SGM-FX insights

Currency Markets   Lots going on in international currency markets largely due to the perception(note the word perception) that the talks and recent activity between USA and China are leading towards the signing of a trade deal later this month. Consequently trade orientated currencies led by the Yuan(CNY) and the Aussie Dollar (AUD) have benefitted […]

Negative   In a hailed return to phraseology I condone the expression “no news is good news”. Sure it has its flaws but it’s watertight in circumstances when it is deployed to mean that without information to the contrary we might assume that all is well. I’m also, quite obviously and tautologically, willing to accept […]

No seriously, this is the last one   I hope the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of America Jay Powell doesn’t have a sweet tooth. If he does, he’s in trouble as it appears, he simply can’t stop at one. Much like a child set loose with a biscuit tin, he couldn’t resist just […]

  It’s Official: The Market is now on an Election footing   Further acres of newsprint and a torrent of tv and social media comment in prospect the General Election on December 12 is the first since 1923 to take place just before Christmas. And……the currency market has not moved GBP at all on that […]

Super Mario   Finally running out of Mushrooms, Super Mario has delivered his last speech as President of the European Central Bank. I’m sure there were other jokes afforded by the potential to assimilate the Italian central banker’s name within a popular Nintendo character and game but, with an underwhelming appetite for video games, I’ll […]

  South Africa: ZAR expected to weaken further   Patience within the business community is wearing thin in the face of the slow pace of relatively new President Cyril Ramaphosa’s economic reforms. This seems hard since he inherited a long list of problems but that’s the thing about markets: they are hard. Wednesday this week […]

Joker   Well the joke (if that is what it was) was definitely on me: off we went to the local Cineworld for the must see Todd Phillips movie Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix and Robert de Niro. Drawn in by the film taking $96M on its opening weekend and more than $250M to date and […]

Gale force 12   Phraseology meets foreign exchange part two – ‘any port in a storm’. This time I’m on side, I would indeed rather be in any port in a storm than, as the phrase assumes, out at sea staring down a Beaufort scale-rattling wind. But, once again, it’s got limitations largely created by […]

Well that’s all right then!   My sincere thanks to European leaders for appointing me as President of the European Central Bank from 1 November 2019. It is an honour to succeed Mario Draghi. I am looking forward to working with the ECB’s talented staff to keep euro area prices stable and banks safe.   […]

GBPZAR   Remember that old teaching: you can achieve similar things by smacking something very hard with a small hammer or by tapping something softly with a sledgehammer? I must confess I’ve never found great use or utility in this phrase partially because of my underwhelming expertise in DIY and secondly, it totally ignores the […]

If Only   This weekend could have delivered a Brexit victory for the UK Government of the decisive nature of the England Lions’ victory over the Wallabies. It was not to be. After 5 1/2 hours of debate, there was a palpable sense of disappointment from all in Westminster that the Letwin Amendment had managed […]

UK Brexit   Market news was dominated yesterday by the announcement of a deal between Europe and the UK. Still doubt on whether the UK Parliament will ratify it, but for those European couch potatoes among you with nothing better to do tomorrow, Saturday, you can watch the UK Parliament on live TV from 1030 […]