The news that incumbent ANC President managed not only to arrest the decline in his party’s share of the vote but reverse it to win 57.5% is a small but encouraging step for the ZAR and the nation.
Hard on the heels of the imposition of US tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods comes the news that talks are going to resume. Having sifted through the goods affected, it is clear that the main area is that of computer and communications technology. Given the push that China continues to make to become a leading global player in that market, it is no coincidence that they will be returning to the table with sharpened pencils. Meanwhile global equity markets lost 2%+ across the board led by the Shanghai Composite that bore the brunt of the poor trade talk.
If you are worth $50 Billion what do you buy? Answer: the toyshop itself. India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani snapped up the loss making Hamleys flagship store at the end of last week from the Chinese company C Banner Intl. A shrewd move given that his company Reliance already manages 88 Hamleys stores across 29 Indian cities and with GBP at the level it is. Could it be better? Both a toyshop and a FX play!
More than 4 out of 10 species of frogs globally are on the edge of extinction due to rising temperatures which encourage the spread of the disease ranavirus. Before you think this is not a UK problem, it is, and the croaking of frogs in ponds and streams will be reducing and likely becoming a rarity in the next ten years. SGM-FX’s James was spotted in his wellies looking for tadpoles in the wetlands of South London over the weekend-bless!
Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder

A return to ‘sell America?’ The combination of (geo)political risks mounting up in the US have invited episodes of ‘sell America’ in recent sessions. This is a theme that dominated early in 2025 during Trump’s upheaval of the global terms of trade via a manipulation of tariffs. ‘Sell America’ is the trading outcome characterised by […]
Sterling slides Sterling took a leg lower ahead of the European open yesterday. Despite some tentative signs of recovery, GBP was still unable to claw back losses incurred during yesterday’s session. Before we cover the cause and implications of yesterday’s stumble amongst GBP crosses, let’s look at why the Pound was set up for a […]
Powell in the spotlight The market has not taken the prospective prosecution of Fed Chair Jay Powell lightly. Before European markets had opened yesterday, Asian markets had been churning with news that the Federal Reserve Chairman was facing prosecution from the Department of Justice. That headline was seen as the latest escalation in a series […]