Financial markets defy all adversities
The second quarter caused a few worry lines, putting the wind-up on financial markets without much success. Particularly at the political level, there is a lot of rumbling to be heard. In the Ukraine, the annexation of the Crimean peninsula threw up high waves that have not quite subsided yet. In Eastern Ukraine, the bloody power struggle between pro-Russian and pro-Western forces continues, keeping financial markets under latent strain. With the Syrian conflict having expanded into the southerly neighbour Iraq, and the aggressively and expansively-acting Isis, a worrying component has been added, further fanning the flames of the Middle Eastern wildfires. With the declaration of a new caliphate whose head, according to the current definition, has claim on the leadership of all Moslems, developments took on a new, dangerous dimension.