COVID-19
T Minus Five Weeks and Counting
September 29, 2020
The U.S. presidential and congressional elections are just five weeks away, and the first of three debates between Donald Trump and Joe Biden takes place in Cleveland tonight. In the wake of Trump tax information disclosed in the New York Times, that figures to be a major discussion topic, as will be America’s unfavorable handling […] More
Pandemic Eroding Resilience
July 28, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic keeps racking up victories against mankind’s efforts to return to a state of normalcy. U.S. deaths from the disease climbed above the 150,000 level, and the global case count advanced 4.4k in the past 24 hours to 1-2/3rds million people. A $1 trillion fiscal stimulus proposed by U.S. Senate Republicans has badly […] More
Dollar Falters Further and Price of Gold Blows Past its Historic High
July 27, 2020
The dollar weakened to a 22-month trade-weighted low overnight, with losses of 1.0% against the Swiss franc, 0.7% relative to sterling and the euro, 0.8% versus the peso, 0.6% vis-a-vis the yen, kiwi and Australian dollar, and 0.3% against the loonie. The Covid pandemic intensified over the weekend both globally and in the United States, […] More
Continuing Interplay of Covid and Economic Data
July 14, 2020
Covid-19 infestations in Texas, Florida, and California cast a big cloud on U.S. economic recovery prospects. The global Covid case and death counts climbed 204k and 4.1k in the past 24 hours. The dollar rose overnight by 0.3% versus the Chinese yuan, 0.2% against sterling and the kiwi, and by 0.1% relative to the yen […] More
T.G.I.F. after Another Difficult Week
July 10, 2020
The New York metropolitan area is bracing for a tropical storm front coming later today. The coronavirus’ grip on world financial markets remains relentless. In the United States, the daily total of newly reported cases surpassed 60k for a second straight day, and deaths from the disease climbed by almost 1k to a grand total […] More
Softer Dollar, Share Prices, and Sovereign Debt Yields
June 22, 2020
The upswing of global and U.S. Covid-19 infections accelerated over the weekend. Global cases moved above 9 million people, and U.S. deaths from the disease climbed above 122 thousand. The Trump rally in Oklahoma attracted fewer people than anticipated, in part reflecting fear of catching the virus. Street protests in American cities continued. The dollar […] More
Softer Dollar as Investor Risk Appetite of Improves
April 27, 2020
The dollar opened the new week on a down note, sliding 1.0% against the Australian dollar, 0.8% relative to the kiwi, 0.5% vis-a-vis the peso and sterling, 0.3% against the euro, and 0.2% versus the yen and loonie. Gold is little changed. The main financial market move today has been a 17.4% dive in West […] More
Disturbing News on Market, Economic, Medical and Social Fronts
April 20, 2020
The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil collapsed under the weight of exhausted storage capacity and plunging demand. At its overnight low of $11.04 per barrel, the price was down 39% on the day and by more than 80% from its 52-week high. It’s also the lowest since the first quarter of 1999 during […] More
Good and Bad News this Easter Monday
April 13, 2020
Many key markets in Europe remained shut today. Canada, Australia, and Hong Kong also observed Easter Monday, while South Africa is closed for Family Day. A big oil production cut agreement was reached Sunday involving the OPEC cartel, Norway, Russia, Mexico, Canada, Brazil and the United States. Step one will be a 9.7 million barrel […] More
New Week Brings More Covid-19 Deaths and More Risk Aversion
March 30, 2020
There have now been almost three quarters of a million identified Covid-19 cases around the world, resulting in 35k deaths. About a fifth of the cases have occurred in the United States. In the past 24 hours, Spain reported 537 more deaths to the illness. A ban on U.S. social gatherings has been extended to […] More
