I wrote a few months ago that Germany’s factories have been the perfect example of the eurodollar squeeze. The disinflationary tendency that even central bankers can’t ignore once it shows up in the global economy as obvious headwinds. What made and still makes German industry noteworthy is the way it has unfolded and continues to unfold. The downtrend just won’t stop. According to Germany’s deStatis, factory orders in December 2019 were down sharply yet again....
Read More »FX Daily, February 3: Inauspicious Start to the Year of the (Flying) Rat
Overview: The Year of the Rat is off to an inauspicious start as apparently a fly rat (a bat) virus has jumped to humans. China’s markets re-opening amid much fanfare, and the Shanghai Composite dropped 7.7%, which is about what the futures in Singapore had anticipated. Several other markets in the region (Japan’s Nikkei, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand) fell by more than 1%. However, European and US shares are edging higher, and other measures of...
Read More »FX Daily, January 8: Hopes of De-Escalation Help Markets Stabilize
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.27% to 1.079 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, January 8(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The Iranian retaliatory missile strike on Iraqi-bases housing US forces initially sparked a dramatic risk-off response throughout the capital markets. The muted response by the US coupled with signals from Tehran that it had “concluded” its proportionate measures saw the markets...
Read More »FX Daily, October 23: Markets Lack Much Conviction, Await Fresh Developments
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.06% to 1.0999 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, October 23(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: UK Prime Minister Johnson is neither dead in a ditch as he said he would prefer to be than request an extension of Brexit, nor will the UK leave the EU at the end of the month. Yesterday’s vote rejected the attempt to fast-track the legislation needed to support the divorce...
Read More »Tidbits Of Further Warnings: Houston, We (Still) Have A (Repo) Problem
Despite the name, the Fed doesn’t actually intervene in the US$ repo market. I know they called them overnight repo operations, but that’s only because they mimic repo transactions not because the central bank is conducting them in that specific place. What really happened was FRBNY allotting bank reserves (in exchange for UST, MBS, and agency collateral) only to the 24 primary dealers. These were repos only between those entities and the Federal Reserve. It had...
Read More »FX Daily, September 16: Oil Surge Pared, Markets Remain on Edge
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.22% to 1.0942 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, September 16(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Oil prices surged in the initial reaction to the unprecedented drone attack on Saudi Arabia facilities. Saudi Arabia may be able to restore around half of the lost production in a few days. Saudi Arabia and other countries, including the US, prepared to tap strategic reserves, oil...
Read More »FX Daily, September 11: Dollar is Firm as ECB is Awaited
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.31% to 1.092 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, September 11(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Global equities are extending their recent gains while bonds remain on the defensive. The dollar is firm. There is a degree of optimism that is prevailing. There are some more overtures in terms of US-Chinese trade. In Hong Kong, developers and banks led an equity rally on ideas...
Read More »US Industrial Downturn: What If Oil and Inventory Join It?
Revised estimates from the Federal Reserve are beginning to suggest another area for concern in the US economy. There hadn’t really been all that much supply side capex activity taking place to begin with. Despite the idea of an economic boom in 2017, businesses across the whole economy just hadn’t been building like there was one nor in anticipation of one. The only place where there was a truly robust trend was the oil patch. Since the last crash a few years ago,...
Read More »FX Daily, August 12: Yen Remains Bid, While Macri’s Loss in Argentina Weighs on Struggling Mexican Peso
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.06% to 1.0883 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, August 12(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: China again tried to temper the downside pressure on the yuan, and this appears to be helping the risk-taking attitude. Many centers in Asia were closed today, including Japan and India, though most of the other equity markets advanced...
Read More »FX Daily, July 11: Powell Spurs Equity and Bond Market Rally, While the Greenback Falls Out of Favor
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.06% at 1.1123 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, July 11(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Fed’s Powell confirmed a Fed rate cut at the end of this month by warning that uncertainties since the June FOMC had “dimmed the outlook” and that muted price pressures may be more persistent. It ignited an equity and bond market rally...
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