SGM-FX insights

Markets   With the news that the UK will hold EU Elections on 23-5-19, while discounted, GBP nevertheless sold off to close last night on the lows of the day. No news on a deal between the Government and the Opposition-yet. ZAR volatile in advance of the South African election today. Oil sharply lower at […]

  Markets   Big news this week has been the fallback in oil prices to WTI at $61. All eyes in the US and globally on the tea leaves following the Fed’s remarks this week and of course the forthcoming employment data. Bank of England upbeat about UK employment and Governor Carney said yesterday that […]

A Matter of Global Importance   It’s time to talk planetary defence. I’d be surprised if the coveted FEMA-NASA research event that has unfolded this week is not already at the forefront of your mind. However, if the 13th page of the free London newspaper the Metro or the ‘Strange’ tab of Sky News hasn’t […]

The British stereotype can be a confusing one. The French call us “Roast beef”, I suppose due to our affinity to the quintessentially British Sunday roast and, one would assume, partially in retaliation to being referred to as frogs. Internationally, are we not also supposed to love a good cup of tea and love a […]

UK Pensions Claimants living in Europe   There are approximately 400,000 pensioners living in Europe and all of them are wondering what a No Deal Brexit means for them and what it will mean with or without a Deal for GBP. SGM-FX have a growing number of pensioners who fall into this category and to […]

Chinese Takeaway:     With an absence of liquid London markets and a dearth of political news with President Trump in Iraq, it is a chance to turn to the city of Yiwu in north eastern China. Why and what? This is a city of 1.2 million comparable to our own Birmingham (1.1 million) with […]

Maggie May:   Mmm… Well… What an interesting day for global FX markets. The day kicked off with the Court of Justice of the European Union confirming the opinion expressed by the Advocate General that Brexit is indeed reversable. Article 50 can be unilaterally reversed by the United Kingdom should it choose to do so. […]

No No-Deal:   There have been interesting developments within Sterling markets overnight and throughout today’s European session. Yesterday, it was decided that the government was in contempt of Parliament for failing to disclose the outcome of the legal advice it has sought. The provision within parliamentary rules was invoked and voted upon given the argument […]

Ambitious, Broad, Deep and Flexible:   We’ve heard the words before. Now they’re in the right place. Theresa May in the past has levied criticism at the European Union for a lack of ambition within Brexit relations, refusing to think outside of the box of incumbent treatises to facilitate a post-Brexit relationship between the United […]

Picking up pennies: The Pound has recovered from yesterday’s woes. However, a fragile 0.2% appreciation on the day offers Sterling markets little commiseration with EURGBP and GBPUSD both trading slightly below the mid-point of their medium-term range. The Pound received a good bid following a confirmation from The Times that Michael Gove will not resign from May’s Cabinet […]

Rudolph: 2018 has hit rock bottom for the Pound, with the largest intraday losses so far this year. Whether the floor ends up being a stable footing from which to begin to recover will be discovered over the coming days, however, as far as today’s European session is concerned, Sterling has failed to catch a […]

Left; Right; Left; Right; A-Ten-Hut!   Defence was put on the table by the United Kingdom as a bargaining chip for a post-Brexit trading relationship. The UK is one of few nations that meets its NATO spending requirements on defence when measured as a percentage of GDP. Understandably, the UK has a developed defence sector, […]