Perspectives
On Debt
January, 2021
“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty and six, result misery”. Poor old Mr Micawber should know, he ended up in debtor’s prison when he was unable to meet his creditors demands. The world has a tense relationship with lending and borrowing, even the words used, from the latin “credere,” […]
Inflation Protection
January, 2021
The past decade has seen central banks pumping liquidity into the financial system on an unprecedented scale – it has been given the beguiling name of Quantitative Easing. In old coinage, we would call it printing money. This has been with the noble intention of preventing a collapse of the global economy, which would have […]
A Note on the Future
January, 2021
At the turn of the year, it pays to spend some time reflecting on the past – what has worked, what has not and why. Over the last decade, including the tumultuous year that was 2020, one of the best performing stocks (including investment trusts) listed in the UK has been the Scottish Mortgage Investment […]
Tacit Christmas and New Year Arrangements
December, 2020
Tacit will be closed on the public holidays for Christmas and New Year – 25 December, 28 December, and 1 January. The Tacit Team will operate a skeleton staff on other days and will monitor email and telephone lines. Any urgent matters will be dealt with as required; non-urgent matters will be dealt with after […]
Picking Up Pennies in Front of a Steamroller
December, 2020
As investors we have a dislike of excessive company debts. Companies that have too much debt ultimately have to structure their balance sheets or go out of business. Or do they? Corporate debt is priced off government debt. So if the government borrowing cost falls from 5% to 1%, all other things being equal, a […]
Follow the Stars
December, 2020
None of us could have imagined as we welcomed in the New Year 2020 what lay ahead of the world. The shutting down of vast swathes of the global economy to slow the transmission of the Covid-19 virus has been necessary to contain the numbers of critically ill patients requiring hospitalisation, but we are acutely […]
An Opportunity if You Can See it That Way
December, 2020
As investors, it is vital we focus on the opportunities that a changing economic environment can provide to us as well as the threats it can pose. 2020 has been a difficult year for many reasons for many people. 2021 is likely to be better, following vaccine developments and some return to normality. The new […]
November 2020 Spending Review
November, 2020
It’s a old political saw but when Harold Macmillan responded, ”Events, dear boy, events” to a question regarding what he feared most in politics and although he actually said the “opposition of events,” it could hardly ring more true than of the Covid crisis today. Covid has thrown the economy entirely off course and rewritten, […]
A Dressing Down
November, 2020
In Ancient Greece, people that defaulted on their debts were forced to sit in the marketplace with a basket placed over their heads. In 17th century Scotland, defaulters were required to wear a half yellow and half brown coat and cap in public. In France, they were ordered to wear a green bonnet. While these […]
The Value of Gold
November, 2020
The Stabiliser component of Tacit portfolios is very specifically designed to mitigate risks, both economic and market related, which may from time to time lead to a sharp correction in equity markets. Its components are primarily cash, G7 government bonds (both conventional and index linked) and Gold Bullion. These holdings are not held to provide […]