Thrilling Tennis…

Thrilling Tennis…
Strange goings on since arriving in London. Very strange. First, millions of fans around the world are sent into a spiral of distress (and consumption) as they initially mourn the sad demise and passing off one of music’s greatest practitioners, and then celebrate his life and achievements by purchasing every conceivable piece of artistry he had put out during his near 45yr career – but Michael Jackson’s depressingly shocking death is not what has put the spin into most people’s strange behaviour.
What has been more shocking is the dual emergence of a proper London summer heat-wave, and a serious threat to the Wimbledon title by a British subject – seems ironic that just as the UK is increasingly spoken about as an economy in terminal decline, through overleveraging itself to the hilt in a mad attempt at emulating the “American Way”, the country finds itself with the first serious contender (come on Henman, you never really thought you were good enough did you?) to make a dash for the nation’s most coveted sporting title in half a century.

London Lies…?
Problem is, despite the wonderful weather that the UK is experiencing, the sun shining on a daily basis in a glorious reflection of temperatures more suited to the Cote D’Azure than Clapham Common, and the exalted emotions displayed by the brave London-city dwellers ambulating in a sleep-deprived state - air conditioning is not exactly “de rigueur” in London – the dangers faced by the UK economy are still deeply evident and deeply dangerous.

A more detailed piece tomorrow will examine some of the misnomers doing the rounds – many of you out there know full well that we have been pulled back from the brink by those well-intentioned, hyperactive policies put into place to flood the world financial system with enough cash to prevent a total catastrophic collapse of not capitalism but the leveraging machine that most of the developed world has come to depend on. The very problems that existed back in September 2008 are still there. The huge debt to GDP rations being run by some governments (UK at a ridiculous 14%!) are now simply too large to simply ignore as temporary issues necessary in a crisis – talk of downgrades by S&P and other credit-rating agencies (they don’t only downgrade entities in Dubai you know) will only really gather pace when we have the return of money-managers after the summer holidays. Tans will fade, the slithers of optimism will likely subside, and the ugly truth of the underling state of the global economic malaise will manifest.

Until then, markets will likely remain volatile – trading in the last few days attests to this. Commodities are enjoying something of a renaissance but is this really more a play on currencies (US$ that is) rather than a more concerted belief in renewed consumption from developed and emerging economies – or is that currencies are moving on the back of international debt concerns and hence exerting pressure on new hedging strategies on commodities? Whatever the reasons, the markets are showing very little direction at the moment.

Very “Bad” liquidity…
There’s so much bad news out there today unfortunately - with plane crashes, train de-railings and other disasters leading to horrendous loss of life. On the markets, to be honest I’ve not had the time to go through the intricacies of the market indicators as of yet, so focus will instead be on Michael Jackson again. In particular, the attempt by the ticketing agents to “replace” tickets with souvenir tickets, apparently designed through inspirations of the King of Pop himself. Are they serious? In today’s society, where the average investor is sceptical about his rate of return and attempts to make up for losses are met with widespread scorn, such a worrying effort at avoiding repayment of the world’s most precious commodity – cash, in any form – is an indication of liquidity problems finding its way through to the one industry long-considered immune from economic downturns - Entertainment.
The King of Pop, despite most likely dying a bankrupt individual, was one of the world’s greatest entertainers. His ability to “thrill” and inspire through his music and dancing was never overshadowed by whatever personal matters tabloids and the media in general wanted to focus on. The undiluted facet of his natural abilities cannot be cynically (shamon!) replaced by a ticket that represents the worst of the media business - profiting at the expense of MJ’s most beloved – the fans.