We have ended a busy week for equities with a mixed session for Asia and it was the Nikkei that was to spoil the party yet again! Closing the day down 1.3% this puts the Nikkei index return on the week at -5.9%. Had we not seen a large bounce at the close the losses […]

  Japan was again the talking point of the session with yet another down day. Initially, the index opened up 0.5% but it was just a matter of time until the sell orders hit the screens again and we were all looking for the bid. The stronger Yen was one reason being provided and we […]

Japan took a turn for the worst today led predominantly by Exporters (Toyota, Nissan, Honda) all down around 5.5% but even they were led by the Nobel House (Nomura). Nomura reported a 49% drop in Q3 profits and then saw its shares plunge 10.2% in todays trading. The Nikkei closed down -3.15% on the day […]

Despite a better than previous Chinese PMI release (48.4 against a previous 48.2) it was not what was expected (48.6) and so the Shanghai Index just could not make headway and eventually closed down 1.8%. Japan, on the other-hand, was still trading better (+1.8%) on the negative interest rate route as money looks for bargains […]

The BOJ certainly woke everyone up this morning having concluded their meeting with the expectation of negative interest rates. Within seconds the Nikkei leaped 700 points only then trade back then spent the final 90mins climbing to close the session +2.8%. Adversely, the Yen was hit reaching 121.50 in Tokyo trading a loss of a […]

It was all too weary early this morning with Asian markets collapsing as oil prices hit session lows of $29.25 (WTI) and the Shanghai Index closed down 6.4%. News intraday that the PBOC had conducted its biggest daily open market operation in three years (360bn yuan) still could not turn the mood. The majority of […]

Hillary will not release transcripts of her speeches at Goldman Sachs for which she was paid $675,000. The New York Times has reported that she has racked up $30 million in speaking fees in just 16 months. However, the total amount Clinton received in speaking fees since 2001 has reached $125 million. It seems to be […]

Asia’s response to the late U.S. rally in stocks was to play catch-up this morning with all core indices closing up around 1% (roughly where they opened). The ASX followed the surge in oil prices with a gain of almost 2%. Rumors around the market that the BOJ has furthered easing plans helped sentiment, so […]

QUESTION: Hi Martin, How long has the central banking era been going and will it come to an end? How many central banks create liquidity for governments by buying their bonds? Cheers SL ANSWER: I understand that central banks have been demonized and the great conspiracy centers around their ability to create money. Creating money is […]

Hillary Clinton continues to struggle against Bernie Sanders who has rightly pointed to her ties to Wall Street. They should put it out there straight: THE CLINTONS HANDED STUDENTS TO THE BANKERS. In an attempt to stand up to this criticism, which is really indefensible, Hillary said she is no closer to the nation’s largest banks […]