The suggestion that the US SEC is considering easing restrictions on retail investors holding Private Equity raises some interesting questions.

My article on US Shadow Banks in the AFR last month.

This morning it was reported that UBS, the largest Wealth Manager in the world had turned bearish on stocks, trimming its core equity position to underweight.

Once again the market is focussed on a small move in short term interest rates by the US Federal Reserve and once again the narrative is all about how the US economy ‘needs’ this.

J.M Keynes famously noted that “The market can remain irrational much longer than I can remain solvent” and the notion of bubbles and ‘irrational exuberance’ is built in to much observation and commentary on markets, leading to embedded positions of perma bulls or, more usually, perma bears.