A Nervous Market Pushes Out the Next Fed Rate Hike

For what I think is the first time since the Fed rate hike in December, the market pushed out the timing of the next rate hike. Source: CME Group FedWatch The presumed change in heart has come from the trading chaos in China. Back in September, the Fed used out-sized volatility coming from China’s devaluation … Read more

How to Trade the Euro After the “Draghi Drubbing”

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 7, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), apparently decided not to follow the now well-established playbook for steering markets nearly perfected by the Federal Reserve: Guide the market to … Read more

The Bank of Canada Looks Forward to Policy Divergence

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 3, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) Lost in the flurry of economic and monetary news of the week was the Bank of Canada’s December decision on interest rates. The Bank kept its target rate at 0.5%, and … Read more

A Slow Grind: The Two Pillars Of Swiss Monetary Policy – Negative Rates and Franc Intervention

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on November 9, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) On November 3, 2015, Thomas Jordan, the Chair of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) spoke in front of the Investment Strategists Association of Geneva on the topic “The SNB’s monetary policy … Read more

A Policy Island for the Fed: The Bank of England and U.S. Economic Data Isolate the Fed

This past week was an important one for monetary policy. The Bank of England (BoE) made clear it is willing to put off rate hikes as long as necessary. Despite its words that suggest otherwise, the Bank is NOT biased for action. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen made it clear that, all else being … Read more