Richard Harris

3 weeks ago | scmp.com | Richard Harris

The final classic of England’s horse racing season is the St Leger’s Day race at Doncaster, on September 13 – made famous by the stockbroker’s mantra, “Sell in May and go away, come again St Leger’s Day”. This referred to well-heeled brokers taking long summer holidays when trading was subdued and left in the hands of junior dealers. Mantras like these recognise that markets show a definite seasonality, with quiet summers giving way to an often-exciting October as money movers return to work.

1 month ago | scmp.com | Richard Harris

To investors worried about the direction of volatile markets over the next few weeks, fear not. I have some good news for you. The impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariff tantrum is abating. The markets are back to normal – at least for now. But to understand why markets have somewhat recovered, albeit temporarily, we need to review how the system for pricing assets works.

2 months ago | scmp.com | Richard Harris

The first Hong Kong Sevens in the new Kai Tak Stadium was a success except for the rule that forbade outside food and drink to protect the concessionaires – who then ran out of, er, food and drink. Despite these privations, three days in a small seat surrounded by thousands of people allows for deep introspection with neighbours. In between loud cheers for Hong Kong’s victories in both the men’s and women’s Melrose Claymores, the dominant narrative was geopolitics.

Mar 6, 2025 | scmp.com | Richard Harris

The dramatic public row between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky popped the bubble of the White House echo chamber. Zelensky, a wartime leader, exposed the man whose closest brush with war was a medical deferment that prevented him from serving. Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance showed their limited understanding of anything outside Washington. When Zelensky asked Vance if he’d been to Ukraine, he said he’d “watched and seen the stories”. Where?

Jan 1, 2025 | scmp.com | Richard Harris

Attentive readers will know that a year ago I laid out five myths, or dominant but misleading investment narratives, that were generally accepted as baseline expectations by the markets. Any myth has a proportion of truth attached. In articulating them, one runs the risk that at least some of the myth turns out to be correct.