The large-scale asset purchase (LSAP) or Quantitative Easing is the balance sheet expansion tool that was unleashed by the Federal Reserve in late 2008. This tool is part of the extraordinary suite of monetary policy tools developed by the Fed to resuscitate the U.S. economy from the brink of a deflationary spiral, in a Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) regime. Ever since the first version of LSAP was unleashed in the form of QE 1.0, economists and investment professionals world-wide have questioned the efficacy of LSAP as a tool to stimulate the economy. In spite of all the drawbacks that have been brought to our attention in the recent years, I believe that the Fed has been right all along with the LSAP measures, considering Washington's inaction in arriving at a cogent fiscal policy to tackle the crisis.

At the onset, let me declare that I endorse Nomura

As the euro crisis muddles along with no end in sight, let's analyze the journey of the eurozone so far since the great financial crisis of 2008, and the subsequent downward spiral of the eurozone periphery set in motion by the Greek socialist government's revelation in December 2009 that the Greek budget deficits were twice what were previously estimated.

The Greek crisis, on the heels of the Irish economic crisis, spread like a wild-fire across Europe and has left in its wake Portugal, Italy, and Spain, in a state of financial and economic panic. Albeit the panic assumed different proportions in those countries called the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain) or the periphery as a group, its gust had the potency to draw the eurozone's core - Germany, France, Netherlands - in to the center of the storm. The fiscal crisis in Greece set off alarm bells across

In my last article, S&P 500: Sell in May & Come Back in November, we found compelling evidence from the study done on monthly returns from 1928 to 2012 that "sell in May and come back in November" is a feasible investment principle. This article presents a viable investment approach based on this principle which could be exploited by long-term and short-term investors alike to generate alpha. This strategy is nothing but developing an efficient portfolio that includes fully investing in the S&P 500 index during the entire period November to April, and then selling out and staying in cash or possibly other investment opportunities during the remaining months of the year.

In other words, the strategy fully exploits the relative exuberance of S&P 500 during the period November to April vis-à-vis its performance during the period May to October. The principle of "sell in May and

Recently, IMRA LLC published a study for one of its clients regarding monthly returns (excluding reinvestment of dividends) of S&P 500 over the years since 1928. The study uncovered some interesting data regarding monthly returns and revealed some contradictions as well as endorsements of popular myths. The study was inspired by a recent story that appeared in Wall Street Journal - "Playing the September Effect."

"October jinx" - October has a special place in the financial calendar, and it's commonly believed in the financial world to be the most fearful month, as historically it has been prone to more crashes than any other month. Stock Traders' Almanac calls October the "jinx month." Since 1928, on average the S&P 500 has risen .4% during Octobers (see Fig. 3). In the same period, S&P 500 has risen 59% of the Octobers, gaining an average 4.0% (see Fig. 1

There have been lot of questions raised over the years about the quality of economic data coming out of China in terms of reliability of the data collection methods, quality control, the statistical techniques it employs, data compatibility with the western methodologies and reporting systems, government influence in data reporting, and the reporting standards. Many of those questions may be legitimate, and some may be due to the misconception the rest of the world has about China, arising primarily from its opaqueness to the rest of the world. Moreover, the Chinese government manages its messages very tightly in order to advance its political legitimacy in the eyes of the Chinese people and the rest of the world.

On July 26, Wall Street Guru Dr. Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research Inc. in his morning briefing to his clients emphatically confirmed that the Chinese economy is in a significant slowdown based on

On Friday, Balearic Islands and Asturias joined the autonomous regional governments of Andalusia, Canary Islands, Castile-la Mancha, Catalonia, Murcia, and Valencia (see Fig. 1) in asking help from Madrid's newly created Regional Liquidity Fund (FLA), an €18 billion credit facility to provide affordable financing to the fiscally ailing regional governments. With an increasing number of the 17 regional governments seeking help from Madrid, the liquidity fund is being pushed to its limit. The fiscal woes of the regional governments came to the forefront when Valencia sought a bailout in July from the Spanish state for €4.5 billion, followed by Catalonia in August for €5 billion, to meet their debt obligations. The Mediterranean regions of Valencia and Murcia subsequently requested similar aid, although on a smaller scale. Early in September, Andalusia declared that it would have to seek help from Madrid to tide over its fiscal woes; various

The Chinese ministry of Industry and Information Technology reported in September that industrial profits in the country dropped for the fifth month in August, with an overall year-on-year decline of 3.1% (see Fig. 1) for the first eight months of the year, and the August month alone reporting a year-on-year decline of 6.2%.

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Among the national-scale industrial enterprises (those with annual revenues more than 20 million yuan), state-owned and state holding enterprises and overseas-invested private enterprises each reported a year-on-year decline of 12.7% cumulatively for the first eight months of the year (see Fig 2.). Fig. 2 below reveals overall year-to-date performance of the Chinese industrial sector. The latest figures from the Chinese Ministry of Industry also showed that out of the 41 industry sectors, 24 reported year-on-year increase, with 16 reporting profit drops and one reporting a loss.

The nosedive of the Chinese Industrial profits confirms