July 29, 2022 — As SPACs have made the difficult transition from “venture capital for the speculative public market investors” to “discounted T-Bills for the conservative asset allocators”, special purpose acquisition companies went from trading at the peak of nearly 28% premium to NAV (i.e. $12.80 for a $10.00 SPAC)…

July 27, 2022 — In April’s Merger Monitor, I detailed why we did not hold a position in the Twitter merger arbitrage for the Accelerate Arbitrage Fund (TSX: ARB). Specifically, the sheer size of the deal and the shockingly high amount of leverage involved would give any seasoned arbitrageur reason…

July 16, 2022 — If recession forecasting were a sport, it would be a national pastime relished by both professional economics and armchair amateurs alike. Economic decline isn’t just the concern of market participants. An index of Google searches for “recession” now exceeds the 2008 reading and matches the level…

June 30, 2022 — From their bear market low of -4.1% (negative 4.1%!) in February 2021, SPAC yields have continued to surge upward as investor sentiment sinks to new lows. Over the past month, SPAC arbitrage yields have risen from 4.6% to 5.5%.

June 24, 2022 — There are three things that are certain in life: death, taxes, and CNBC running a “Markets in Turmoil” special report once the S&P 500 has declined more than -5% in a month. Given the recent widening of arbitrage spreads, we figured it would be fitting to…

June 13, 2022 — With the pandemic and accompanying global recession still fresh on everyone’s minds, it is surprising that we have had approximately two years of economic expansion. Between 1854 and 2009, there have been 33 economic cycles. The average length of an economic expansion was 3.2 years, while…

June 1, 2022 — “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” — Mark Twain If that quote could be attributed to an asset class, SPACs would be telling everyone who would listen. If you have not noticed, the media has a negative bias toward blank check companies, generally choosing…

May 30, 2022 — Arbitrageurs can be a fickle bunch, tending to shoot now and aim later at any sign of volatility. These itchy trigger fingers can create rewarding investment opportunities for enterprising investors. Looking back to March of 2020, when the Covid-induced bear market threw investors for a loop…

From 2009 to 2021, central banks’ easy-money policies dominated the investor psyche. Specifically, low inflation lulled central banks into complacency, permitting the monetary policy authorities to keep financial conditions too easy for too long. These easy-money policies pushed investors into a false sense of security, believing that stock prices were…