Investors are terrible at forecasting wars
Markets are just as clueless after conflicts happen
NATHAN ROTHSCHILD was in Waterloo when British troops cornered Napoleon’s into their final defeat. The banker quickly grasped an opportunity to turn field intelligence into financial gain. Having rushed back to London, he spread rumours that Wellington had lost, rocking markets, and picked up heaps of assets on the cheap. Then the real news reached Britain, and he reaped millions of pounds in profit.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Signal failure”
Finance & economics March 5th 2022
- China scrambles to prevent property pandemonium
- War and sanctions means higher inflation
- The war in Europe is a triple whammy for emerging markets
- European banks have most to lose in Russia
- South Korea’s economy threatens to become like Japan’s
- Investors are terrible at forecasting wars
- Vladimir Putin’s Fortress Russia is crumbling
From the March 5th 2022 edition
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