Asia responded to the uncertain US session by trading lower fro the open. It was only the Shanghai index that closed on its days low (-2.5%), with other core markets showing little trading range and closing almost unchanged from opening levels. US/China Trade negotiations continue to sway with headlines. Hang Seng held-in a little better […]

QUESTION: Martin Thanks again for all you do. The subtext of most of what you talk about is overwhelmingly negative. Inflation, deflation, earthquakes, disease, government default, over taxation….. etc. Am I correct in thinking that despite your advice you anticipate most of your readers, even the most wealthy, will be left with little to hand over […]

QUESTION: I am just a little guy who invests in mutual funds and a few stocks. Ever since I started reading your blog, I have felt a sense of comfort in knowing that eventually, everything will work out because all this has happened before. It is also nice not to feel like I am swinging […]

Asia was relatively well behaved today, weaker obviously after what market activity there was yesterday in Europe, but lets just jump straight to the action. Developments really are happening by the hour in Italy, now with the Five Star Movement calling for the countries President to be impeached. There is a good chance we will […]

The safe-haven bid that the Yen has received this week, has resulted in a 2% decline for the Nikkei by the time we closed Friday. Despite todays market managing to hold a small positive for much of the afternoon, the currency has had a significant influence. The Yen is closing mid 109 in late US […]

Asian markets declined on the President Trump China Trade headline and also on talk that the Singapore meeting with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un may not happen. Markets are nervous and volumes thin, which is why we are seeing such movement. The Nikkei lost over 1% with exporters leading the pack as the Yen […]

The jittery close in US markets weighed on Asia at the opening and the lack of clarity just accelerated the uncertainty. The safe-haven bid returned for the Japanese Yen with a 1% rally taking it back to a 109 handle. The Nikkei lost along with the core, ending the day down around 1.2%. The Hang […]

A fairly quiet day across all regions today, but probably expected given little overhang of the US/China Trade Talks, a lack of economic data and the FED minutes we will see being released tomorrow. In China the Shanghai closed almost unchanged, as Hang Seng market was closed for holidays. In Australia the ASX dipped -0.7% […]

The weekends news of on-going constructive talks between the US and China, certainly gave Asian markets a boost this morning. One noticeable event was the weakening in the Yen, now trading comfortably with a 111 handle (-0.6% on the day). Now close to its weakest since January, the fear is it now targets the mid […]

After watching the US market decline over fears of US/China trade talks erupting yet again, many were concerned that Asian markets would suffer a similar fate. However, that was not to be the case as most core markets actually performed reasonably well. We did see a small wobble initially for the Hang Seng and Shanghai […]