Tag Archives: ECB

Summary: Fitch cut Italy’s rating outlook to negative from stable, while DBRS left Portugal’s rating and outlook unchanged. Europe and Canada’s free trade negotiations broke down, but many seem to be making exaggerating the significance of the drama. Japan and Australia report inflation figures, and both are exceptions to the generalization that price pressures are rising in (most) high income countries. There...

Summary: DB and Italian bank stocks have been moving in tandem. They suffer from fundamentally different problems. The euro has been selling off as the bank shares rebound. European banks may not be the main driver of the investment climate, but their challenges are not resolved.  Investors have focused on two country’s banks recently. Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Italian banks more generally. This Great...

This afternoon I had the privilege of being on Bloomberg TV, with anchors Scarlet Fu and Matt Miller. I was joined by an old market friend Bob Sinche. We had a lively discussion (what did you expect?) on two issues. The first was on the ECB. At his press conference earlier today, Draghi indicated that the question of extending QE and tapering was not discussed.  Bob argued that this was disingenuous. Of course it is...

Swiss Franc EUR/CHF - Euro Swiss Franc, October 20 2016(see more posts on EUR/CHF, ). - Click to enlarge GBP/CHF rates have fallen dramatically over the past month, as Sterling continues to find itself under pressure against the major currencies. However, despite these losses it is not all doom and gloom for those clients holding GBP, as Tuesday’s positive spike for the Pound proved. Currency does not move in a...

Summary: Extending or tapering QE was not discussed, but means little in terms of what the ECB decides in Sept. Draghi said growth risks are on the downside and inflation has yet to enter a meaningful uptrend. Reiterates that abrupt end of purchases is unlikely. ECB President Draghi said nothing to dampen expectations that in December, with the cover of new staff forecasts, the asset purchase program will...

Summary: Draghi will like emphasis inflation is the key to policy and ECB is committed using allow for its technical tools to achieve its legal mandate. Key decisions will be made in December. The more the euro rises against sterling, the greater the pressure for the euro to fall against the dollar. Mario Draghi - Click to enlarge The ECB meets tomorrow. Few, if any, are expecting fresh action. The...

ABN Amro, Natixis and Wells Fargo have issued bearish calls on gold. Natixis even expects three Fed rate hikes next year.  Pater Tanebrarum discusses these opinions critically.Since gold is correlated to CHF, this is a bearish for the Swiss Franc, too. One additional points speaks against a rate hike. The U.S. capacity utilization that is 75% compared to 90% in 1967. So Far a Normal Correction In last week’s update...

So Far a Normal Correction In last week’s update on the gold sector, we mentioned that there was a lot of negative sentiment detectable on an anecdotal basis. From a positioning perspective only the commitments of traders still appeared a bit stretched though, while from a technical perspective we felt that a pullback to the 200-day moving average in both gold and gold stocks shouldn’t be regarded as anything but a...

United States Of the forces driving prices in the week ahead, events appear more important than economic reports. There are four such events that investors must navigate. The Bank of Canada and the European Central Bank meet.  The UK High Court will deliver its ruling on the role of Parliament in Brexit.  The rating agency DBRS updates its credit rating for Portugal. The Bank of Canada is not going to change interest...

Swiss Franc  EUR/CHF - Euro Swiss Franc, October 14 2016(see more posts on EUR/CHF, ). - Click to enlarge FX Rates The US dollar is firm against most of the major currencies, but within yesterday’s ranges, which seems somewhat fitting amid the light new stream. The high-yielding Australian and New Zealand dollars are resisting the stronger greenback, while on the week the Aussie and the Canadian dollar are the...