British Pound Hits A Post-Brexit Support In the Wake of Monetary Swirl

When U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin helped send the dollar careening with commentary welcoming a weak dollar, the British pound (FXB) surged enough against the then hapless U.S. dollar to make me speculate on GBP/USD reaching a blow-off top. GBP/USD did indeed pull back from that point, albeit in very choppy fashion, for almost a … Read more

The British Pound and Mark Carney: Lots of Noise and Little Action

The following chart reminds me that except for one post-Brexit emergency rate cut and its rapid reversal once the cut turned out to be unnecessary, the Bank of England (BoE) has done nothing with interest rates in the 9 years since the financial crisis. Source: Bank of England During an interview with the BBC on … Read more

The British Pound and Carney Are Deja Vu All Over Again

“There’s already great speculation about the exact timing of the first rate hike and this decision is becoming more balanced. It could happen sooner than markets currently expect… …The need for internal balance – to use up wasteful spare capacity while achieving the inflation target – will likely require gradual and limited interest rate increases … Read more

The British Pound Finds Fresh Support In The UK’s Economic About-Face

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 7, 2016. Click here to read the entire piece.) The theme was consistent for the Markit economic indicators for August: the UK economy rebounded sharply and strongly from the initial post-Brexit blues. Almost across the board, measures of economic activity … Read more

The Bank of England’s Recent Retreat On Rate Hikes (A Blueprint for the Fed?)

What a difference 19 months make. It was June, 2014 when Bank of England (BoE) Governor Mark Carney confidently warned financial markets that rate hikes could come earlier than implied at that time by the market. Less than a month later, the British pound (FXB) (or sterling) peaked against the U.S. dollar (DXY0). Peaks against … Read more

Carney Rate Hike Talk Drives Over-Eager Buying of the British Pound

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on June 12, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) After artfully fending off questions about the timing for higher interest rates, Mark Carney finally gave the market throngs a clearer hint: {snip} Mark Carney on timing of first rate rise: … Read more

Carney Delivers A Buying Opportunity in the British Pound With Talk Of “Evolving Guidance”

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 27, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) “Escape velocity won’t come cheap.” – Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England (BoE), January 24, 2014 This was Governor Carney’s warning to the audience at the Davos CBI British … Read more

An Apparent About Face As Carney Bails On QE, Provides Rocket Fuel for the Pound

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 27, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) A simple statement is all it took: “THE Bank of England would consider the case for more quantitative easing should the recovery falter, Mark Carney told the Yorkshire Post. ‘But my … Read more

A “Non-Dovish” Mark Carney Sets A Floor for the Pound

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 30, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} Before Mark Carney took over as governor of the Bank of England (BoE), the main question buzzing in financial media seemed to focus on figuring out just how dovish Carney … Read more

Pound Continues to Push Higher As Carney Fails to Rein In Bond Market

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 15, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) In last week’s Inflation Report, Bank of England governor Mark Carney tried his best to spin the good economic data in the United Kingdom as evidence that interest rates need to … Read more