The Australian Dollar Defies the RBA’s Easing Bias

(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

Forex Critical: Up Is Down and Contrasts Confound

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

How to Reconcile Brexit Uncertainties and the Rally in Stock Markets: Don’t

“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

The Australian Dollar Remains Resilient Despite Soaring Odds for a Rate Cut

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

The Next Fed Rate Gets Rescheduled for “Never”

The U.S. Federal Reserve failed to hike rates in its June policy meeting just as expected. More importantly, the Fed left alone its projection of the appropriate policy path for 2016 at 0.9%. The Fed trimmed its expectation for 2017 from 1.9% to 1.6% and slashed 2018 from 3.0% to 2.4%. The “long run” dropped … Read more