Asia benefited from new record highs in the US and really set the pace for the end of the week. The Nikkei was certainly the star performer adding 2.5% on the day taking the index to 19,400 with many talking the psychological 20k is next weeks target number. The JPY suffered against the USD falling […]

Asia was split today with the Nikkei not managing to move out of first gear – at least during the Asia session – but saw the Yen lose its haven status. The volatile Japanese data for Machinery Orders was released better than the 3.1% expected figure at +6.7% (against a previous -5.1%) did not really […]

All core Asian indices closed higher today even as energy prices fell another 1% in todays trading. The Nikkei, Hang Seng and Shanghai all closed +0.5% firmer on the day. Currencies were well behaved with the JPY playing around the 112 figure for the majority of the day. The dollar index (DXY) broke above the […]

QUESTION: Dear Mr. Armstrong, Is silver currently showing more strength than gold, and therefore likely to move beyond gold in this phase? I’m not a technician but it looks that way to me. Thank you for all you share. M ANSWER: Yes. This is one of the critical factors that must turn to signal a real […]

After a successful Non-Farms number on Friday, Asia followed suit encouraged along by the US markets closing near their days highs. All core Asian indices followed but with the exception of the ASX (Australian exchange) which closed small lower as the currency made ground. The Nikkei made ground closing +0.35% higher but could have been […]

ELIZABETH WARREN blasts Trump saying ‘Wall Street bankers and lobbyists … may be toasting each other with Champagne’ after he ordered the Department of Labor to review the rule that was to go into effect come April. Warren is really clueless. She fails to comprehend that sometimes government regulation is very bad. Indeed, I have […]

One of the main topics of conversation overnight was the fact that the Shanghai market reopened, after the week long holiday, to a surprise reverse-repo hike (10bp’s to 2.35%) which resulted in a -0.6% decline in the Shanghai Index. The CNH traded back up through the 6.82 mark but in late US trade saw core […]

Here is a board meeting of CALPERS illustrating that (1) the majority of the board is totally without any experience in financial markets and (2) they are trying to throw off the board anyone who points out they are in trouble. Pension funds on average need 8% to break even. You will hear in this discussion […]

Another weak session for the Nikkei but also the Hang Seng came under pressure given global large cap weakness. The JPY saw another reach as a safe-haven with almost another handle change down to 111. However, despite coming close we have not yet traded there today. Dealer were expressing concerns on the move Presidents Trump’s […]

  The question of when will central banks fail is a popular one that comes in. Suffice it to say, the turmoil will hit Europe first. While so many people blame the Fed for all sorts of things, you must realize that Roosevelt usurped the Fed during the Great Depression and imposed a single interest […]