Bad Signs: The Australian Dollar Trips As Iron Ore Stumbles Over $100

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on May 20, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) The miners of iron ore spent the last few years ramping up production capacity, and now they are ramping up production. The price of iron ore has steadily fallen in 2014 … Read more

Stevens Passes On Jawboning the Australian Dollar and Sticks to A Familiar Script

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 27, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Australian dollar (FXA) has been incredibly resilient in recent weeks. Weak economic data from China and concerns about excessive debt in the Chinese economy have barely dented the recent momentum. … Read more

Cliffs Natural Resources CEO Yearns for Iron Ore Collusion, uh, Cooperation

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 12, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) When I last wrote about the colorful CEO of Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF), Lourenco Goncalves, he was lambasting the Australians for manipulating their currency as a last desperate measure to save … Read more

While Cliffs Natural Resources Lashes Out, Rio Tinto Coolly Maintains the Pressure

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 20, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) I extend a hat tip to the Sydney Morning Herald for alerting me to the incendiary comments made by Lourenco Goncalves, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cliffs Natural Resources … Read more

It Had to Happen – An Outright Call for Iron Ore Collusion

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 26, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} The response was swift. The The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released a statement indicating it will investigate the context and nature of comments made by Andrew Forrest, founder … Read more

More Rate Cut Pressure As Australian Dollar’s Multi-Year Weakness Fails to Curb Trade Deficit

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on April 2, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) A drop in the Australian dollar (FXA) toward a fresh six-year low has not stopped Australia’s trade balance from worsening. {snip} Source: The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Source for currency … Read more

Surprising Divergences Tugging At the Australian Dollar

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 31, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) Over the weekend another wave of rumors about plans for economic stimulus in China made the rounds. These rumors were credited for helping to drive China’s Shanghai index toward a 7-year … Read more

The Reserve Bank of Australia Slows the Momentum for Rate Cuts

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 2, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) This time around, the currency market seemed well-prepared for a rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). As luck would have it, the RBA did not cooperate. {snip} This … Read more

A Weekend Rate Cut In China Fails to Stir the Australian Dollar; RBA Now On Tap

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 2, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) On Saturday, the People’s Bank of China cut its benchmark interest rates by 0.25 percentage points (25 basis points). Yet, as of the open of Asian trading, the Australian dollar (FXA) … Read more