Canadian Dollar: Bank of Canada Monetary Policy Interrupts A Recovery

Canadian Dollar After the Bank of Canada announced its latest update on monetary policy, the U.S. dollar gained about 1.7% on the Canadian dollar. I thought perhaps the Bank of Canada delivered some incredibly awful news. Nothing in the statement was a surprise. Indeed, the Bank of Canada essentially suggested it would not take rates … Read more

The U.S. Dollar Remains Well-Supported Despite A Month of Wild Swings

When the stock market sell-off began in earnest in late February, the U.S. dollar index (DXY) surprisingly plunged along with the major indices. I accepted the narrative explaining that the dollar’s decline came from the euro’s gain as “risk-off” traders rushed to close out euro shorts in carry trades. The swiftness of the risk-off move … Read more

Central Bank Unease: Fed Caps Week of Emergency Actions As Markets Panic

In an earlier post on Sunday, I provided reasons to believe that the market was finally drawing a line in the sand for a sustainable bottom. With anticipation, I pronounced I would go on a shopping spreed down to S&P 500 (SPY) 2600. At the time of writing, it looks like I may have to … Read more

The Race to Zero Interest Rate Policies (ZIRPs) Intensifies

The race to zero interest rate policies (ZIRPs) is reaching a climax. Australia: Reserve Bank of Australia On March 3, 2020, The Reserve Bank of Australia dropped its key interest rate 25 basis points (bps) from 0.75% to 0.5%, an all-time low for Australia. In doing so the RBA proclaimed the following in its statement: … Read more

A Viral Cure from the Federal Reserve: An Ambulance Full of Rate Cuts

Fed to the Rescue If you are sitting at home wringing your hands about catching a virus from the outside world, I am guessing you are not exactly relieved to hear that the U.S. Federal Reserve may try to come to your rescue with more rate cuts. Yet, easy money is what central banks know … Read more