Space Solar
UK Oxfordshire based company Space Solar is on the way to creating a solar farm that will generate constant and cheap electricity….in space. The plan is to launch a 2000 tonne solar farm into space and then with a complicated system of mirrors and solar panels beam light back to Planet Earth from 22,000 miles away. This could all come to fruition by 2030 and could power 1 million homes.
GBP/USD 1.2635
Sydney, Australia
Torrential rain has caused flooding in Sydney NSW which has been exacerbated by the Warragamba Dam being unable to contain water as normal. To give an idea of what the Australian NSW Water Board call a spill, it is the equivalent of 80,000 Olympic swimming pools being emptied….. every hour.
GBP/AUD 1.9205
Global Currency Markets
In case it has passed you by, the world’s Central Banks have between them managed markets and expectations to the extent that volatility is once again at a level that matches a handful of all time lows in the past 6 years. There are two sets of events that could change that situation radically later in the year: the first are the great number of elections due to take place around the world this year; the second is the known unknown of Donald Trump being re-elected to the White House. For the moment, the market is enjoying the opportunities offered by low volatility with profitable carry trades that work well in such conditions, but at the same time are bemoaning the lack of volatility and looking forward to a return to greater market movements.
EUR/USD 1.0835
Four Seasons
Hotel group Four Seasons as has been well telegraphed is launching an upmarket cruise division called Four Seasons Yachts. Prices are reassuringly expensive with a week starting at USD 20,000 per person for a Caribbean cruise and going all the way up to an eye watering USD 330,000. What will puzzle regular cruisers is that Four Seasons are targeting their hotel guests rather than serial cruise passengers; and that means that instead of food and drink being included in the package, F&B will be on top. What passengers will get however is plenty of space since numbers will be limited. Exclusivity in Four Seasons Yachts means just that when it comes to pricing: everything is on top.
USD/JPY 151.60.
Get Down
This day in 1973 British singer Gilbert O’Sullivan had a hit with this number. Maybe not much happened around this time in 1973 since there was avid speculation as to whether GOS wrote this about his dog. I did warn you. Not so as it happened, the singer claimed that he wrote this song about a girl who kept jumping on him. Mind the (credibility) gap as well as the low quality lyrics. Told you once before
And I won’t tell you no more
Get down, get down, get down
You’re a bad dog, baby
But I still want you around
You give me the creeps
When you jump on your feet
So get down, get down, get down
Keep your hands to yourself
I’m strictly out of bounds
Once upon a time, I drank a little wine
Was as happy as could be, happy as could be
Now I’m just like a cat on a hot tin roof
Baby, what do you think you’re doing to me
Told you once before
And I won’t tell you no more
So get down, get down, get down
You’re a bad dog, baby
But I still want you around, around
I still want you around
Hey hey hey…
Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder
Germany In just 6 weeks Germany will vote and while Chancellor Scholz thinks that he can win, most others are equally convinced that he cannot based on his economic record alone that has seen the German economy contract by 0.3% in 2023 and by an estimated 0.2% in 2024. That on top of his ability […]
British Pound With a GBP 4 billion auction of 10 Year Gilts today, markets are watching carefully as higher long term rates put pressure on the UK Chancellor and GBP bounces around between USD 1.21 and 1.22. After 6 consecutive trading sessions with GBP weaker and a low of 1.2097 which has taken its toll, […]
Europe With EU annual inflation coming in at 2.4% up from 2.2%, conventional wisdom might suggest that that might dampen the ECB’s enthusiasm for an early cut in EUR interest rates at the end of January. But such is the weakness pervading the EU economies, it is more likely that the hawkish tendencies at the […]