Latest Posts

  • Finance 0

    Spain Will Begin Suspending Catalan Autonomy On Saturday – EUR/USD Falls

    The Spanish government will convene on Saturday to begin suspending the Catalan autonomy and Spain will enter unchartered territories. The move by Puigdemont did not move the euro too much, but the quick response from Spain already sends EUR/USD some 40 pips to the downside. Spain is the fourth-largest economy in the euro-zone and led its recent recovery. The current crisis is already taking a toll on tourism. The longer it lasts, the deeper the economic damage. Earlier, Catalonia’s President Carles Puigdemont responded to Spain’s ultimatum to clarify its position about independence by threatening to fully declare it if Spain suspends t...
    On October 19, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    NZD/JPY Heading Towards Target

    The New Zealand political coalition impacted New Zealand dollar attractiveness across the board on Thursday. While the Japanese Yen remained one of the most viable currencies, the decision of Haruhiko Kuroda to maintain the current monetary stance to stimulate growth through exports partially hurt its attractiveness but not against emerging currencies like the Kiwi.   As previously projected, a sustained break below the ascending channel, as shown above, would reinforce sellers’ interest for 78.83 targets. Again, if the new coalition party failed to present a holistic economic plan in coming days amid rising food prices and weak wa...
    On October 19, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Kiwi Drop And Sterling Losses Punctuate Subdued FX Market

    The 30th anniversary of the 1987 equity market crash the major US benchmarks at record highs. The drop in the market was at least partly a function of the lack of capacity, sufficient instruments, and regulatory regime. Each of these factors has been addressed to some extent. Circuit breakers have been introduced, and have evolved. The financial capacity has grown immensely. Sophisticated portfolio insurance, better hedging techniques, and tools are available. This most assuredly does not mean that equities cannot crash.Surely they can.How it does it, though can change.   Meanwhile what concerns many investors now is not the market...
    On October 19, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Why Bankers Only See Horses And Technologists Are Creating Cars

    I was at a large bank’s wealth management conference recently, where the CEO was being quizzed about various areas including a lot about technology and FinTech. He made several statements that I noted with interest: “Roboadvisory services improves our speed-to-market and human productivity, but does not replace humans. In particular, I can see that artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning makes it far easier for us to comply with and implement regulations and deal with regulatory change in the back office.” “I don’t believe that AI and FinTech will replace human advisors. It will just make them more effective and efficient....
    On October 19, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    The 2017 Incrementum Gold Chart Book

    A Big Reference Chart Collection Our friends at Incrementum have created a special treat for gold aficionados, based on the 2017 “In Gold We Trust Report”. Not everybody has the time to read a 160 page report, even if it would be quite worthwhile to do so. As we always mention when it is published, it is a highly useful reference work, even if one doesn’t get around to reading all of it (and selective reading is always possible, aided by the table of contents at the beginning). The performance of major asset classes since gold bottomed in July of 1999. Despite the stock market outperforming gold handily since 2011, it is still lagging b...
    On October 19, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Tax Cut May Lead To Overheating, Help To End Bull Market

    Video Length: 00:00:51 Jim Paulsen, Chief Investment Strategist for the Leuthold Group, discusses his outlook on the US stock market and the economy with FS Insider. He is still bullish, citing 3 basic pillars holding up this bull market, but also explains why a tax cut at this point in the cycle will likely do more harm than good in the short-term, even though tax reform is important long-term for US competitiveness. No Need to Panic on Rate Hikes Though the Fed has been raising rates, real rates are still negative. Historically, the three-steps-and-a-stumble rule says that once the Fed tightens three times, that signals the end of the rec...
    On October 19, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    AUDUSD Daily Analysis – Thursday, Oct. 19

    AUDUSD rebounded from 0.7818 after touching the rising trend line on its 4-hour chart, suggesting that the pair remains in the uptrend from 0.7732. Further rise to test 0.7897 resistance could be expected, a breakout of this level could signal resumption of the uptrend, then next target would be at 0.7986. Key support is now at 0.7818, only break below this level could indicate that the uptrend had completed at 0.7897 already, then the following bearish movement could take price back towards the resistance-turned-support trend line on the weekly chart....
    On October 19, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    UK Retail Sales Badly Disappoint, Falling 0.8% – GBP Falls

    Retail sales dropped by 0.8% m/m in the UK, much worse than -0.1% expected and with a downward revision. Year over year, sales are up only 1.2$ against 2.1% expected. Excluding fuel, sales are down 0.7% instead of +0 and up only 1.6% y/y instead of 2.4% predicted. Downward revisions accompany all the numbers. GBP/USD is down to 1.3140 in the immediate aftermath. The pair was challenging resistance at 1.3230 earlier in the day, and that line certainly rejected the pair’s rise. The pound had already suffered this week. Governor Mark Carney did not show enthusiasm for raising ratesapart from the well-telegraphed hike in November. He may have...
    On October 19, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Wall Street Kicks Off Earnings Season In Fine Form

    Earnings season is upon us, and Wall Street is looking sharp. A slew of early performances suggests that American companies are poised for another quarter of year-over-year earnings growth. According to FactSet, a financial research firm, 6% of S&P 500 companies have reported actual Q3 earnings as of 13 October. Four-fifths of those companies reported per-share earnings that were above the median estimate, while 78% reported better than expected revenue. FactSet estimates that the Q3 blended earnings growth rate for S&P 500 companies will be 2.1%, with energy stocks leading the rally. That’s well below the last two quarters, where t...
    On October 19, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    NZ First-Labour Party Coalition Plunges New Zealand Dollar By 1.5%

    The New Zealand dollar plunged on Thursday against the U.S dollar following the news of the final make-up coalition government. The local currency plunged by 1.5 percent against the U.S. dollar to US70.53c on Thursday morning. The surprise fall came after New Zealand First, the third largest political party which effectively held power, decided to form a coalition with Labour Party. Experts had forecast that coalition with Nationals would aid growth as both the Labour and NZ First want to reduce immigration substantially and seen by most as ‘inward-looking’ compared to the Nationals. Markets believe this would weigh negatively on...
    On October 19, 2017 / By