SGM-FX insights

US Election It would be distinctly odd on the eve of such a closely fought election not to comment on it, but it really is too close to call even though the Trump trade is cited as evidence that he is expected to win(at the time of writing). But what might markets expect once the […]

UK Budget Reverberations Last week we posed the question of what it would feel like for the new UK Chancellor post her maiden budget. Well now she (and we) have found out: social media is vitriolic as are farmers, small and medium sized businesses, long suffering private school fee paying parents, people sitting on capital […]

Unconvinced Markets had already experienced volatility yesterday ahead of Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ delivery of her budget to Parliament yesterday. A gradual but intense sell-off in GBP as the morning European session progressed could be written down to derisking and deleveraging GBP positions moving into the budget. In the days prior to yesterday, Speaker of […]

UK Budget Day Chancellor Reeves has already leaked/floated so many potential measures for her Budget later today interwoven with promises/denials as to what are the red lines which will not be included in her maiden Budget, that we are all suffering from an overload of (dis)information while hoping that much of It, will end up […]

JPY falls back The start of July saw the Japanese Yen appreciate from north of 160 Yen to the US Dollar down to a low of circa 140 in mid-September. The backdrop that had allowed the Yen to grind ever weaker appeared to be shifting in July. The prospect of monetary adjustment from decades of […]

France Crunch time for French ex EU/ Brexit negotiator PM Barnier as he struggles to get his budget approved on November 19, as he leads his minority Government with the backdrop of Moody’s changing their outlook for La Belle France from stable to negative last Thursday. Targeting a whopping €66 billion budget reduction through a […]

EU Economy For the second month running the EU economy contracted slightly. As ever a patchwork performance notable for Germany improving while France put in a particularly weak contribution. Worrying for France as well as the EU is that the outlook for France is not bright. No wonder the ECB was so keen to get […]

The BoC follows the Fed At its September decision, the Federal Reserve took the decision to reduce its target benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points. The market had been oscillating between a quarter point and a half point interest rate cut in the weeks moving into the decision. Once the FOMC delivered their September […]

CINEA9 The Climate Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency of the European Commission abbreviated to CINEA9 has signed an agreement with Societa Stretta di Messina. What that means is that the dream of a bridge connecting Sicily to the mainland of Italy is a step nearer. There have been a few false dawns over the years: […]

Two weeks Just two weeks remain until the fate of the US election is sealed. Millions of ballots have already been cast. Despite the two candidates remaining relatively close in polling, markets have been decisive. They have been bracing and adjusting pricing for a Trump presidency. There is certainly some truth in the fact that […]

US Interest Burden At $882 billion in the year to end September which equates to $2.4 billion a day or 3.06% of US GDP, the USA is staggering beneath the weight of just servicing its debt before even contemplating reducing it. As we have remarked previously and as picked up in Saturday’s Financial Times, neither […]

Swiss Ingenuity It started with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne or EPFL who were approached by start up company Sun-Ways which has developed a removable system of solar panels that can be laid on top of railway tracks over which trains can pass. Removable panels are important given the need for maintenance […]