Say what one will, US President Trump is vigorously projecting what he believes are American interests. There is virtually no sign of the isolationism that many observers had anticipated. Indeed, as we have argued, the America First rejection of the League of Nations that Trump harkens back to was not isolationist as much as unilateralist. And the same is true of the Trump Administration. He is trying to get North Korea...
Read More »FX Daily, April 03: Markets in Search of Footing
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.04% to 1.1754 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, April 03(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates The sell-off in US tech shares dragged the market lower. The S&P 500 fell for the sixth session of the past eight and closed below the 200-day moving average for the first time in a couple of years. The sell-off in Asia and Europe is...
Read More »FX Daily, January 23: Dollar Stabilizes Near Recent Lows
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.14% to 1.1773 CHF. EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, January 23(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates The US dollar has come back better bid in late Asian activity. The session highlight was the BOJ meeting. BOJ maintained forecasts and policy. There was a small tweak to the inflation assessment, noting that prices were skewed to the...
Read More »NAFTA update — Calling Trump’s bluff
We see little risk of NAFTA falling apart in the near term, but question marks remain about the US’s commitment to free trade in the longer term.NAFTA renegotiation talks, which have hit a wall as a result of the US’s blatantly mercantilist and protectionist approach, will resume in mid-November in Mexico against the backdrop of some heavy-handed anti-dumping initiatives by the US authorities, with the slapping of punitive trade tariffs on some Canada-manufactured airplanes in October still...
Read More »NAFTA Worries Take Toll, Yellen’s Best Guess Supports Greenback
Summary: Risk that NAFTA collapses weighs on CAD and MXN. Yen is slightly firmer despite US yields edging higher and weekend polls suggesting LDP could nearly secure a 2/3 majority of its own. The sterling is consolidating after sharp moves at the end of last week. (Greetings from San Francisco, where I will be speaking at a CFA seminar on currencies tomorrow. The rebuilding from destruction of the of...
Read More »FX Daily, April 27: Several Developments ahead of the ECB meeting
Swiss Franc EUR/CHF - Euro Swiss Franc, April 27(see more posts on EUR/CHF, ) - Click to enlarge FX Rates The ECB meeting and the press conference that follows it is the main event. However, it has had to compete with the Bank of Japan and Riksbank meetings, as well as the further reflection of the tax reform proposals by the Trump Administration yesterday. Also, after a misdirection over pulling out of...
Read More »It Was ‘Dollars’ All Along
Ross Perot famously declared the “giant sucking sound” in the 1992 Presidential campaign. The debate over NAFTA did not end with George H. W. Bush’s defeat, as it simmered in one form or another for much of the 1990’s. Curiously, however, it seemed almost perfectly absent during the 2000’s, the very decade in which Perot’s prophecy came true. Americans didn’t notice because there was a bubble afoot. That bubble,...
Read More »Trade is Trump’s Centerpiece
Investors are anxiously awaiting more details on the new US Administration’s economic policies and priorities. Part of the challenge is that the cabinet represents a wide range of views and it is not clear where the informal power lies, or whose call is it. In terms of economic policy, trade is being given priority. It is seen as the key to the jobs and growth objectives. There have been two initiatives: formally...
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