The Reserve Bank of Australia Sets the Stage for the Next Rate Cut(s)

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced its November decision for monetary policy with a very familiar template. The most important part of the statement came at the end where the RBA made it clear rate cuts are on its collective mind (emphasis mine): “At today’s meeting the Board judged that the prospects for an … Read more

The Australian Dollar Should Face Increased Pressure from Policy Divergence

Australia’s persistently weak inflation data has now convinced the market that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is much more likely than not to cut interest rates at its November 3, 2015 meeting on monetary policy. Source: The ASX RBA Rate Indicator Combine this flip in market sentiment with the mirror image of the market … Read more

Australian Dollar Slammed By Inflation Data – More Weakness Likely

On October 28, 2015 (Australian time), the Australian dollar (FXA) was slammed by Australia’s September, 2015 inflation data. Source: FreeStockCharts.com The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported a 1.5% year-over-year increase in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September. While inflation is still hovering above the lows for the post-crisis period, this is the longest stretch … Read more

Glencore’s Correlation With Market Sentiment and An End to the Collapse In Commodities

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on October 14, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} This quote is the entirety of a terse and pointed press release that commodity giant Glencore (GLCNF) (GLNCY) delivered to calm market fears about the company’s business. This release came … Read more

Australian Dollar Healthcheck: An Extended Period of Weakness Remains Ahead

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on October 1, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} RBA Governor Glenn Stevens found a clever way to imply that the decline in the Australian dollar (FXA) still has a ways to go. First, he implied that the terms … Read more

The Reserve Bank of Australia Is Content to Wait for the U.S. Federal Reserve

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 1, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) delivered another plain vanilla decision on monetary policy. The RBA barely even acknowledged the stomach-churning volatility of the past two weeks or so. {snip} Markets … Read more

The Australian Dollar Weathers Another Test

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 12, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) I was just getting ready to think through my latest piece on the Australian dollar (FXA) as a story about the currency’s resiliency likely thanks to an on-going rebound in price … Read more

The Shrinking Australian Dollar

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on July 8, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) Against my previous expectations, the Australian dollar (FXA) continues to shrink. First the Chinese government panicked with successive rate cuts and next direct manipulation in its stock markets. Now it seems … Read more

Australian Dollar Poised for A Bounce After Holiday Trading Overreacts to Economic Data

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on July 6, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) On Wednesday, July 1, 2015 the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released international trade data for May which suggested that April’s big plunge may have been quite an aberration. On a … Read more

A Mysterious Omission By the Reserve Bank of Australia Lifts the Australian Dollar

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 4, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) issued its monetary policy decision for August. The RBA left rates unchanged just as the market expected. The rest of the statement was boilerplate … Read more