ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on June 4, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) I have followed the Bank of England’s quarterly Inflation Report since November, 2009 as a way to gain insight into the UK economy and the prospects for the British pound (FXB). … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on April 30, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) As recession descends across Europe, fiscal policies have received extra scrutiny. Austerity measures have been promoted as keys for long-term economic stability but the necessary short-term pains have been understated. Without … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on April 2, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) In January of this year, Adam Posen, External Member of the Monetary Policy Committee, Bank of England, gave a talk titled “What the return of 19th century economics means for 21st … Read more
On Tuesday (February 28), the British pound finally broke out against the U.S. dollar with a resounding surge above its 200-day moving average (200DMA). The struggle to break this resistance lasted the entire month of February. Despite this technical breakthrough, I remain skeptical that the British pound will deliver much follow-through before faltering again. Indeed, … Read more
I moderated my bullishness on the Australian dollar in early December because Australia’s terms of trade have likely peaked for now and the Reserve Bank of Australia had lowered rates twice. Last week, I recharged my bullishness on the Australian dollar after the Federal Reserve extended its dovish monetary policy. The Australian dollar experienced a … Read more
This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 5, 2011. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Swiss are getting impatient with their stubbornly strong currency. Ever since establishing a peg to the euro and a floor at 1.20 for EUR/CHF two months ago, the euro has … Read more
This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on November 15, 2011. Click here to read the entire piece.) Ever since the Bank of England announced more quantitative easing in the form of £75B of more bond buying, the British pound has bottomed and rallied against the U.S. dollar and … Read more
On July 24, British Business Secretary Vince Cable was interviewed on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. During this interview, Cable made the case for further quantitative easing (QE) if consumer demand in the UK continues to weaken. While he was quick to point out that the Bank of England runs independently, he provided a ringing … Read more
After scanning through the latest quarterly release of the “Statement of Monetary Policy” from the Reserve Bank of Australia, I was reminded that currency traders are trying to prepare for eventual rate hikes from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE): “While financial markets continue to expect the US federal funds … Read more
“It’s the main question that keeps me and my colleagues at the MPC up at night. That’s why in our last set of forecasts….we stressed there are upside risks. The slack in the economy is not pushing down on inflation the way we’d like…core inflation is higher in the UK; it’s not dragging down like … Read more