SGM-FX insights

Hats off, Masks on   In March this year, the pandemic unmasked the fragility of European risk sharing (pardon the pun). Not only did the Union not have adequate risk sharing procedures in place on the fiscal and monetary front but it also felt like every man for himself. Cross border state aid and the […]

What’s safer than a Swiss Bank?   The answer turns out to be a Swiss rock vault carved out of a mountain. Bruega Mega Safe are offering clients ready to spring a minimum of $500,000 for a space in the vault that will be the size of 10 football pitches and will house gold, art, […]

Another Round?   As ‘Super Saturday’ subsided into crapulent Sunday, the UK’s hospitality industry received a welcome boost. Opening their doors for the first time in more than 100 days, pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and more welcomed customers back (from 1+ metres away). Of those of you that did frequent the pub or eat out in […]

Central Bank Economic Optimism   The Bank of England has now been joined by the Banque de France with the assertion that the French economy too is performing more strongly than expected and is pulling out of the economic trough more quickly than anticipated. The markets are totting up the increase in savings as more […]

USA   POTUS understandably given his current polling, lost no time in hailing the increase of 4.8 Million jobs in June announced yesterday afternoon as a further example of why he should be returned in November as the architect of bringing the USA out of the Covid lockdown and resultant economic trough. As seasoned market […]

H2 2020 Starts Here!   Last night at the end of Q2 and H1 Gold inched over the $1800 line on Comex- the highest it has reached since 2011 which was the highest it has achieved in the past 20 years. Oil WTI up at $39. 10 year German Bonds yield -47bp or you will […]

Where do we go now?   Sterling has weighed heavy into the start of this weak. Economic data has been revised down for the first quarter of 2020 to -2.2% from a figure of -2.0% previously estimated. The reason for the revision was a deterioration in the current account showing that ahead of the pandemic […]

UK Markets   GBP caught up in both its own domestic challenges as well as the competing currents of a fluctuating USD and what has been a strong EUR in past weeks has rather quietly been slipping versus most currencies. Fortunately, few Brits are watching the exchange rate due to travels restrictions, but come Wednesday […]

Perishing Pound?   The brakes are on in the United States as coronavirus infection rates climb rapidly. Without any credible advances in therapeutics, the development of a vaccine, or a sufficient proportion of the population infected to create a herd immunity, we know that if life goes back to the way it was then we […]

Global Markets   Oil closed above $41 (WTI) after POTUS clarified remarks about the status of the China trade talks which he announced remained intact. Markets were relieved and equities had a further positive day with FTSE up 5% from its lows last week and the US markets still back to their highs of earlier […]

Social Media Activism   The most controversial arena in politics over the past decade has arguably been online. From election scandals to fake news, Cambridge Analytica to Brexit, the way campaigns are received online has shaped the course of politics. Now social media is fighting back and is taking credit for President Trump’s embarrassment at […]

Kiwi Dollar   The Kiwi or NZD has strengthened sharply in the past two weeks versus GBP. It was only at the beginning of April that it was trading at 2.10 and now has broken its previous resistance a 1.95 and has broken through to 1.93. GBP has of course weakened across the board but […]