Central Bank Watch
Bank of England’s Scheduled Policy Review Today Didn’t Augment Steps Taken Earlier in the Month
March 26, 2020
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee had lowered the bank rate from 0.75% to 0.25% on March 11 and by a further 15 basis points to 0.10%, a record low, on March 19. Officials also had lifted the ceiling on the purchases of gilt securities and corporate bonds to GBP 645 billion and had […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Shocking Leap in U.S. Jobless Insurance Claims Steals the Spotlight
March 26, 2020
From the outset of this week, the most feared data release was today’s report on new jobless insurance claims for the week ending March 21, which was going to capture the impact of broad business lockdowns to combat the spreading Covid-19 pandemic. New claims had averaged 251k during the four weeks through March 14, and […] More
Larry's Blog
Just an Interesting Covid-19 Coincidence… or Perhaps Not?
March 25, 2020
As one scans through the list of particularly hard-hit countries from the coronavirus pandemic, a correlation can be observed with targets of President Trump’s scorn. China, the principal object of America’s tariff war, was the location of patient zero, and President Trump has insinuated that China is to blame for the pandemic. China itself has […] More
Central Bank Watch
Central Bank Rate Cuts in Mexico and Albania
March 25, 2020
Given the flurry of inter-meeting central bank interest rate cuts during the Covid-19 pandemic, some moves have slipped initially under the radar. The Bank of Mexico overnight interbank rate had been already cut by 150 basis points since last August. At an emergency Governing Board meeting last Friday, the policy rate was sliced by a […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
U.S. Fiscal Deal Gives Stocks Only Brief Lift
March 25, 2020
Today will be a very important day to watch U.S. stocks. There has yet to be two consecutive up sessions since the market peaked in mid-February. The big overnight news was a tentative accord between President Trump and the U.S. senate on a $2 trillion fiscal stimulus, which moves next to a full-senate vote today. […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Market Hopes Hinging on a Big U.S. Fiscal Stimulus
March 24, 2020
Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. congress have still not reached agreement on fiscal policy, but markets are apparently more hopeful that it will get done soon. As a result, stock markets, commodity prices, and sovereign debt prices are up, while the dollar gave up some recent gains overnight. The global count of confirmed coronavirus […] More
Central Bank Watch
Shock and Awe from the Federal Reserve Meets a Skeptical Market
March 23, 2020
A series of statements released today at 12:00 GMT and prior to the North American start of trading represent an extraordinary array of quantitative monetary stimulus (QE) that is likely to surpass the size employed during the Great Recession. The intent is forestall an evaporation of financial market liquidity, to ensure that companies otherwise sound […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
A Very Robust Dollar with Continuing Upside Potential
March 23, 2020
The dollar has thrived during the global coronavirus pandemic. In the past two weeks the U.S. currency has advanced between 5% and 10% against the euro, yen, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar, Swedish krona, Turkish lira, Brazilian real, South Korean won and South African rand. It has climbed between 10% and 15% relative to the British […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Historically Steep Equity Rout Enters Fifth Week in a Fresh Air Pocket
March 23, 2020
Stock markets in the Pacific Rim tumbled 13.2% in India, 7.4% in Singapore, 6.4% in New Zealand, 5.6% in Australia, 5.3% in South Korea, 4.9% in Hong Kong and Indonesia, 3.7% in Taiwan, and 3.1% in China. Japan’s Nikkei, which had not traded last Friday, rose 2.0%. However, in Euriope, markets are down 2.5-3.0% in […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Next Week’s Menu: March 21-27, 2020
March 20, 2020
Central Banks: There are scheduled monetary policy meetings in Mexico, Thailand, Great Britain, and the Czech Republic, but in the current environment, unscheduled emergency central bank meetings are likely to remain as prevalent as one’s that have been planned in advance. St. Louis Fed President Bullard, ECB President Lagarde, and Bank of England Governor Bailey […] More
