August 19, 2026
President Trump claims the Strait of Hormuz is cleared of mines and back to normal. Other reports suggest that little shipping traffic is passing through that crucial channel. A U.S.-threatened 50% tariff on many Canadian goods that was to go into effect today was paused last night at least for 3 days as President Trump […] Read Article
August 14, 2026
Central Banks: Interest rate decisions will be announced Egypt, China, Indonesia, Sweden, Iceland and Jamaica. FOMC minutes get released on Wednesday, and central bankers with public speaking engagements in the period include Lagarde and Lane of the European Central Bank, Hauser of the Reserve Bank of Australia, and Sleijpen of the Swiss National Bank. State […] Read Article
August 19, 2026
Officials at the Central Bank of Iceland lifted their 7-day deposit rate by 25 basis points to 8.0%. This marks the third such tightening since March. Today’s 4-1 vote in favor of a higher interest rate comes amid elevated inflation caused by the world energy price shock. Icelandic CPI inflation was at 5.3% in July […] Read Article
July 31, 2026
The net July changes in the table below for the most part understates the extreme financial market turbulence caused by the re-escalating Middle East war, resulting sharp rise in the price of oil, rollout of a new U.S. tariff plan, extreme fires ravaging Europe and other parts of the world, and new regime at the […] Read Article
August 18, 2026
In this mid-August season of vacationing, this Tuesday saw few releases of economic data and no central bank rate announcements. In this vacuum, market attention turned to politics for guidance and and the musings of U.S. President Trump. He indicated no interest in extending the expired interim peace with Iran. Tomorrow is D-day for U.S./Canadian […] More
August 17, 2026
(126) The 60-day window allowing Iran and the United States to work out a mutually acceptable modification of Iran’s nuclear program expired today with nil progress. The cease-fire was plagued from the get-go by differing interpretations of language meant to restore normal traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Hardly any ships are currently going through […] More
August 14, 2026
Two weeks shy of half-year since the Middle East war’s start, the sides have hunkered down for a game of economic and political attrition. The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil is slightly up on the day and around 6% higher than a week ago. The dollar fell overnight by 0.7% against its New […] More
August 13, 2026
Major U.S. equity indices strengthened 0.4-0.9%. The 10-year Treasury yield’s slide of six basis points leads reductions of 4 bps in France and Spain, 3 bps in Germany, Italy and the U.K., and 2 bps in Switzerland. The weighted DXY dollar index edged 0.1% lower. Perceived chances that the Fed tightens at its September review […] More
August 12, 2026
Investors expect U.S. July overall and core consumer price inflation to dip marginally. Comments from Fed officials have suggested that an interest rate hike could happen at September’s meeting, but today’s CPI isn’t expected to seal that vote. If that in fact proves the case, attention will quickly turn to tomorrow’s producer price releases. Meanwhile, […] More
August 11, 2026
Because so many market participants take holidays at this time of year, August has a reputation in the financial community for being a calm period when not much happens, and the first half of this year’s August has pretty much conformed to that stereotype. It hasn’t always been so, however. It was in August that […] More
August 10, 2026
(127) The deadlock in efforts to reopen shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz goes on, with Iran insisting on 14 demands from the United States that are far beyond what the Trump Administration is willing to accept. The grave doubts that Middle Eastern experts expressed very early into the initial ceasefire have proven prescient, […] More
August 7, 2026
Central Banks: Monetary policy reviews in Australia, Norway, Peru and Serbia. Hammack, Barkin and Bowman of the Fed will be speaking publicly. So will Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Bullock to explain the RBA decision and the quarterly Monetary Policy Report. With President Trump resuming his quest to replace Govenor Cook, new questions about the […] More
August 7, 2026
The dollar marked time overnight, with no net changes against the euro, loonie or its weighted DXY index, an uptick of 0.1% relative to sterling, and downticks of 0.1% versus the Australian dollar and Japanese yen. Bigger drops of 0.3% occurred against the Mexican peso, Indonesia rupiah and Swiss franc and of 0.5% relative to […] More
August 6, 2026
The National Bank of Moldova’s base rate was increased to 7.5%, a 39-month high. This move followed increases of 150 basis points in May and 50 basis points in June undertaken to counteract intensifying effects from fighting in the Middle East. “The NBM’s decision to continue its restrictive monetary policy measures was adopted in the […] More
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