Tag Archives: China

Copper prices behave more deliberately than perhaps prices in other commodity markets. Like gold, it is still set by a mix of economic (meaning physical) and financial (meaning collateral and financing). Unlike gold, there doesn’t seem to be any rush to get to wherever the commodity market is going. Over the last several years, it has been more long periods of sideways. That’s what makes any potential breakout noteworthy. Dr. Copper’s place in the hierarchy is...

Markets in the US and Canada were closed on Monday for national Labor Day holidays. Here is a succinct summary of key developments that will set the backdrop for Tuesday. 1. On September 1, the new round of tariffs in the US-China fight took effect. The US placed a 15% tariff on around 3000 Chinese goods that thus far had escaped action. China put a 10% level on 1700 US goods. No date has been given for the next round of face-to-face talks that were expected this...

Interview with Alasdair Macleod: The past few months have been an exciting time for gold investors, as the precious metal has seen a spike in demand after serious economic concerns and geopolitical tensions unsettled the markets. Many mainstream analysts have pointed to a number of recent events, from the US-China trade war escalations to the inverted yield curve, to explain the recent gold rally. Although these developments certainly play a part in short-term price moves and are of...

Interview with Alasdair Macleod: The past few months have been an exciting time for gold investors, as the precious metal has seen a spike in demand after serious economic concerns and geopolitical tensions unsettled the markets. Many mainstream analysts have pointed to a number of recent events, from the US-China trade war escalations to the inverted yield curve, to explain the recent gold rally. Although these developments certainly play a part in short-term price moves and are of...

Equity markets and the US dollar closed last week and August on a firm note. Ahead of the weekend, the dollar rose to new highs for the year against the euro, Swedish krona, Norwegian krone, and the New Zealand dollar. While the next set of US and Chinese tariffs start September 1, the market is making the most of the lull. At the same time, US and Chinese officials probe each other to see if sufficient disruption has been felt to force concessions. Talking and...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.11% to 1.0873 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, August 26(see more posts on EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The anticipated growth implications of the heightened tensions between the world’s two largest economies is dominating activity at the start of the new week. These considerations that drove the 2.6% drop in the S&P 500 before the weekend is carrying over into today’s...

The Chinese have been reforming their monetary and credit system for decades. Liberalization has been an overriding goal, seen as necessary to accompany the processes which would keep the country’s economic “miracle” on track. Or get it back on track, as the case may be. Authorities had traditionally controlled interest rates through various limits and levers. It wasn’t until October 2004, for example, that the upper limit on lending rates was rescinded. In August...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.27% to 1.0879 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, August 19(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: China announced some changes in its interest rate framework that is expected to lead to lower rates. This helped lift equity markets, which were already recovering at the end of last week from the earlier drubbing. Chinese and Hong Kong shares led the regional rally with 2-3% gains....

The capital markets are in their own doom loop. Poor data from  Germany and China, coupled with the escalation of the US-China trade dispute and rising tensions in Hong Kong spur concerns about the risks of a global recession. Interest rates are driven lower, and curves flatten or go inverted, spurring more concern about the outlook. The problem is that it is not clear how this vicious cycle ends. To be sure, the end is conceivable but it seems beyond which the...

Das kommt den USA entgegen: Seit einigen Jahren tut Chinas Notenbank alles, um einen Preisanstieg des Dollars auf über 7 Yuan zu verhindern. Foto: AP Vor rund einer Woche hat das US-Finanzministerium (Treasury) China als unfairen Währungsmanipulator gebrandmarkt. Dieser Schritt ist der bisherige Höhepunkt an Absurdität in Trumps Handelskrieg mit China.  Noch in seinem jüngsten Bericht vom Mai sprach das Treasury China explizit von exakt diesem Vorwurf frei. Die Kriterien des Ministeriums...