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 once Brexit resolved(sic) rates may rise faster than anticipated thereby skirting around the uncomfortable fact that the BoE has been consistent-that is consistent to date in overstating the economic downturn following the EU Referendum 3 years ago.
The Role of Belgium in Europe – hold the front page!
This is, we stress, not a Jeremy Clarkson type diatribe (!) on Belgium’s role other than that of hosting the European parliament, Charles Michel the Belgian PM is setting out his stall as the bridge or le pont between Germany and France plus if that was not enough, positioning Belgian as the EU member that calls for a common European vision to counter populism. On top of that Belgium advocates peer group reviews for each country to evaluate the other EU members for their respect of the rule of law for the rights of their citizens and the health of their democracies. Phew! Does one detect a whiff of management consultants par excellence McKinsey?!
Call in their most famous export, Hercule Poirot tout de suite!
Blame it on Brexit journalism suggests that fewer Brits are going abroad this year. Top foreign holiday destinations remain:
1.Spain
2. Turkey
3. Greece
4. USA
5. Cyprus
Heady excitement from the lady on the counter that the sales of Egyptian Pounds through the Post Office have increased 687% in the past year. From a low base and still a small slice of the tourism pie however…..
Walk like an Egyptian….
Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder
Click Here to Subscribe to the SGM-FX Newsletter
Related Insights
Daily Brief – Rotation out of the US
Humphrey Percy
Mon 14 Apr 2025
Rotation out of the US Quite what that rotation may mean and by how much is exercising the markets and also doubtless the Chair of the Federal Reserve. For the yield on 10 year US Treasury Bonds to move from 3.99% to 4.50% in a week is extraordinary. At the same time, the US Dollar […]
Daily Brief – UK Employment
Humphrey Percy
Wed 16 Apr 2025
UK Employment At 75.1%, employment for people aged 16-64 looks sort of OK depending on what that really means, but it does not alter the fact that there are currently 1.55 million people who are unemployed, or 4.4% of the potential workforce. Another much more significant number, is that there are currently 9.27 million people […]
Daily Brief – Brent sub $60
Humphrey Percy
Fri 11 Apr 2025
Brent sub $60 The last time that oil was at this level (now clawed its way back to $62) was in February 2021, following the 18% drop in price in the past 6 days. Currently, although for very different reasons, events plus supply resemble what happened to the oil market in 2020, when during the […]
