Just when the markets started to rejoice in the fact that there had been no recent escalation of trade wars and then the silence is broken. Early in the Asian trading day the US released a list of additional tariffs which are assumed to total close to $200bn. This number has wobbled equities and put […]

Asian markets focused in Wall Streets rally and especially as trade concerns appeared to have faded for now. We saw another solid day for Shanghai (+0.5%) but sadly the Hang Seng was unable to join the party. It looks as though the tech sector is failing the HSI, but then it has been the star […]

The mood appeared constructive in Asia today mostly following on from the late US rally Friday. Lack of any damaging weekend headlines has proved to be a relief and the markets have reflected it. China showed its reserve today with the core Shanghai index climbing over 2.5% and equally impressive, closing at the highs of […]

Gold rings were discovered in Ireland and they seem to be uncertain about their original use. The Celts did not create their own coins for many centuries. They used ring money which is commonly found throughout Europe, north of Italy. Celtic ring money is typically bronze. However, it is known that the Minoians sailed into […]

It just looks as though the markets were ready for the trade tariffs as they took them and just moved on! After an initial wobble as sanctions came into effect at US midnight yesterday, the buying appeared and markets were looking forward to US Employment data. Eventually, after much debate and anxiousness equity markets improved […]

  Another weak session for Asia even as some markets did attempt a bounce. The mood in general remains negative with core China Shanghai down another 1% today as the US/China tariff issue possibly are enacted Friday. China has already publically stated they will respond and not be proactive, but the benefit of the time […]

QUESTION: Hello Martin, Hope this finds you well. Long time follower of your site. Though I don’t always agree with your conclusions, I value your site as a great source of ideas that challenge my conceptions of how things work. Keep up the good work. Having just read the story on the front page of […]

We expected a quiet day today with the US being out, but just didn’t quite realise how quiet. In Asia the major talking point was the Yuan and the verbal intervention witnessed earlier today. This diod help the currency recover to the mid 6’s (6.6313), having hit its one year low early yesterday. The Yuan […]

Many in Asia had expected to see a recovery today following the turnaround we saw in US markets, but this was not to be. Despite an early rally prices soon turned lower as concerns over the US/China trade tariffs and renewed Yuan negativity. The Hang Seng looked to be the outlier but remember it was […]

  As we enter Q3 trading, markets remain nervous over trade and Europe. We still have QE disrupting bond markets and so it is not possible to acquire a clear view of risk. The ECB has been relentless in masking European government exposure and is even rumour they are participating in the FX market. New […]