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
Holding on With less than a 10% probability of a cut priced into the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) latest monetary policy decision, it is unsurprising markets open today to news of a hold. The RBA adopted a lower peak rate of benchmark interest than the likes of the UK and USA with lower inflationary […]
What is the Mar-a-Lago Accord, and should markets care? At heart, the Mar-a-Lago Accord is a proposal for President Trump to weaken the US Dollar. As we know, Trump’s typical deregulatory and risk-inducing persuasion would, all other things equal, increase demand for the US Dollar. As far as the relationship between perceived risk and the […]
Pointless Being the Point Yesterday, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her Spring Budget to the House of Commons. Since the government’s first budget last year, bond markets have not been kind to the Chancellor, taking its angst out in the form of higher yields. The selling (and increased issuance) of UK gilts has inevitably created […]