SGM-FX insights

3-3 Fear not: the title of this brief does not have anything to do with the weekend’s Champions league penalties. Instead, I’m looking at one of the biggest movers in the G10 space last week: the New Zealand Dollar. When the Reserve Bank met last week, it was expected to keep rates on hold. Ultimately […]

EU capital markets As we have written before, for the EUR to become a global reserve currency requires a number of pre-conditions which largely stem from the establishment of an integrated EU Capital Market. Brussels is accused of dragging its feet if not actually being obstructive so the 6 largest countries have banded together to […]

Oil and Inflation Up over 2% yesterday on the hopes of an elusive peace deal seemingly slipping away once again and further tensions and hostilities in the Gulf, oil has had a topsy turvy time having fallen sharply by over 5% at the beginning of the week. The continuing near USD 100 price for Brent […]

An outside chance  Sterling has amassed one of the largest net short positions in its recent history. By that I mean that, within the options space and based upon the disclosed commitments of traders, the number of participants positioned to benefit from Sterling’s decline towers over those expecting a rally in GBP by a record […]

Mariannes In addition to gold coins such as South African Krugerrands, Canadian Maple Leafs, and American Gold Eagles, from June 16 you will once again be able to buy French Mariannes. The last time France minted gold coins was mostly in the Napoleonic era and appropriately they were called Napoleons and were issued between 1803 […]

Room to manoeuvre  Kevin Warsh was sworn into office at the White House on Friday. Despite limited market movement on Friday, many prices gapped significantly come the open yesterday. Whilst the UK and US observed a bank holiday yesterday, many indices and currencies were on the move. The theme across the market was risk on […]

Fujairah  For those readers who are less familiar with the Emirate states that make up the UAE, Fujairah, and Ras Al Khaimah are the less glamorous relations of Dubai and Abu Dhabi with low-cost housing, largely immigrant labour accommodation and heavy industry rather than swanky lifestyle and up market shopping malls. With the new oil […]

One-trick market Yesterday saw significant volatility once again driven by, you guessed it, turbulent news flow surrounding the US-Iran conflict. The biggest move came just shortly after 13:15 BST when markets placed their convictions behind an unlikely source. It was reported by Al Hadath, a Saudi state-owned news channel, that work was ‘underway… to put the […]

EU-USA Trade Deal As we recently wrote, when EU Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen emerged from her 1-2-1 meeting with President Trump at Turnberry Golf Course last summer, it was all clear: the EU would remove tariffs on US goods and grant preferential access to the EU for all US land and sea produce; […]

Short-lived relief rally A tantrum in the bond market has continued to erode away at risk conditions in recent sessions. In the UK, the sell-off in gilts and corporate bonds has been particularly acute thanks to heightened political instability, the origins of which we have covered thoroughly in recent briefings. Yesterday, headlines delivered enough optimism […]

My body’s screaming “My body’s screamingCan you hear the sound?”   “Kiss me, take my heart and break it againPlease say that this night will never end”   “Let the night go up in flames till we forget who we are”   “Before we go, before we go home”  And it was eyes never mind […]

US Cost of Living If Americans can tear their eyes away from POTUS’ foreign policy sorties being played out around the world on almost a daily basis on their TV screens, they will be focusing on expressing themselves at the now only 6 months away US Mid Term elections. The factor uppermost in the voters’ minds will […]