SGM-FX insights

EU and Venezuela In 2024, the EU exported EUR 800 million of goods to Venezuela and imported EUR 2.1 billion, giving a trade volume of EUR 2.9 billion. The exports are mainly made up of minerals, chemicals, and machine goods, and the imports are of course primarily oil. As for the main EU country doing […]

Powell in the spotlight The market has not taken the prospective prosecution of Fed Chair Jay Powell lightly. Before European markets had opened yesterday, Asian markets had been churning with news that the Federal Reserve Chairman was facing prosecution from the Department of Justice. That headline was seen as the latest escalation in a series […]

British Pound In case you missed the beginning of this month, GBP had a moment in the sun but has since slipped back. Without overthinking it, we have GDP figures on Thursday this week which will show how productive the UK is and Employment figures next week which will be the key indicator for whether […]

Tunbridge Wells Not so much angry as furious and demanding answers, Tunbridge Wells ground to a halt at the end of November when 24,000 householders were without water for 14 days due to South East Water’s Treatment plant in neighbouring Pembury operating in the mealy mouthed words of the company’s more than generously remunerated CEO, sub-optimally. Poor […]

CNY surprise The Chinese Renminbi holds claim to one of the more surprising currency stories to have unfolded in 2025. Cast your mind back to the start of last year and you’ll recall two major themes in markets. Firstly, the risk of cooling global economic activity and an emerging threat from the White House to […]

Venezuela For the citizens of Venezuela, the last year has been a tale of ever-increasing economic hardship. Despite deposed President Maduro’s claim that growth has been at 9%, the counter to that is that inflation is estimated at 500%. Exactly a year ago it would have cost 52 Bolivars to buy USD 1. That same purchase […]

But does it mean anything for FX? The story of the week also therefore makes it the story of the year so far. The United States’ capture of Venezuelan President Maduro is the hot topic, but does it hold any material impact to markets? Well, there was certainly some significant moves in FX during yesterday’s […]

Bulgaria On Thursday last week Bulgaria formally adopted the Euro and for 6 months both EUR and the Lev will be legal tender in Bulgaria. In practice, Bulgaria already moved to the EUR in January 2025 when last week’s adoption was approved. Bulgaria, a country with 6.8 million people, is one of the EU’s poorest […]

Copper and FOMO Sometimes known as Dr Copper since the price of Copper reflects the health or otherwise of the global economy, a 38% increase in 2025 would normally be big news. But because that rise has been overshadowed when compared to the rises in Gold and Silver of 73% and 140% respectively, there is […]

Chinese Yuan Leaving aside the Frankincense and Myrrh, it is the relationship between the prices of Gold and Silver that are worth a further look at this point. In the past month, the ratio between 2026 could be the year that the Chinese Yuan becomes a world funding currency because of the ever-onward march of […]

A new record The daily traded FX volume has always made other markets such as equities or fixed income look relatively puny. The figure quoted would change from year to year or depending upon the source it was derived from but usually landed in the order of a few trillion dollars per day. This year, […]

Previous Metals Leaving aside the Frankincense and Myrrh, it is the relationship between the prices of Gold and Silver that are worth a further look at this point. In the past month, the ratio between Gold and Silver has moved from 80:1 to 64:1 or a 20% move. Some precious metal traders are claiming that […]