SGM-FX insights

Hydrogen: it’s back and this time it’s different…and it’s green   Older readers will recall the Zepellin, Hindenburg that unfortunately exploded on May 6 1937 in New Jersey killing 36 of the 97 passengers. Now hydrogen filled airships are making a come back as firstly they are green and secondly due to improvements in technology […]

Baaaaad news   If you’re planning on taking on the pub quiz any time soon it may be worth keeping this one in mind. Not the traditional victim of sheep observations, it is in fact Australia that is the world’s leading exporter of lamb and mutton. Towering above New Zealand and Wales, Australia in 2018 […]

Loonyness   This week brought the “news” that Canadian real estate has been the beneficiary of the Harry and Meghan circus moving to Vancouver. And what was the evidence for this? The answer is that hits on the Rightmove site have increased by 70% in the past month: incontrovertible proof! Here at SGM-FX we scoff […]

No small issue   Buyers of Rand have enjoyed the sell-off in the South African currency so far this year. Sellers on the other hand have displayed concern throughout the market as the South African economy embarks upon quite the first quarter of the decade. This shift in sentiment has been responsible for the change […]

Kung Hei Fat Choy   As we embark on the Year of the Rat, a very happy new year to our Chinese readers. Remy Cointreau is hoping that the coronavirus does not stop the huge Chinese drinking market from quaffing their cognac as well as The Botanist Gin and METAXA Greek brandy which also form […]

Judging by appearances   Not necessarily the right approach: look at penguins when they are on land (which is after all where we see them) whether it be Yellow eyed(New Zealand), Galapagos(Galapagos), Humboldt(Peru) or Fairy(Australia); all these species have adapted to different climates and environments which is quite something given that they are built like […]

Who are you?   0.7% in one day is a pretty decent rally for the Pound. Sterling currently sits at 2 week highs against the US Dollar and yesterday GBP reached 2020 highs against the Euro. But what brought us here might surprise you: Confederation of British Industry survey data! This piece of soft data […]

History and Hong Kong   News that China is considering the nomination of Shenzhen as a business centre is an unequivocal message to Hong Kong: continuing civil disturbance will be punished. Shenzhen is already a major city with a population of 12.5 million located on the east bank of the Pearl River Estuary on the […]

How Low Can Ya Go?!   Despite its relative adolescence on the global stage the Euro is a big player. Largely due to its incompleteness it hasn’t achieved the status of a reserve currency and doesn’t play a huge role as an underwriter of trade in goods and services outside of its own member states […]

There’s no business like shoe business   Reassuring to learn that even the Sage of Omaha, Warren Buffett occasionally( very occasionally) gets it wrong. Back in 1993: he paid $433 million for a shoe company named Dexter Shoes. Quickly he realised that he had bought a dud as its shoe product was being undercut by […]

Fishermens’ Friends   In Jiangsu Province, Eastern China there is a coastline 620Km long which faces Japan and South Korea with Taiwan 500 kms to the south. There is also a large US presence in that region. All those countries including China keep a close watch on each other, and the chosen way to do […]

Signed, sealed, not delivered   A trade deal is done between the US and China: call the IMF to tell them to change global growth forecasts; let emerging market currencies rally at the expense of overvalued safe-havens! Sadly not.   Whilst Trump didn’t give markets any last minute surprises by refusing to sign the document […]