Another week, another on off threat from President Trump: this time to close the US border with Mexico. No avocadoes is the least of the problems faced by Texas and California which would be hardest hit. The aim is to stem the flow of illegal drugs and immigrants from Mexico but while it may impede the former, it will do little to achieve the latter and in addition will be both complex and very costly. Meanwhile our own SGM-FX “Tex Mex” Charles Porter is polishing up his Spanish and getting ready for those Taco trades.
Sombrero on, Carlos!
German factory orders were poor as signposted yesterday and for good measure German growth forecasts were also cut. Despite this the emerging US China story about successful trade talks was enough to outweigh that poor news and the Dax rose. Asian stock markets are little changed this morning. Oil firm with WTI at $62.14. Currencies flat except for GBP slightly firmer on slightly better mood music on a deal between Westminster’s warring factions. All eyes on this afternoon’s US payroll figures.
It will no doubt be amazing, but for long suffering Londoners this week’s report brings no relief at all on when Crossrail will be opened; the best that they can do is say that the earliest will be in 2020, which is no doubt code for the end of 2020, which is 21 months away from today or 630 days or 1260 journeys or quite enough to get very cross given the money spent, the cutting edge tech and the Bombardier rolling stock.
For all you train spotters including SGM-FX’s Euan, the trains will be 200 metres long with a capacity of 1500 passengers. So that further 21 month delay equates to 1,890,000 passenger journeys. Grrrrrrrr. Calm down, Euan!
Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder
There goes those foundations Markets whipsawed yesterday as the press published regarding POTUS’ intentions for the Fed Chair. CBS news kicked things off reporting Trump had asked a room of Republican lawmakers on Tuesday whether he should fire the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jay Powell. That report suggested Trump had indicated on Tuesday night […]
Weren’t Tariffs USD Negative? The Dollar proved sensitive to headlines regarding trade during the US overnight session. However, contrary to what many commentaries would have you believe, as the risk of tariffs escalated the Dollar rose. The 90-day pause following Trump’s April ‘liberation day’ tariffs had been set to expire this coming Wednesday. To the […]
Weak foundations After a rally of around 15% year to date, there is significant cognitive and technical room for consolidation within EURUSD. Implied volatility has been rising given the macroeconomic backdrop that markets have encountered this year. Even within such an environment, a 15% rally in the market’s most traded instrument is still enormous. But […]