Now that Bernanke Has Made His Move, It Is Azumi’s Turn

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 14, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) In the Federal Reserve’s latest statement on monetary policy, Chairman Ben Bernanke basically announced that the Fed is giving the economy a blank check: {snip} This forceful action is likely much … Read more

A Hypothesis for the Connection Between the Australian Dollar and the S&P 500

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 20, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) A reader recently asked the following questions in response to my last piece on the relationship between the Australian dollar and the S&P 500 (“A Bearish Divergence As Australian Dollar Stalls … Read more

Bank of Canada Confirms Carney’s Caution

On Tuesday morning the Bank of Canada decided to leave its overnight interest rate unchanged at 1.0% and confirmed the caution expressed by Governor Mark Carney on CNBC almost a month ago. The concluding paragraph in the statement on monetary policy summarizes the Bank’s concern about current economic conditions: “At this time of transition in … Read more

Will the Real Safety Currency Please Stand?

In “The Dollar Is Headed Lower“, Randall W. Forsyth wrote in Barron’s that “The dollar’s trend now is unequivocally lower. And that’s apparent whether you look at fundamental factors or the technical picture on the charts.” He does a good job of summarizing the current condition of de facto competitive devaluation that is increasing the … Read more

No Longer Bearish on the British Pound

While the euro catches all the headlines about its tremendous slide against the U.S. dollar, the British pound has followed closely behind. The pound has lost 12% against the U.S. dollar since its January peak while the euro has lost 18% in that same time. The pound has lost 15% since its post-recovery peak in … Read more

The Bank of Canada Continues to Lament Its Strong Currency

No new news in the Bank of Canada’s decision to maintain its overnight rate target at 0.25% and to start increasing this rate at the end of next quarter. The Bank of Canada continues to lament the stubborn strength of its currency despite these rock-bottom rates: “…the persistent strength of the Canadian dollar and the … Read more

The Canadian Dollar Resists the U.S. Dollar’s Advance

As the U.S. dollar index has steadily advanced this month, the relative strength of the Canadian dollar has perplexed me. The Canadian dollar has long seemed overplayed to me as a commodity-positive play given the country’s heavy dependence on the health of the U.S. economy – which I continue to assume will perform weakly in … Read more