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

Deconstructing Materials Stocks

The deconstruction continues in material stocks. The culprit this time around was a poor reading and interpretation of construction spending. Per AP News: “U.S. construction spending dropped 1.7 percent in March, the biggest setback in 11 months, with weakness in a number of sectors including the biggest plunge in home building in nine years. The … Read more

The Canadian Dollar: The Bank of Canada Keeps Applying the Brakes

Last June, 2017, Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada (BoC) Carolyn A. Wilkins stepped onto the stage with a surprisingly bullish message about the Canadian economy. This speech set the stage for the BoC’s rollback of “emergency measure” rate cuts that responded to the past collapse in oil prices. At the time, the … Read more

U.S. Concrete: An Attractively Priced Bet On A Strong U.S. Economy – (Another Interview with CEO Bill Sandbrook)

Two weeks ago I expressed concern about the poor performance of the materials sector. The sector was under-performing the general market which seemed particularly ominous given the generally strong outlook for the economy. At the time, I expressed my hope that another interview with Bill Sandbrook, CEO of U.S. Concrete (USCR), would clear the air … Read more

Fresh Troubles for the Turkish Lira

The Turkish lira is in trouble again. Last week, USD/TRY hit an all-time high amid more dire headlines for the Turkish economy and the monetary policy of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT). On April 3rd, Bloomberg reported the following issues: 7.4% GDP growth in 2017 is overheating the economy. Turkish companies … Read more