Yesterday was a challenge for all market commentators who had had an easy summer being negative about all things UK EU: good news of a likely breakthrough in negotiations.
However not all was lost: the UK employment figures were released and showed a fall of 56K in employment versus an expected fall of 26K. Cue hand wringing. Never mind that the employment figures are still almost the best ever, yesterday the unemployment level went from 3.8% to 3.9%. Statistically irrelevant. GBP could not have cared less as it was focused on the drama being played out between Brussels and Westminster. GBP back at best levels in the past 6 months.
Another day and another partner pulls out: this time it’s the turn of the owner of Booking.com to withdraw from the Facebook currency platform. The comment from Dante Disparte the Libra spokesman that the technology is in place, it’s just the regulators that are the problem, says it all. Displacing the global payments system and substituting a new form of money was never going to be easy. Satisfying the guardians of the entire global monetary system is thankfully much harder.
Is the Greek name for Tel Meggido and is in fact the name of a real place in Israel which has been destroyed and rebuilt 25 times in its 4,400 history. Christian teaching informs us that Tel Meggido is where the final battle for the world will occur and is a key staging post on the route taken by trade caravans from Syria and Mesopotamia to Egypt. So next time you are in a pub quiz and the Armageddon question comes up, you can effortlessly, flaunt these facts. Meanwhile we live in hope that certain global leaders do not have the level of knowledge enjoyed by readers of the SGM-FX Daily Briefing!
Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder
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