Daily Brief – Monday 01-07-24

USD/JPY

As we have written recently the Japanese Yen is on a 38 year low versus the USD. This past weekend has seen a number of comments from the Japanese authorities along the same lines as at the beginning of June when the currency pair stood at 155. The reason this is noteworthy is that in June alone the Yen has weakened by almost 4%. That is why the market is wary of some intervention sooner rather than later.

USD/JPY 160.89.

US Election

Enough has already been written about the Presidential debate on Thursday that saw Trump win convincingly over Biden. The markets are now working on the basis that Trump will win. The only somewhat unlikely possibility of the Democrats getting back in the race is if Biden stands aside of his own volition but it has to be quickly. Then the Democrats would have to adopt and back the only viable candidate: Governor Newsom of California. It’s a tall order so the probability is that however unlikely it may have looked a few months ago, a second Trump presidency is coming.

EUR/USD 1.0695.

World’s Most Liveable Cities

Always worth a look and the Economist report this weekend came out with Vienna, Copenhagen, Zurich and Melbourne in the top four slots. While Geneva in fifth is hardly controversal the fact that it tied with Calgary, Canada was a surprise. Having visited Calgary, the word liveable does not immediately spring to mind. All of the other top 5 have relatively small populations and all feature water as a major part of their areas. At the other end of the scale obvious candidates Kyiv, Caracas, Lagos and Karachi all vied for least liveable.

GBP/USD 1.2645.

Secret of longevity and happiness

According to the Japanese who have form on both-Okinawa has a large number of the oldest and presumably happiest people on the planet- there are just 3 requirements to achieve both:

1. A minimum of 5 minutes a day of moderate exercise.

2. A sense of purpose and staying busy.

3. A state of flow . This means being sufficiently engaged and focused on an activity which means that you forget your problems.

GBP/EUR 1.1823.

Angela Tremble

Another one for a pub quiz. 79 years ago today AT was born in Miami Florida USA. Subsequently at the tender age of 22 by then having changed her name and become Debbie Harry she burst on to the NYC music scene with Uber cool punk band Blondie in 1977 when they immediately captured the zeitgeist of the time as well as notching up a string of hits.

The tide is high but I’m holdin’ on

I’m gonna be your number one

I’m not the kinda girl who gives up just like that, oh no
It’s not the things you do that tease and hurt me bad
But it’s the way you do the things you do to me
I’m not the kinda girl who gives up just like that, oh no

The tide is high but I’m holdin’ on
I’m gonna be your number one, number one

Ev’ry girl wants you to be her man
But I’ll wait my dear till it’s my turn
I’m not the kinda girl who gives up just like that, oh no

The tide is high but I’m holdin’ on
I’m gonna be your number one, number one, number one

Ev’ry girl wants you to be her man
But I’ll wait my dear till it’s my turn
I’m not the kinda girl who gives up just like that, oh no

The tide is high but I’m holding on

Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder

Click Here to Subscribe to the SGM-FX Newsletter