Larry's Blog
New York Major League Baseball Off to a Good Start
April 30, 2022
It’s early days in the 2022 major league baseball — just three weeks completed from the six-month, 162 game marathon season. At 15-6 after 20 games, the New York Mets own the best winning percentage in the National League, and the New York Yankees’ record of 14-6 is the best winning percentage in the American […] More
Deeper Analysis
April 2022 in Figures
April 29, 2022
The medium-term outlook for the U.S. economy soured progressively during the past month. The Federal Reserve signaled that it had no choice but to embark on an aggressive tightening of its policy, and investors worried that containing inflation from its current multi-decade high could not be possible unless the economy endures a period of recession. […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Next Week’s Menu: April 30 – May 6, 2022
April 29, 2022
Central Banks: Monetary policy meetings are scheduled in the United States, Australia, U.K., Poland, Czech Republic, Brazil, Norway, and Iceland. Fed Chairman Powell and Bank of England Governor Bailey will be speaking publicly. The Reserve Bank of Australia publishes its quarterly Monetary Policy Statement. Holidays and Events: British early spring bank holiday on Monday. Japanese […] More
Central Bank Watch
Central Bank of Russia Cuts Interest Rate Sharply Further
April 29, 2022
The Central Bank of Russia felt sufficient room to implement its second 300-basis point cut this month in its policy interest rate, which now becomes 14.0%. Officials had been expected to reduce interest rates by just 200 basis points. Its statement of explanation touted the ruble’s recovery to pre-war levels and asserted that with”price and […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Concerns about Corporate Earnings
April 29, 2022
Led by the tech sector especially pre-open declines of nearly 10% in Amazon and 2.5% in Apple, U.S. stock futures are lower on this final trading session of the difficult month of April. Amazon reported a quarterly drop in earnings, and Apple warned of persistent supply delays. Having touched a 19-year weighted high on Thursday, […] More
Central Bank Watch
Surprise Rate Hike in Sweden is First Increase since December 2019
April 28, 2022
The Swedish Riksbank announced a dramatic shift in its policy. The repo rate was raised from zero percent to 0.25%, defying a promise made as recently as the prior meeting in February not to raise such until well into 2024. Large global uncertainties and rapidly rising CPI inflation across a broad front forced this change […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of Japan Policy Unchanged
April 28, 2022
The Bank of Japan continues to contrast starkly with the Fed’s rapid transition from a patient strategy to a hurry-up offense against inflation. A four hour 54 minute deliberation over two days by the BOJ policy board ended in unchanged policy settings despite marked revisions in projected inflation and growth. The meeting unveiled a quarterly […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Multi-Year Highs in the Dollar
April 28, 2022
The weighted DXY dollar index has advanced 0.7% on balance today and touched a 19-year high of 103.93, which constitutes an appreciation of 43.3 in April 2008 during the subprime mortgage financial crisis. Overnight dollar highs included a 20-year peak of 131.01 against the Japanese yen and $1.0471 versus the euro. Compared to closing levels […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Dollar Rallying Further, Stocks Fragile
April 27, 2022
The weighted DXY dollar index advanced another 0.4% overnight to its highest level since mid-March 2020 when the Covid pandemic was still a new phenomenon. The dollar rose 0.7% versus the Japanese yen, 0.5% against the euro, and 0.3% relative to the Swiss franc, but the U.S. currency has slid somewhat against the Australian and […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Covid and Ukraine War Remain in the Spotlight
April 26, 2022
The uncertain evolutions of the war in Ukraine, Covid-19 pandemic and central bank interest rates are perpetuating erratic financial market movements. Stock markets are behaving diversely today, with drops of 1.4% in China, 2.1% in Australia, 0.8% in New Zealand and around 0.5% in U.S. futures countering gains of 1.4% in India, 0.4% in Japan […] More
