Do you know? International oil marketsNatural gas was historically traded only via regional pipelines, but liquefied natural gas (LNG) technology now allows it to be traded globally like oil, fundamentally reshaping energy markets. LNG plants supercool gas to -162°C, turning it into liquid for ocean transport, then regasify it at destination ports. This innovation broke…
Do you know? International oil marketsA growing shadow fleet of tankers deliberately disables their AIS tracking transponders to transport sanctioned oil (from Russia and Iran) across global markets undetected. This isn’t fringe activity—it’s become a core mechanism of the global oil system, softening price shocks from sanctions and explaining why oil prices remain surprisingly stable…
Do you know? International oil marketsBrent usually trades at a premium to West Texas Intermediate (WTI) because its North Sea origin allows for easy global shipping, making it the benchmark for two-thirds of world oil. Conversely, WTI is landlocked in Oklahoma, incurring higher costs to reach coastal markets via pipeline. Furthermore, Brent incorporates a geopolitical…
Do you know? Private creditAlthough defaults matter, many analysts see liquidity mismatches as the bigger systemic risk in private credit. The loans are long‑term and hard to sell, yet some vehicles let investors redeem capital periodically. If many withdraw at once, managers may need to gate redemptions, borrow, or sell loans at discounts. Similar liquidity…
Do you know? Private creditAlthough private credit is seen as a conservative income strategy, many deals include equity‑like features such as warrants, equity kickers, or profit‑sharing. These structures blur the line between debt and equity, and in some cases resemble leveraged‑buyout economics, where lenders share in a company’s upside. This boosts potential returns but also…
Do you know? Private creditPrivate credit loans are not priced through active markets, so their values come from internal models, third‑party estimates, or comparable‑loan assumptions. This produces smoother reported returns than publicly traded debt. But the stability can be misleading because losses often appear only when a borrower defaults or a loan is sold at…
Do you know? Private creditPrivate credit is often promoted as safer because lenders claim to secure stronger covenants, but covenant‑lite terms now dominate even private deals. Many loans no longer include traditional maintenance covenants that once signalled early financial deterioration. Without these triggers, lenders may only notice borrower weakness when distress is already advanced. As…
Do you know? Private creditPrivate credit is often labelled “non‑bank lending,” but in reality it mirrors elements of the shadow‑banking system. Many funds use fund‑level leverage and depend on investor capital that can be withdrawn sooner than the loans they extend. This creates a maturity mismatch similar to pre‑2008 structures. The main vulnerability is not…
Do you know? Global supply of memory chipsGlobal memory supply concentrates in South Korea (with Samsung and SK Hynix supplying 60% of DRAM and 50% of NAND) and in Taiwan and the US (supplying 30%). New fabs are delayed to 2028-2030 due to high costs (over USD20) and the current AI focus. The shortage is…
Do you know? Global supply of memory chipsThe AI boom overwhelms shared supply chains, comprising silicon wafers, chemicals and advanced nodes, causing HBM prioritisation to inflate all memory prices. DDR5 spot prices are already up 4 times while non-volatile flash memory (NAND and SSD) doubled since 2025, as manufacturers chase high-end contracts over consumer volume….