We have certainly embarked down the road of a police state. Federal agencies are tracking people who travel on trains and in the air. If someone buys a ticket for cash, the government is notified. They are looking for the slightest thing. I went to the airport to pick up a friend who comes over […]

Yet another rather uneventful session made even worse by the fact that Japan had a national holiday. Early trading in the Shanghai tended to follow the weak US sentiment but despite flipping in both directions, eventually closed down but above the psychological 3k level. Hang Seng performed well and it could be said took a […]

  A weaker opening for the Nikkei was off-set by better than expect economic data (Machine Orders) by lunchtime. The majority of the afternoon trading was in the positive but eventually closed small down. Many are concerned that the JPY may attempt a summer break of the 100 level which has the tendency to weigh […]

The Asian cash markets just could not wait to open this morning after the huge Payrolls number on Friday. Admittedly, it took a little time and a better than expected Trade Surplus number (52.31 v’s and estimated 47.6) for the Shanghai market to join the excitement, but they eventually did to close +0.9% firmer. The […]

A Wayne Gretzky rookie card sold for a record $465,000. He is known as the “Great One” and retired as an NHL player in 1999. This shows that the collector’s market seems to be doing well. Bill Gross, who now co-manages the Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, sold a portion of his stamp collection for $4.5 million. […]

With the exception of the Hang Seng (+1.4%) it was a relatively quiet day in Asia having digested the BOE move and anticipation of US NFP’s data and ahead of the weekend. Late in US trading futures have responded to the global stock rally (as a result of the US numbers) and are currently trading […]

A bounce late in the US saw overnight gains for the Nikkei (1%+) with the Hang Seng and Shanghai. All pretty much well behaved for thin summer trading and it was we were looking forward to both the Bank of England and tomorrow Non-Farms report. Many dealers pointed to the turnaround for the price of oil but […]

Obama is reviewing the ban on military weapons for police forces after multiple instances of deliberate attacks on police officers. Instead of prosecuting the bad police officers, they are preparing to dig their heels in and arm the police to escalate the confrontation between the people and the police. This, unfortunately, is also how Rome ended. […]

  Japan remains unloved opening down 1% and then drifting even lower as exporters led the way. The JPY has seen the safety bid for the majority of the week whilst the Nikkei has lost around 4% so far. Finally we saw a little support return for JGB’s since the news but then they have seen yields rising (or I […]

$278bn and the market is still disappointed! Despite the package provided by the Japanese government today late futures trading has followed the weaker cash market and extended losses by another 2%. Confidence is slightly dented as the market was hoping we would see the helicopter approach and that is why the market continued to sink […]