ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
“Uncertainty about the global outlook is undiminished, particularly with respect to policies in the United States.” – Bank of Canada press release, “Bank of Canada maintains overnight rate target at 1/2 per cent”, January 18, 2017 I start with this quote from the Bank of Canada because it stands in stark contrast to global financial … Read more
“The slowdown in aggregate demand contributes to the fall in inflation. Yet, exchange rate movements due to recently heightened global uncertainty and volatility pose upside risks on the inflation outlook. The Committee decided to implement monetary tightening to contain adverse impact of these developments on expectations and the pricing behavior.” – The Central Bank of … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on November 14, 2016. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} These quotes came from Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England (BoE), in response to questions during the Q&A period of the November Inflation Report. I believe Carney reminded … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 7, 2016. Click here to read the entire piece.) The theme was consistent for the Markit economic indicators for August: the UK economy rebounded sharply and strongly from the initial post-Brexit blues. Almost across the board, measures of economic activity … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 28, 2016. Click here to read the entire piece.) Going into the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, various “Fed heads” were interviewed about the prospects for the next rate hike. The chorus in the days and weeks before Jackson Hole … Read more
The referendum that punted the UK out of the European Union (EU), “Brexit”, is practically a forgotten memory for most people outside of Europe. For example, the aftermath of this vote now looks like an event that quickly shook out the most eager sellers in the stock market and thus paved a course for a … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 3, 2016. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kicked off central bank action for August with a rate cut to a fresh record low of 1.50%. Financial markets were anticipating a cut with … Read more
Last week was full of important news for forex trading. As a dollar bull, euro bear, and yen bear, the week presented particular challenges that hedging could only soothe a little bit. I had a good run with these positions in recent weeks. As forex goes, a setback was due – just too bad the … Read more
“Faint and quaint” is how I am starting to describe the initial panic and consternation of financial markets resulting from the UK’s decision to exit from the European Union (EU), aka Brexit. The S&P 500 (SPY) now logs new all-time highs as if nothing ever happened. Yet, a rapid consensus has grown around reducing forecasts … Read more
Global bond yields are falling like rocks, many investors are paying governments to hold their money, and odds are increasing for more monetary accommodation from the major economies in the likes of the United Kingdom, the eurozone, and Japan. In the U.S., expectations for a rate cut have essentially been moved off the table. So, … Read more