Turkish Lira Freshly Squeezed: Soaring Inflation and Erdogan

The tides are once again turning against the Turkish lira. For a week, USD/TRY battled with resistance at its 200-day moving average (DMA). Over the last two trading days, the currency pair finally made new closing highs on the 200DMA breakout. USD/TRY faded after testing the highs from the last 200DMA breakout in July. USD/TRY … Read more

The Climax of A Parabolic Move: The Case of the Turkish Lira

Desperate times bring out the creativity. On Thursday, January 12, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) effectively tightened monetary policy by canceling its weekly auction used to fund banks. On top of this move, Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, likened Turkey’s forex predicament to a fight against economic terrorism. Deutsche Bank (DB) … Read more

The Turkish Lira: A Currency In Freefall, A Pressed Central Bank

“The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) closely monitors the excessive volatility in the markets and will take necessary measures against unhealthy price formations that are inconsistent with economic fundamentals. Banks’ borrowing limits at the Interbank Money Market established within the CBRT have been lowered to TL 22 billion to be effective as … Read more

The Turkish Lira Approaches All-Time Lows As the Central Bank Fails to End the Selling

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on July 31, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) A month ago, I pointed out how the Turkish lira had reversed all its post-election losses. I argued that the lira was due to resume its weakness as the Central Bank … Read more

Trading Lessons from the Elections In Turkey

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on June 14, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) Turkey held national elections on June 7th. The events were well-covered given Turkey’s central location amid a set of geopolitical hotspots and its (former) place as a fast-growing emerging market. Source: … Read more

Turkish Lira Completes A Post-Election Reversal As Central Bank Waits On Inflation

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on June 28, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) Since I laid out a post-election trading strategy on the Turkish Lira (USD/TRY) two weeks ago, events have gone on a very slow burn. The currency and the stock market have … Read more

Parabolic Moves in the Ruble, Turkish Lira May Foreshadow the Same for the Australian Dollar

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 17, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) Currency markets have been rocked with increasingly extreme moves in risk-bearing currencies like the Russian ruble (USD/RUB). Last week, the Russian central bank hiked interest rates from 9.5% to 10.5%. This … Read more

T2108 Update (December 16, 2014) – A Rush to Panic Out of Russia, A Major Reversal In the Oil Patch, And More Breakdowns for U.S. Stocks

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. It helps to identify extremes in market sentiment that are likely to reverse. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag. T2108-related trades and other trades are … Read more

T2108 Update (September 22, 2014) – A Bearish Chill

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. It helps to identify extremes in market sentiment that are likely to reverse. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag. T2108-related trades and other trades are … Read more