SGM-FX insights

It’s a Moderna world…   The whirlwind surrounding the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine continues with new warnings from UK and EU medical regulators flooding in yesterday. Following a review into the efficacy, benefits and risks associated with the vaccine the double-dose shot is once again in the firing line. The guidance from the European Medicines Agency is […]

Global Growth   With the IMF calling for global economic growth of 6% in 2021, markets are taking heart that this represents the largest increase in the past 50 years. That’s why they ignored the drop of 3.3% in 2020 being the largest fall since the 1950’s. The third IMF stat is perhaps the most […]

Head above water   GBP has struggled in recent weeks to find new momentum. Thanks to its somewhat meteoric rise so far this year, this lack of sustained upward price momentum has fuelled second guesses of a correction in the UK currency. Sterling’s range bound existence on a trade weighted basis this month has allowed […]

Europe‘s third wave   Rising infection rates across much of Europe have been leading to souring fortune for the Euro with the world’s most liquid currency pair EURUSD providing a good snapshot of the rising Eurozone concerns over the past weeks and months. Announcements of lockdown impositions across Europe have spilled out like clockwork with […]

Archegos   Much will be written interspersed with plenty of handwringing as to how Archegos Capital could have built up leverage to an extent which at present is unknown but is estimated at USD 50 Billion. An estimate of investment bank losses is (currently) tentatively set at USD 6 Billion. How and why? All investment […]

Hey Ho up she rises   Carrying 18,300 containers, the cost of the stranded Ever Given vessel in the Suez Canal was costly for its operators, Taiwanese Evergreen, the privately operated canal, global trade, and me. Perhaps my IKEA package that spent nearly a week of it’s pre-delivery life on that boat stranded just outside […]

Consensus 2021   As we entered 2021 the consensus trade was: weaker USD on the back of President Biden’s trillion dollars of stimulus leading to easy money and a rise in the stock market. Well the last part has been right but at the end of the first quarter, it is clear that the relationship […]

US Federal Reserve   Strong comfort for the markets from the Fed promising to ensure that the US economic recovery is broad and well established before removing its market assistance. USD still firm on the back of this trading at 1.1760 v EUR. Unemployment falling but still 18.9 million drawing benefits hence the Fed focusing […]

More stimulus?!   When you look at the inflation concerns that have been developing in the US economy as a result of Biden’s €1.9tn stimulus package you may have thought it would be madness to start planning yet another round of $3tn worth of stimulus. After all, if people thought that the existing package risked […]

Oil   A sharp 4% fall in oil prices on the back of further restrictions and slow vaccine programs in Europe saw WTI falling below $60 to as low as $58.50. This meant that USD strengthened as further LockDowns were announced in France and Germany exacerbating fears of a further hit to the global economy. […]

Fowl Play – Stuffed Turkey   A dramatic move over the course of the weekend has the Turkish Lira on its knees with the monetary credibility of Turkey back at all time lows. Yesterday’s European trading session saw the Lira priced around 10% weaker versus its closing price on Friday afternoon. Given market positioning around […]

Blue Hydrogen   This is the splitting of gas between hydrogen and CO2 which captures harmful greenhouse gases and therefore mitigates harmful effects on the planet. News that Saudi Armco is working with China as the green agenda assumes increasingly greater priority is interesting. What do the Chinese want in return? The answer is for […]