SGM-FX insights

Don’t hold your breath   The scenario in which the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States forecasts no interest rate hikes for the best part of half a decade and the market interprets that as mildly hawkish and buys the US Dollar might seem fairly alien. It might seem so because it is! Overnight […]

Holiday Today   In London today is of course the late summer bank holiday. In the USA it is both National Eat Outside Day and National Bacon Day and yesterday was National Toasted Marshmallow Day. These are new kinds of celebrations for most non Americans but as non historical or religious based are at least […]

Mocking Jay     Federal Reserve President Jay Powell will speak today at the virtual Jackson Hole Symposium. The event has already taken its toll on global markets and the US Dollar in particular with cautious words from Kansas City and Richmond Fed presidents weighing heavy on the greenback. The last Federal Reserve meeting that […]

A is for..     A LOT of Money. In an otherwise tranquil and unremarkable market environment yesterday, US technology stock Apple managed to secure a $2 Trillion Dollar valuation. The company known for making iPhones and other such sought after gadgets has one of the healthiest profit margins on the Nasdaq, routinely registering in […]

Order   The United States needed a fifth round of fiscal stimulus. Much like the very virus the economic support is in place to stave away; if you cut the course of antibiotics mid-way through the infection the virus will win and the patient will deteriorate. Unemployment benefits for American workers had expired last month, […]

Australia   With their budget deficit already at a record at A$86 Billion versus a budgeted A$ 5 Billion surplus, Australia is forecasting it to get much worse at A$184 Billion this coming year. AUD at 1.41 versus USD.     South Korea   For the first time in 17 years, South Korea has entered […]

US Dollar   Pretty much across the board yesterday the greenback saw declines including against the Chinese Yuan up 2.5% since its low two months ago, the Euro, GBP, Swedish Kronor, Norwegian Kronor and NZ Dollar. Some of this was prompted by a further rise in Chinese equities ( CSI300 Index on a 5 year […]

US Airlines   Chicago USA based United saw a sharp decline in both bookings and also by 5.5% in its share price yesterday. Having revived until a couple of weeks ago, following the imposition of a 14 day quarantine rule in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, United led the way with all US airlines […]

Interventions   State intervention in the foreign exchange market is a taboo subject. On the one hand, each nation holds and reports reserves of foreign currencies that are seen as critical to financial and economic stability. On the other hand, if a nation uses those reserves too aggressively then it risks being labelled a currency […]

Less Fireworks; more Firefighting   Last night the Fed voted to keep US interest rates between 0%-0.25%. I’m not sure about you but having only recently witnessed emergency meetings slashing the benchmark rate and pledging to buy corporate securities the meetings seem somewhat mundane! Even if not quite as unexpected, the Fed’s decision last night […]

Today Spring Bank Holiday in the UK   And also in the USA (Memorial Day) as well as the Middle East and other Muslim centres celebrating Eid Al Fitr and the end of Ramadan. SGM-FX is working a full day today ready to support our clients and what is shaping up to be a busy […]

Sri Lanka   It was this day in 1972 that Ceylon became the Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s documented history spans 3,000 years, with prehistoric human settlements dating back at least 125,000 years. Nearer to today and rather more pertinently, the Sri Lanka Rupee is trading at 186 to USD less than 5% weaker […]