Draghi has realized that he has singlehandedly destroyed the European bond market. Besides the fact that it is illegal to short government bonds, he has come face to face with the stark reality that IF the ECB stops buying government bonds, there will be NO BID at these price levels. Interest rates will skyrocket dramatically. On […]

  Not such a convincing day today for Asia as Shanghai and Hang Seng returned yesterday gains, whilst the Nikkei and ASX added to the move. Both the mainland and HSI attempted gains but were quickly rejected soon after the open. These moves have reversed only some of the recent gains but probably expected ahead […]

We are beginning to observe institutional investors withdrawing from bonds issued by companies whose credit ratings are in question. Many are also selling off other classes of bonds in anticipation of higher rates. The trend toward investing in high yielding debt mainly by pension funds has begun to reverse albeit gradually. Because of the low yields, […]

Yesterdays enthusiasm could not be sustained in such thin volume and so it was with HSBC’s earnings miss that returns the fear! The Nikkei took much of the steam and consequently returned 1% of its recent gains. The finance sector was heavy probably responding to HSBC’s worries as most of Asia watched their shares decline […]

  Most of Asia are closed due to holidays and so it was left to Japan to reflect Wall Streets strength. The Nikkei closed with a positive return of 1.2% for the day. The news that BOJ Governor Kuroda, is to sit for another term was taken as positive news as he supports continued easing. […]

Ahead of a short week for China holidays and the release of US CPI data, it was no surprise we saw a mixed session in Asia. The Nikkei continued its bearish move with a decline today of -0.45%, briefly flirting with the 200 day MA but bouncing by the close of play. The Yen remains […]

The politics in Germany remain in turmoil. The CDU leader Angela Merkel is being attacked from within her own party. The dissatisfaction concerning Merkel has engulfed the CDU base. It has reached at times outright seething rejection of Merkel. The future of the Union really hangs in the balance. The CDU party congress takes place on February 26, and […]

It’s always a difficult trading environment when one large market is closed (Japan Monday), but following last weeks volatility we have seen a quiet bounce-back in quieter conditions. That bounce-back has been more visible in US futures than Asian cash even with the Shanghai closing +0.8% firmer today. The KOPSI (+0.9%) and SENSEX also enjoyed […]

QUESTION: Hey Martin, … My question is: is there an influence of the Dow at this moment on the cryptocurrency market and the precious metal market? As you say, gold is not ready yet… Will the possible correction of the Dow play the confidence game and scare a lot of markets off? ANSWER: Yes. With Dow declining, […]

Another weak session for Asia, but following the US close that was never going to be a surprise! All core traded heavy throughpout the day but China’s Shanghai index lost most reflecting a 4.05% decline. Financials, insurers and real-estate were pretty much to blame, but we can not rule out todays data release. Although the […]