Japanese industrial production
Busy Session on Last Business Day of August
August 30, 2019
A heap of economic data have been released, but also the following important geopolitical developments have occurred. A Scottish judge denied a court challenge to block Prime Minister Johnson’s plan to suspend parliament for a couple of weeks and thereby prevent parliament from organizing to prevent a hard Brexit if no deal can be reached. […] More
U.S.-Sino Trade Relations Remains at Center Stage
August 15, 2019
The trade war between China and the United States rumbles on. While scheduled U.S. tariff hikes have been delayed to December, Beijing officials are not inclined to give the Trump Administration what it seeks and instead are preparing to retaliate in kind. A senior officials at the Reserve Bank of Australia expressed reservations about the […] More
Financial Markets Feeling the Strain of A Breakdown in International Trade Relations
May 31, 2019
President Trump is imposing a tariff on all U.S. imports from Mexico in retaliation of that country’s failure to contain the flow of migrants crossing into the United States. China is ramping up its response to President Trump’s recent protectionist acts against Chinese exports and especially the action against Huawei. U.S.-EU trade talks also have […] More
Several Japanese Data Reported but Investors Marking Time Ahead of U.S. Figures
April 26, 2019
Shortly before the first release of U.S. first-quarter GDP, the dollar showed no net overnight change against the euro, loonie or sterling. There were 0.1% upticks relative to the yen, Swiss franc and peso, a 0.1% downtick vis-a-vis the yuan and drops of 0.5% against the kiwi and 0.3% versus the Australian dollar. European share […] More
Quarter-End Finds Focus on Brexit, Sino-U.S. Trade Talks and a Data Shower
March 29, 2019
Today was to have been Brexit Day, but it appears the Prime Minister May’s plan will be defeated in parliament for a third time. More confusion ahead. The United States and Chinese trade talks haven’t yet sealed a deal, but one seems to be getting a lot closer. Many pundits on such matters doubt it […] More
Another Possibly Terrorist Shooting
March 18, 2019
As the last business week ended on Friday, investors learned of a terrorist shooting by a neo-nazi at a mosque in New Zealand that killed 50 people, and today brings news of another shooting some 11,670 miles away on a tram in The Netherlands that is also believed to be the work of a terrorist. […] More
No Deal Between U.S. and North Korea and a Whole Lot of Data Released
February 28, 2019
The summit between U.S. President Trump and North Korean President Kim ended prematurely without an agreement. Share prices in Asia lost 1.8% in South Korea, 1.3% in Indonesia, 1.2% in Singapore, 0.9% in Hong Kong, 0.8% in Japan but only 0.4% in China. In Europe, there’s been scant net movement in the German Dax or […] More
Short-Lived Fed Stockmarket Rally
January 31, 2019
The FOMC’s tightening pause gave a big boost to U.S. stocks yesterday and was augmented by some better-than-expected corporate earnings. But the DOW fell in the first hour of U.S. trading, and share prices have also weakened today in Germany France, and Australia. This contrasts with gains close to 1% in China, Hong Kong and […] More
Persistent Volatility as 2018 Winds Down
December 28, 2018
U.S. equities whip-sawed wildly in Thursday’s session, closing high. The upward direction carried into early Friday, with markets gaining 0.9% in Taiwan, 0.8% in India, 1.0% in Australia, 0.6% in South Korean, 0.4% in China and Hong Kong but dipping 0.3% in Japan. Markets in Europe are up so far 2.4% in Switzerland and between […] More
Investors Watching G20 Summit and Examining Today’s Load of Data
November 30, 2018
The dollar rose 0.7% against the euro overnight but just 0.1% relative to the yen and sterling. Stocks dropped 1.6% in Australia and 0.8% in Indonesia and South Korea but climbed 0.8% in China, 0.5% in Hong Kong and 0.4% in Japan. Share prices in Europe are down 1.0% in the U.K. and 0.3% in […] More
