBC +742% and Skan Enskilda +417%. In the UK there is a bit of both: HSBC +63% and Barclays +216% versus Lloyds -32% and RBS -42%. Those with plenty of sub prime lending and those slow to react to the financial crisis have suffered the most. The USA was the fastest and most interventionist and the results speak for themselves.
My comments earlier this week about what some call the dismal science have resulted in quite some postbag from our readership! Hamish McRae a highly distinguished economist and financial journalist has the last word on this one:
“There are 3 kinds of economists. Those that can add, and those that can’t”
Most successful chimpanzee on Wall Street
Before you reach for the Complaints Procedure button, I am not being un pc. In 1999, Raven a 6 year old chimp, became the 22nd most successful manager in the USA after choosing stocks by throwing darts at a list of 133 internet stocks. That index named inevitably MonkeyDex achieved a 213% gain and outperformed more than 8000 brokers. Here at SGM-FX we do not have a chimp but we do have a champ called Charles when it comes to market analysis!
Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder
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