Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.39% to 1.0704 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, June 16(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Shortly after the US stock market opened sharply lower, the Federal Reserve announced that it’s Main Street facility was up and running. US stocks never looked back. After the S&P 500 recouped its full decline, the Fed announced it would begin buying corporate bonds. Up until now,...
Read More »FX Daily, June 15: Unwind Continues
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.19% to 1.0688 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, June 15(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The swing in the pendulum of market sentiment toward fear from greed began last week and has carried over into today’s activity. Global equities are getting mauled. In the Asia Pacific region, no market was spared as the Nikkei’s 3.5% drop, and South Korea’s 4.7% fall led the way. In...
Read More »FX Daily, June 12: Licking Yesterday’s Wounds Today
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.32% to 1.0698 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, June 12(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The nearly three-month rally in risk assets ended with high drama with a stomach-churning almost 6% slide in the S&P 500 yesterday. Follow-through selling was seen in the Asia Pacific region, but most markets recovered from their lows, and although losses were still recorded, the...
Read More »From QE to Eternity: The Backdoor Yield Caps
So, you’re convinced that low rates are powerful stimulus. You believe, like any good standing Economist, that reduced interest costs can only lead to more credit across-the-board. That with more credit will emerge more economic activity and, better, activity of the inflationary variety. A recovery, in other words. Ceteris paribus. What happens, however, if you also believe you’ve been responsible for bringing rates down all across the curve…and then no recovery....
Read More »FX Daily, May 22: US-China Escalation Sinks Hong Kong and Hits Risk Appetites
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.42% to 1.0579 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, May 22(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The US has ratcheted up pressure on China on several fronts and has sapped risk appetites ahead of the weekend. Equity markets are lower across the world. Even in India, where the central bank unexpectedly cut the repo rate 40 bp, shares fell 0.7%. It was Hong Kong’s 5.5% that led the...
Read More »There Was Never A Need To Translate ‘Weimar’ Into Japanese
After years of futility, he was sure of the answer. The Bank of Japan had spent the better part of the roaring nineties fighting against itself as much as the bubble which had burst at the outset of the decade. Letting fiscal authorities rule the day, Japan’s central bank had largely sat back introducing what it said was stimulus in the form of lower and lower rates. No, stupid, declared Milton Friedman. Lower rates don’t mean stimulus they mean monetary policy has...
Read More »FX Daily, March 16: Monday Blues: Fed Moves Bigly and Stocks Slump
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.01% to 1.0541 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, March 16(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The Federal Reserve and central banks in the Asia Pacific region acted forcefully, but were unable to ease the consternation of investors. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut key rates by 75 bp. The Bank of Japan appears to have doubled its ETF purchase target to JPY12 trillion, and...
Read More »What Happens When Central Banks Buy Stocks (ETFs)? Well, We Already Know
Can we please dispense with all notions that monetary policy works? Specifically balance sheet expansion via any scale asset purchase programs. Nowhere has that been more apparent than Japan. Go back and reread all the promised benefits from BoJ’s Big Bang QQE that were confidently written in 2013. The biggest bazooka ever conceived has fallen short in every conceivable way. Starting with the fact QQE remains ongoing approaching its seventh birthday. Over here in...
Read More »FX Daily, March 10: Markets Stabilize after Body Blow
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.09% to 1.0597 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, March 10(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: It appears after a few days of miscues, US officials struck the right chord, and the global capital markets seemed to stabilize shortly after the US session ended. President Trump’s press conference today is expected to spell out in greater detail relief for households and businesses....
Read More »FX Daily, January 20: Stocks Stall while the Dollar Remains Bid
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.05% to 1.0737 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, January 20(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The new week is off to a quiet start as the US celebrates Martin Luther King’s birthday, and investors look for a fresh focus. Hong Kong and Indian markets were suffered modest declines while most of the other large Asia Pacific markets edged higher. European stocks are trading a...
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