SL Advisors Talks Markets

It’s too early to say what caused the loss of power across Spain and parts of Portugal, but early signs are that it was linked to a disruption in solar supply. Some will soon blame it on global warming. But reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) requires increased electrification of energy systems. European governments are pushing […]

Midstream energy infrastructure is offering solid defense during a period when Presidential ruminations on tariffs or Jay Powell’s career prospects regularly cause 2% daily market moves. Operating a pipeline business is dull by comparison. These companies are largely immune to trade wars. They just keep generating cash and raising dividends. Last week Energy Transfer (ET) […]

Tariff turmoil and the market’s gyrations have elicited more than normal feedback on recent blog posts. Politically, our readers and investors tend to be Republican so many are inclined to look for positives in Liberation Day and the subsequent policy switches. Some echo Trump’s claim that foreign countries have been exploiting the US for years. […]

On Wednesday during Q&A following Jay Powell’s speech to the Economic Club of Chicago, he warned that the near-term impact of tariffs is likely to be rising unemployment and rising inflation. The Fed’s twin mandate is one of maximum employment consistent with price stability. Powell said, “I believe that for the remainder of this year, we […]

Last week President Trump said the EU should close its trade surplus with the US by buying $350BN of US energy. The Administration’s spontaneous policy switches on tariffs have been unpleasant for investors. But at least for those exposed to the energy sector, there’s a gratifying consistency in that oil and gas are invariably part […]

Dimitri Alperovitch co-founded CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm whose faulty software update on the Windows operating system last year led to worldwide IT failures. Alperovitch was no longer with the company, having left four years earlier to launch a nonprofit called the Silverado Policy Accelerator. In April 2024 he published World on the Brink: How America […]

Last year luxury car sales in Singapore collapsed. Sales of new Bentley, Ferrari, Jaguar and Rolls Royce models were down by as much as three quarters compared with 2023. This wasn’t caused by an economic slowdown. Singapore’s government clamped down on money laundering. Most buyers of such cars are Chinese nationals. Car dealers are required […]

A new administration took office determined to change the economy’s direction with overhauled policies. The leader and key advisers huddled, drawing up their plans in relative secrecy. Once ready, they were unveiled with great fanfare, heralding a new dawn in economic stewardship. Markets, caught by surprise without having had the opportunity to assess them via […]

Americans did vote for tariffs when we elected Donald Trump. Many perhaps thought they’d be implemented with a clearer strategic purpose. I had hoped we’d use them to open up foreign markets such as the EU, reducing our trade deficit by exporting more not by importing less. And most voters probably weren’t voting for a […]

Which is a more important measure of an investment manager’s skill – the return on the first dollar invested at inception, or the return on the average dollar? Return since inception is widely used because it covers the longest period. If performance is reasonably consistent, both methods should tell the same story. That this is […]