SGM-FX insights

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:   The week that is now behind us has been eventful and tumultuous. One overarching characteristic was a bullish Pound Sterling. Driven by statistics releases and central bank activity, the Pound finished the week trading at its strongest rate against the US Dollar since 23rd June 2016. The intra-week […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter: Natural uncertainty amongst geopolitical insecurity: Part Two. Whilst the media has abounded with talk of a risk off environment precipitated by numerous central bank announcements and geopolitical threats, natural disasters are embedding themselves upon our radar. Our thoughts and concerns truly rest with those affected, either directly or indirectly. […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter   Whilst the media has abounded with talk of a risk off environment precipitated by numerous central bank announcements and geopolitical threats, natural disasters are embedding themselves upon our radar. Our thoughts and concerns truly rest with those affected, either directly or indirectly. This article addresses the financial legacy […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:   Despite defying the dominant market opinion, and with inflation trailing well below a 2% target, the Bank of Canada raised their interest rate target by 25 basis points. This article analyses this move in the context of the global political economy and the viewpoint of the Bank of […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter   Economic Growth in the United States of America, measured by the annualised growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in the second quarter of 2017 was 2.6%. This headline figure, published last month, was an ‘advance estimate’ and will be revised within a second estimate this afternoon. This article […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:   In accordance with our week ahead expectations, today and tomorrow will be another testing and opaque period for major currency pairs. Today’s events will be followed closely because each contains the propensity to arrest or enhance the current trend of a strong Euro, a weak dollar and a […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:   The strength of the Euro against the dollar and the relative weakness of the dollar against other major currencies is primarily explained by adverse dynamics surrounding the US political economy.   Macroeconomic and political uncertainties in the United States (US) is being framed as partially responsible for the […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:    Currency Market Impacts of the first major Jackson Hole symposium event 2017.   The Dollar has seen dramatic intraday devaluation against other major currencies including the Euro and Pound Sterling. Live commentary and reaction was provided on our Twitter Feed whilst Chair of the Federal Reserve Board, Janet […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:    Part One: The Week in Review   Currency movements this week have been distorted by both opportunistic and defensive speculative reshuffles. Strategic positioning has arisen from the anticipation and sentiment that pivotal currency market actors have adopted preceding this afternoon’s Jackson Hole symposium and impending Brexit negotiation round. […]

A public holiday today Stateside provides welcome relieft for the Greenback. The USD has been confirmed as the worst performing G10 currency in the first 6 months of the year according to Rabobank and is threatening to continue its poor performance into the back end of 2017.   Prima facie, one may place the blame […]

As expected the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25bps to 1.25%. Furthermore, a new programme of balance sheet reduction will be underway by clearing a fixed amount of assets each month, though the start date is yet to be confirmed.   An update to the ‘dot plot’ graph shows the median expectation among policymakers […]

The Federal Reserve, the world’s most powerful central bank, is set to raise interest rates overnight and signal that another rise is planned for later in 2017. The headline looks almost certain to be another 25 basis point increase to 1.25%. A third hike in 7 months shows that the US monetary policy committee is […]