The US job market number from April came out below expectations renewing bets that the FED will postpone a rate increase and/or hike less than previously thought. An apparent short-covering of the greenback though has taken the Dollar Index from its lowest level since January 2015, or a rally of 2.4% in four days. Commodity […]
A strong rally of the US dollar at the end of last week encouraged buying of risky assets driving equities and commodities higher. Words from one FOMC member saying that it would be reasonable to call for rate increases this year partially helped to trigger short-covering of dollar’s bears. Chinese exports above expectations in March […]
As the USD sinks, equities in most of the European stock markets fell in the past five days partially responding to a poor factory orders in Germany and also due to lower inflationary indices on the common currency area. The ECB once more came up saying that it will fight against the excessively low price […]
Janet Yellen composed her words in a more dovish tone to counterbalance the previous hawkish comments from some FED officials and a new sell off on the US dollar took the currency to a new low on the following sessions. On Friday the nonfarm payroll increased more than expected and the 0.1% higher labor force […]
I wanted to send a special update regarding the Global Energy Conference I am attending here in Geneva. This is A yearly conference that brings all major players of Petroleum, Natural Gas, Electricity, Power and Renewables Industries together to discuss current challenges and opportunities. Obviously, the big question and discussion is where Crude Oil is […]
The FOMC signaled a slower pace of normalization saying that interest rates will be hiked two times instead of the previous announced four times adjustment. While it seemed that the marketplace had priced fewer increases the reaction of the USD proved the contrary with the Dollar Index sharply falling to test the levels seen in […]
Mario Draghi surprised the markets saying that the ECB is done on lowering borrowing costs for now. Initially the reaction on the announced plan of lower rates and to increase the bond purchases making corporate bonds eligible was negative to the Euro, but after Draghi’s speech the currency reversed and had a strong rally of […]
Central Banks of the G20 met last week to discuss their efforts to shore up the economies re-enforcing their will to keep stimulus measures although not being more specific about which ones and their timing. In China the PBoC today cut the reserve-ratio rates of the banks helping stock markets to recover in Europe while […]
There has been some revealing new information coming out recently regarding the strategy against ISIS. One aspect many find troubling is the apparent failure of U.S. and coalition forces to sufficiently target and destroy oil infrastructure located in ISIS territory, which accounts for a significant portion of the terror group’s annual income. The argument goes, […]
Q: A roughly 20-year bear market in gold bullion and gold mining shares ended approximately with 9/11. What role, if any, did 9/11 play in this major market turn? A: First of all, my view is that markets are made by human reaction to events. The reaction is a subjective judgement. Objective events do not […]
