ASIA / AUSTRALIA: President Trump applauded Prime Minister Abe of Japan saying how excellent the G20 meeting was and mentioning that no mistakes were made. During the weekend he and President Xi met and have agreed to resume negotiations with no further tariffs applied – calling the progress of the talks as “fairly advanced.” This […]

QUESTION: Martin: You have occasionally made short-quick comments that have made me loose sleep ! One of your past comments quipped that we equity/bond investors should entertain the idea of having the actual certificates to our stock/bond investments (which are typically digital entries held at brokerage houses) mailed directly to us instead of having them […]

ASIA / AUSTRALIA: The G20 is set up to be interesting, as the US negotiators describe Chinese officials tone as negative. Tomorrow, the two heads of states are due to meet. President Trump was a bit more optimistic stating, “At a minimum, it will be productive,” referring to his meeting tomorrow with Chinese President Xi. […]

Austria was able to sell its second 100-year bond in history at just a yield of just over 1.00%. Some argue that capital has been forced to buy anything that has a yield which the ECB has been forcing negative interest rates. Why would anyone in their right mind buy a 100-year bond for 1%? […]

ASIA / AUSTRALIA: Tomorrow,  the G20 meeting will commence in Osaka, Japan. Chinese President Xi Jinping has met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prior to the meeting in order to try and build a relationship going forward. Meanwhile, the U.S. and China have reportedly agreed to delay any tariffs until the two sides meet at […]

QUESTION: Was not this move you have been talking about to happen right after the EP elections? What has changed? “While everyone will focus on interest rates, at the end of the summer we will see a refocus back on the structural problems in the Euro.” SM ANSWER: Nothing. What is happening is that we […]

ASIA / AUSTRALIA: The Chinese foreign minister has stated that they will “not allow” the G20 to discuss matters regarding Hong Kong. Recently, Hong Kong overruled a previous ruling that allowed Chinese extradition. Over the weekend, Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen requested that the U.S. stop their inappropriate tariffs and actions against Chinese companies. […]

ASIA / AUSTRALIA: The US has added five more Chinese companies to a US blacklist that restricts US companies from dealing with the companies on the list. Of those included on the list is a Chinese government-owned supercomputing company, with military applications and dealing with national security. The companies “pose a significant risk of being […]

ASIA / AUSTRALIA: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will hold talks with Chinese President Xi. President Xi arrived in North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, in the first state visit in 14 years. The main topics reportedly will be nuclear armaments and trade. Interesting timing given both are in the midst of US negotiations in way […]

The news of Iran downing a US drone was circulating in the Middle East before it hit the news wires. It was actually shot down at 7:35 pm New York time on Wednesday night, giving time for the pop in gold. The U.S. Central Command leaders said the attack was “unprovoked” and it took place […]