CLSA kicked off its twelfth annual Investors' Forum on a skeptical note yesterday September 12 as chief economist Dr. Jim Walker outlined slipping confidence in the global economy. Acceleration in the Fed funds rate, an underwhelming year ahead for the Euro, and a downturn of the Chinese investment cycle all highlight what he describes as an uphill struggle for 2006.
Walker expects the Fed funds rate to rise another 200bp over the next nine months, with a 75bp increase coming over the next two meetings. Despite the effects of Hurricane Katrina on equity markets and the US economy, Walker believes the disaster has only delayed the inevitable and has had little...
