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 February 24, 2016. Click here to read the entire piece.) Americans do not get to vote as a nation on anything unless it is something like American Idol or Dancing With the Stars; definitely nothing political. Our nation’s founders sought fit … Read more
In the previous week, forex traders extended existing positioning trends. This consistency reveals an on-going confidence in the given trends. Where these changes are consistent with currency moves, traders seem indeed justified in the confidence. However, there are some cases where these positions are starting to run counter to potential shifts in currencies. I expect … Read more
“The second question is on the euro exchange rate. Since the last large package of measures, it’s risen against the dollar and other currencies. How much of a concern is that? I know you don’t target the exchange rate specifically, but it’s an important economic factor. Does it say anything about the ECB’s ability to … Read more
The Bank of England (BoE) released its latest pronouncement on monetary policy on April 14, 2016. As has been the case for what feels like forever now, the BoE kept policy the same with Bank rate at 0.5%, and it maintained the stock of purchased assets at £375 billion. The BoE concluded that the outlook … Read more
A bottom for the British pound just got more likely. The latest data from the CFTC shows that net speculators beat a major retreat from net short positions against the British pound: Source: Oanda’s CFTC’s Commitments of Traders The chart shows that speculators have not held such small net short positions since the surge began … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 13, 2016. Click here to read the entire piece.) When I last wrote about the British pound (FXB), the currency was reaching the bottom of its latest downdraft. I did not know the bottom was near, but I did claim … Read more
Mario Draghi ALMOST got the language of infinite liquidity right this time around… The euro (FXE) approached the European Central Bank’s (ECB) March 10th press conference on monetary policy with high expectations. Even after getting burned in December’s Draghi Drubbing, the currency market “felt” prepared to accept that ECB President Draghi had learned the lessons … Read more
The following data cover the latest from the CFTC’s Commitment of Traders as reported by Oanda from the week of Monday, February 15, 2016. From Oanada: “The Commitments of Traders (COT) is a report issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It aggregates the holdings of participants in the U.S. futures markets (primarily based … Read more
The following data cover the latest from the CFTC’s Commitment of Traders as reported by Oanda from the week of from Monday, February 8, 2016. From Oanada: “The Commitments of Traders (COT) is a report issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It aggregates the holdings of participants in the U.S. futures markets (primarily … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 17, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Federal Reserve could not have asked for a better response to its first rate hike in 9 years and first move off zero interest rates in 7 years. The Fed … Read more