Chinese retail sales and industrial production
Post-Deal Optimism Holding
June 16, 2026
Much still remains unknown regarding the future evolution of U.S.-Iran talks, but yesterday’s rally in equities and decline of long-term interest rates following the announced interim deal has persisted. Stock markets this Tuesday rose 4.1% in Indonesia, 2.1% in South Korea, 0.9% in Taiwan but just 0.1% in Japan where Bank of Japan officials hiked […] More
Only the Middle East Conflict Seems to Matter These Days
May 18, 2026
(139) Now into its twelfth week, the negotiating impasse between the United States and Iran and ongoing halt to shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz continues to override all other factors affecting financial markets especially in the face of evidence of mounting inflationary pressure around the world. The latest U.S. proposal, an offer to […] More
Iran War and Central Bank Interest Rate Decisions to Dominate This Week’s Financial Market News
March 16, 2026
(148) But right now, markets have responded positively to stronger-than-projected Chinese data while awaiting today’s release of U.S. industrial production. The Iran War narrative is meanwhile focused on whether President Trump will declare America’s main goals accomplished and pull out or decided to prolong the fight until there is a major downward break in oil […] More
Business World Plows On In Spite of Dystopic Newsfeed
December 15, 2025
(161) The coming week will be the last one of 2025 in which financial markets are not heavily affected by year-end factors. A heavy menu of economic data releases, including belated U.S. ones due to the government shutdown. Oftentimes particularly in the early years of the floating exchange rate era, the dollar exhibited a downward […] More
Widely Shared Big Losses
November 14, 2025
Yesterday’s stock market sell-off has extended into Friday. One catalyst was the Trump administration’s suggestion that some key data points not collected during the federal shutdown may never be known. This surprise dropped on an investment community already showing rising concern that equity values, especially among in the tech sector, were unsustainably inflated. News that […] More
Spotlight on China
October 20, 2025
(169) In contrast to 38 years ago when the DOW plunged 22.6% on October 19, 1987, week four of this October kicked off on a hopeful note following upbeat U.S. official comments about prospects for averting worst-case trade scenarios after October 31 when the current trade truce with China runs out. Negotiations will proceed this week […] More
Soft Chinese Data, A Downgraded French Credit Rating, Upcoming Monetary Policy Reviews, and a Japanese Holiday
September 15, 2025
(174) Japanese markets were closed today in observance of Respect for the Aged Day, but China released August economic figures, which on the whole surprised to the downside. A 3.4% 12-month rate of rise in Chinese retail sales was the slowest in nine months and down from the 7.2% increase in 2024. Industrial production rose […] More
Important Chinese, Japanese and U.S. Data Out… Next Up: Putin & Trump Talks in Alaska
August 15, 2025
The dollar fell overnight by 0.6% against the euro and peso, 0.5% versus the yen, and 0.3% relative to the Swiss franc and sterling. Ten-year sovereign debt yields climbed eight basis points in France and Italy, seven bps in France and Spain, six bps in Germany but just two bps in Japan and a single […] More
Chinese GDP and U.S. CPI Highlight Today’s Data Menu
July 15, 2025
A slew of Chinese economic data were reported earlier today, and now investors await U.S. June consumer price figures that are expected to reveal a further acceleration of both total and core inflation. The initial effect of higher tariffs may be clarified, and this release will play a guiding role in what the Fed officials […] More
Fresh Concerns about U.S. and Chinese Economies
May 19, 2025
(191) Two related developments conspired to hurt the U.S. Treasury bond markets in overnight trading. The Moody’s agency downgraded their rating of U.S. federal debt to Aa1 from Aaa, projecting sizable additional increases over the coming decade in both debt to 134% of GDP from 98% and in the deficit to GDP ratio to 9%. […] More
