Asia performed well in what appeared to be trading in shadows the majority of the day. Rumors that the PBOC were about to cut rates saw a rally in Shanghai (+1%) only to drift off the highs by the close. Rumors of more BOJ easing (attempting to put even 40yr bonds into single digits). It […]

  While Scottish politicians are very vocal about staying in the EU, they have really lost their minds. Their hatred for the Brits has clouded their intelligence to the point one must wonder if they even have a brain that can be turned on or if they are totally brain-dead. The greatest problem with the whole membership in […]

Interesting price action – it is the UK that is leaving Europe and yet we saw the DAX fall 6.8%, CAC -8.35% and IBEX down 12.35% whilst FTSE declined just 2.8%! Bank share were hit everywhere with some of the large institutions (Deutsche Bank, Barclays and RBS) falling between 14 and 18%. The afternoon behaved […]

A mixed session in Asia as the Nikkei could not escape negative territory, whilst Shanghai and the Hang Seng both provided positive returns. The Nikkei lost 0.65% while Shanghai and HSI gained 0.95% and 0.6% respectively. The JPY flirted with a 105 handle but was rejected and that rejection has gathered pace as European equities […]

Russia has reportedly hacked Hillary’s server. The energy magazine Oilprice.com reported that Russian intelligence informed Western intelligence agencies that the government in Moscow is now planning to publish the emails from Hillary Clinton. If this proves to be true, then this will confirm that she placed national security second to her personal self-interest. The emails are widely expected to reveal how […]

It was all about the Nikkei and the JPY again today trading to 105.50 as stocks lost another 1%. We are on daily bearish reversals here so we may well see a short-term bounce from here. As you would expect it was exporters that suffered with Nissan and Honda a couple of names being talked […]

It felt as though all regions were blaming the USD today for their market’s weakness today. Dealers around the world were claiming a balancing act against the currency, even the JPY! Lower markets in Japan and Hong Kong saw negative returns of 0.4% and 1.2% respectively but with the Shanghai market still closed. Ahead of […]

Saudi Arabia has banned financial products that amount to a short position against the riyal. The measure indicates the high degree of attack that the peg is starting to come. The government has announced a wave of layoffs in the public sector. This is an absolute first. The Middle East was considered beyond economics because of oil. Everything is […]

Asia did not provide much direction overnight as core indices were pulled in either direction. The Nikkei was the top performer, closing just under 1% better having spent most of the day in negative territory. The JPY strengthened as the day progressed but has just retraced much of that and is closing around mid-range for […]

The G20 central bank and finance ministers met in Shanghai in April and cheered the rally in the markets after patting themselves on the back. They then issued their communication, effectively blaming the private sector for not paying enough taxes for them to squander. They issued their Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), which is really […]