Largest Risk Facing Global Economy
This is the lack of policy instruments at the disposal of central banks in the event of a financial crisis: with interest rates on historic lows and the ability to provide any fiscal stimulus heavily curtailed, the options available are limited. Nothing obvious in the way of a solution other than better global growth but what it means is that next time round it will be harder to address a global financial crisis. It is worth remembering that at such times the USD and Gold are the natural havens for flight capital.
The news that the USA has placed sanctions on four Chinese tanker firms including the well known large company Cosco has shocked an already nervous oil market in the wake of the drone attacks on the oil supply pipeline in Saudi Arabia. Quite why traders should be surprised given that the USA announced that they would not tolerate shipping companies carrying Iranian oil back in May is another matter, but that is down to the ongoing uncertainty caused by the wider trade war between the USA and China. Oil WTI is little changed at $56 which is where it was pre the drone attacks.
Tipping Etiquette for the new(ish) Gig Economy
Point of Sale credit and debit card machines increasingly give diners options ranging from No Tip to 10/15/20 or Other %. That is straightforward and avoids awkwardness unless possibly when it comes to hitting the No Tip option. These days Deliveroo workers for example depend on tips and it is not uncommon to ride the lift down with disgruntled Deliveroo workers who have received a grunt and muttered thanks but no tip from less generous neighbours in our building. These days it’s got complicated again and especially due to people carrying less or no cash. What’s the answer? Well needless to say when travelling, the SGM-FX Prepaid Currency Card allows tips and also allows users to draw cash from ATMs at no cost: problem solved!
Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder
US Interest Rates Nothing much new over the weekend other than while sifting thought the tea leaves from last week, we found that not one but two members of the FOMC, the rate setting and policy making committee of the Federal Reserve, advocated US interest rates staying higher for longer to crush inflation. Within their […]
A revised 2024 The Dollar opens stronger this morning following the Federal Reserve’s decision last night. The decision confirmed interest rates were to stay on hold following this meeting. As we have highlighted following previous decisions, the forward guidance offered by the Chair Jay Powell was once again underwhelming. However, the Dollar’s bid this morning […]
Dot dot dot With the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision looming large tomorrow, there is a significant risk that the Fed will fail to communicate sufficiently. Recently Powell and his fellow US rate setters have been reluctant to commit verbally to how they see the outlook for near term interest rates. Simultaneously, they have also […]