Editorial List EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Richard gill
Foreword
EDITOR Zak Mir
“May you live in interesting times” is supposed to be a Chinese curse, even though it is not a phrase which is actually Chinese. I was reminded of it after reading a recent interview in the Financial Times with billionaire Zhang Lei. The financier was boasting how the world’s second largest economy is now winning in so many ways against the 20th Century’s economic leader.
CREATIVE DESIGN Lee Akers www.cfdmedia.co.uk COPYWRITER Seb greenfield EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS Dominic Picarda Robbie Burns Alpesh Patel Richard Jennings Filipe R Costa Simon Carter James Faulkner Samuel Rae Anton Kreil John Piper
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While it may not be long before China is way ahead of the US in GDP terms, I would venture to suggest that when you have a command economy and do not need to consider such peripheral matters such as democracy, free speech, the environment or even getting GDP figures to be entirely accurate, it ain’t too difficult to be number one. Nevertheless, one presumes that with new found success, Western style openness will eventually penetrate China’s Great Wall. Not that we in the West are without our difficulties. It is to be noted how 11 years after the Iraq invasion in 2003 and in the run up to what was supposed to be a withdrawal from the strife torn country, one of the worst examples of attempted nation building is coming apart at the seams. We have been treated to predictable spikes in gold and crude oil with the ISIS advance. However, it remains to be seen if the equally predictable consequences of ill advised regime change and manipulation provide the US and its allies with a Vietnam style defeat or simply an ongoing geopolitical sore. From the perspective of Spreadbet Magazine, it could be that the troubles in the Middle East kill the post financial crisis economic recovery and end the record equity market bull run for the US. Richard Jennings of Titan Investment Partners has been championing the bear argument since the turn of the year. The question now is whether a bubble burst is on its way, not only for stocks in the US, but also the housing market in the UK. Interestingly enough, it would appear from commentators doing the rounds currently that a “melt-up” is now just as likely as a meltdown, even though we are well on the way in terms of QE tapering in the US and autumn interest rate rises in the UK. In this month’s issue we have several special articles focussing on how to play the UK housing market. Perhaps, rather ironically, it may be that new QE in the eurozone will actually win the battle in terms of adding inflationary fire to growth in this troubled space. The way that US firms such as GE and Pfizer have been looking across the Atlantic to make deals of late underlines this idea as a possible H2 2014 driver. Closer to home, I had the pleasure of interviewing a man who I regard as a “one person stock market”, and certainly an example of how to be an entrepreneur of the most active variety: David Lenigas. Although I am aware he may not be everyone’s cup of tea, and what is called these days a “Marmite” character, the 26 minute interview on TipTV was open, informative and gave considerable insight into how Mr Lenigas ticks, as well as the prospects for the 15 companies he is a board member of. Read the transcript of the interview on page 18. Enjoy this month’s issue and happy trading. Zak
July 2014 | www.financial-spread-betting.com | 3