September 28, 2022 — This year has been a challenging environment for the majority of asset classes. As an economic recession hit while central banks have markedly tightened policy, U.S. stocks and bonds have fallen -22.4% and -29.0% year-to-date, respectively. Even worse for investors is that stocks and bonds have…

September 10, 2022 — The global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 caused a recessionary bear market for the ages. When Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, it appeared that the world’s financial system may go off the rails. …

August 31, 2022 — Despite a flattish SPAC market and sentiment remaining relatively poor given overhanging macro uncertainty, the blank check market continues to drive forward with a steady stream of deal flow. If you listen to the mainstream business media, you will likely believe that SPACs are dead. However…

It may not seem obvious to the modern investor, but asset allocation has been around for thousands of years. For example, the first known bond issue dates back to 2400 BC in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). This fixed income investment was a surety bond inscribed on a stone tablet. …

August 11, 2022 — The late, great British Economist John Maynard Keynes coined the term animal spirits to denote market participants’ volatile moods and their ability to swing market prices. In Keynes’ 1936 book, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, he stated: “Even apart from the instability due…

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%.