It was even more compelling watching than Glastonbury with multiple sound stages and even more multiple sound bites. The SGM-FX elves were hard at it trying to decipher whether Mutti Merkel was simply suffering from stress or something more serious, what that meant for Germany and Europe and whether PM May was woohooing President Putin or whether he was simply biding his time(guess). However the headline act was POTUS- everywhere and on most stages not only in Osaka but in North Korea, throughout the weekend. Key message as suggested by SGM-FX last week was that after downplaying China trade talk hopes, the plan was to declare new progress and fresh impetus. POTUS duly did just that and then said he would pause on the imposition of tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese exports to the USA. Let’s see the next and exact text once the weekend is past and the dust has settled.
On the back of better Trade news, USD, Yen, CHF all weakened-ie the haven currencies- and the CNY and other commodity and emerging market currencies all strengthened in early Asia trading this morning.
Well. While some of us were, it was apparent that Janet barely was-there on Saturday night: no voice, no entertainment and a tribe of baggy Goth like trolls to try and divert attention away from her. Great work if you can get it- a big hit in the 80s and 90s and reputedly worth $175M, JJ is well past her sell by date. Now 52 and married to Qatari businessman, Wissam Al Mana, it is a mystery as to what she was doing at Worthy Farm. It’s not only about individual taste, it’s just not entertainment and THAT was apparent from the sea of bemused motionless fans who despite her increasingly desperate cries of encouragement definitely could not and would not “Come On.” Best cheer of the night? When she(eventually) stopped! Key takeaway: More Stormzy and Janet………..”Shut up!”
Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder

Missing haven At the start of the year, the Franc had performed well as a safehaven. As a result of political and economic developments in Japan, the Yen was not abiding by its usual safehaven form. Therefore, defensive plays within FX only had two credible places to go: the US Dollar or the Swiss Franc. […]
Battle of the banks Market volatility continues amidst unclear messaging from both sides of the conflict in Iran. The President’s position has continued to flit between seemingly concrete positions of absolutely tangible progress and bombing the nation back ‘to the Stone Ages’. Since the start of the war, smarter money has acknowledged that predicting the […]
Questioning Truth Adopting the same handle as his now rather redundant X account, @realDonaldTrump shocked markets yesterday using his own social media platform, Truth Social. During Trump 1.0, the legitimacy of a President using an unofficial X, then Twitter, account was questioned. Now under Trump 2.0, it’s seldom questioned when he is the majority shareholder […]