Today Spring Bank Holiday in the UK
And also in the USA (Memorial Day) as well as the Middle East and other Muslim centres celebrating Eid Al Fitr and the end of Ramadan.
SGM-FX is working a full day today ready to support our clients and what is shaping up to be a busy time at the start of the last trading week in May.
The safe haven trades were piling on over the weekend following renewed tensions between China and the USA-this time due to China announcing it would impose a new security law on Hong Kong which will in the market’s view see a return to scenes of civil unrest in Hong Kong. The offshore Yuan traded at over 7.16 to the USD and the onshore Yuan was also markedly weaker. Other currencies that suffered in the light of the stronger USD were the Norwegian Kronor, GBP Pound, the Australian Dollar and the New Zealand Dollar.
Oil fell about 0.2% on fears of further economic disruption caused by those USA-China tensions. However WTI at $33.25 while not buoyant is still much better than it was a few short weeks ago.
86 years ago on May 23 1934 outlaws Bonnie and Clyde immortalized in the 1967 film by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were ambushed by a sheriff’s posse on a country road in Louisiana and were shot multiple times in their car which was found to be full of weapons and ammunition which were of no use to either Bonnie or Clyde.
Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot wrote and performed a romanticized song in 1968 of what was a much more humdrum story:
Vous avez lu l’histoire de Jesse James
Comment il vécut, comment il est mort
Ça vous a plu, hein, vous en d’mandez encore
Eh bien, écoutez l’histoire de Bonnie and Clyde
British singer Georgie Fame sang it in English and here is the last verse which sums up what turned out also in fact to be the last verse for Bonnie and Clyde:
Acting upon reliable information
A Federal Deputation laid a deadly ambush
When Bonnie and Clyde came walking in the sunshine
A half a dozen carbines opened up on them
Bonnie and Clyde
They lived a lot together
And finally together
They died
For those of you able to enjoy the sun and a day off today, have a great day!
Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder
UK Employment At 75.1%, employment for people aged 16-64 looks sort of OK depending on what that really means, but it does not alter the fact that there are currently 1.55 million people who are unemployed, or 4.4% of the potential workforce. Another much more significant number, is that there are currently 9.27 million people […]
Eastern Europe and Central Asia Between 2010 and 2019 economic growth in this large geographic area averaged 4%. According to the World Bank, that growth will decelerate to 2.5% for the next 2 years and even stripping out Russia that will still be lower at 3.3%. Inflation, weak external demand from the EU, global uncertainty […]
British Pound A 7 month high versus USD, and GBP is at present benefitting from the self inflicted wounds that the USA is continuing to suffer, the latest of which is the speculation over whether POTUS will defenestrate the Chair of the Federal Reserve. At the moment, and we choose our words carefully given the […]