The latest numbers for global markets are now available within the news section of the website. These reveal that to the end of March 2012 (Q1) the investment world was looking pretty positive. The FTSE All-Share returning 15%, even the Nikkei 225 put on 15.9%. Gold being one of the more obvious single digit commodities at 5.7%. The Dow Jones up 8.8% only a bit better than the MSCI European index at 8.0%. You can read all the numbers here. But please don’t read too much into them… doing so is like attempting to read tea leaves. Markets have weakened in the last few days, for a number of reasons – but the mention of Spanish Bonds and the price of iron ore would only add to the volume of speculation. The housing markets here and in the US are improving, but I remain very concerned about America when I watch supposed experts talk on Bloomberg about how difficult it is to get a mortgage because people have to complete some paperwork. Given the recent history of US lenders giving away money to people that didn’t have any (Ninja’s) – No Income No Jobs and a culture where you can return the keys without recourse, I remain deeply concerned that the bluff and thunder of the American property market is entirely misplaced. Let us hope that they think carefully and learn some lessons about wise borrowing…and that we do too.

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