Uncategorized
Bracing for Hurricane Florence, Higher Tariffs, More Fed Restraint and Ultimately Inflation
September 12, 2018
The Carolinas are expected to be slammed by a storm of historical proportions with 100+ MPH winds, a huge storm surge, and Harvey-like rainfall. Landfall is predicted late Thursday/early Friday. President Trump has hinted that a colossal new round of tariffs may be announced this week. The Federal Open Market Committee’s next policy meeting is […] More
Stronger Equities But Softer Dollar
June 4, 2018
Stocks advanced overnight by 1.9% in Hong Kong, 1.5% in Taiwan, 1.4% in Japan, 1.2% in Singapore, 0.6% in Australia, 0.5% in China and 0.4% in South Korea. New Zealand’s market was shut in observance of the Queen’s Birthday, and the Indian Sensex index dropped 0.6%. In Europe, equities have jumped 1.8% in Spain and […] More
Bank of England
May 10, 2018
The latest Monetary Policy Committee meeting ended without any change in the 0.5% Base Rate or in the Bank of England’s GBP 10 billion of corporate bond purchases and GBP 435 billion ceiling on gilt purchases. The released statement explaining this decision was accompanied by a new quarterly Inflation Report. After the MPC last reviewed […] More
Markets Continue to React to Friday’s Good U.S. Jobs Report
March 12, 2018
Equity markets made broad gains in the Pacific Rim, advancing 2.0% in Hong Kong, 1.8% in India, 1.7% in Japan, 1.6% in Singapore, 1.3% in Taiwan, 1.1% in Indonesia and New Zealand, 1.0% in South Korea, and 0.6% in China and Australia. Likewise, stocks are up 1.8% in Greece, 0.7% in Germany, 0.6% in Spain, […] More
Next Week
February 23, 2018
Central Banks: Monetary policy reviews in South Korea, Israel, Ukraine, and Hungary. Fed Chairman Powell’s initial semi-annual Humphrey Hawkins testimony (Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee and Thursday before the Senate Banking Committee). Fed also publishes its Beige Book of regional economic conditions. Manufacturing Purchasing Manager February Surveys: China, U.S., Japan, U.K, Euroland, Germany, […] More
U.S. Markets Shut but Dollar Still Slides
January 15, 2018
The United States is observing the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. President Trump once again rejected the criticism that he’s a racist. The Bank of Japan has held a quarterly branch managers meeting and published its regional economic report. Three of the nine regions are experiencing improved conditions. Two regions are expanding, four are expanding […] More
Dollar Performance When Big U.S. Tax Cuts Are Undertaken
November 13, 2017
It remains unclear whether President Trump will get a tax cut law to sign by the end of this year or even in 2018. Both the Republican-controlled congress and he want to get this done, but the devil is in the details. If this legislation indeed happens, it will undoubtedly be large in scale like […] More
A Rebound in Sovereign Bond Yields but Softer Stocks and Dollar
November 9, 2017
The dollar fell 0.5% overnight against the yen, 0.3% versus the euro and Swiss franc and 0.1% relative to the loonie. The Australian dollar and sterling are unchanged, and the kiwi, yuan and peso dipped 0.1%. Share prices eased 0.7% in Taiwan, 0.3% in New Zealand and 0.2% in Japan. Equity losses today in Europe […] More
Market Pessimism Intrudes
October 19, 2017
Yesterday’s stock market optimism swung into reverse. Data showing softer Chinese growth in 3Q hit the Hong Kong market, where the Hang Seng index fell 2.2%. The Spanish government of Prime Minister Rajoy invoked previously unused constitutional powers to revoke Catalonia’s autonomy. In response, stocks in Europe are down 2.2% in Greece, 1.3% in Italy, […] More
Monday’s Spotlight on Politics and Central Banks
September 25, 2017
Saturday’s parliamentary election in New Zealand resulted in a hung parliament. The center-right National Party of Prime Minister English took a 46.0% plurality of the popular vote (58 of 120 seats) and will need to cobble together a coalition with smaller parties to form a government. Labour won 35.8% of the vote, good for 45 […] More
