SGM-FX insights

Ripe, Sexy, and Flamboyant…     No not the UK economy as it turns out, but the 2017 new Rhone wine vintage (according to the French!) Yesterday’s UK Q4 GDP release further confirmed what we have been saying with GDP Growth slowing to 0.2%. Not great- and the market is keeping a close watch on […]

GBP…and where to over the next few weeks? Never Gonna Give You Up-with thanks to Rick Astley (birthday #53 last week: congrats Rick!)   At the beginning of Valentine week (following the week that was) it is timely to remind ourselves of what the various outcomes could mean from the UK Parliament vote as and […]

A Bit Fishy………   The Blind Date But we trod grapes and paddled on, Through a neap tide of Sauvignon, Drowning our disappointment in drink, Above a pale octopus poached in its own ink.   It must be Friday…. Crime busting Devon UK police have arrested a man for suspected drug driving after he swerved […]

Incredible India: It Ain’t Half Hot! (Economically)   Come On In!   The seventh largest country in the world by land mass is forging ahead with an impressive array of statistics which in total mean that India is set to affect every citizen on the planet in the next decade. India has the world’s fastest […]

Gong Hei Fat Choy!     In case you have asked yourselves what the world’s most populous nation, China get up to over their New Year, there is quite a prescriptive programme!     With Asia celebrating Chinese New Year on the eve of the Year of The Pig, markets have seen GBP weaken by […]

Silly Season arrived early?     In my experience it is August each year when trading bosses are relaxing on the Algarve/ In the South of France/ In the Hamptons when newspapers and wire services desperate for stories and having found nothing of any possible interest to their readers from the seconds/thirds in command of trading […]

Hey presto: Upbeat Monday(for a change!)     So here’s the thing, having had the chance over one of the coldest weekends in recent years to review the markets this weekend, and especially the UK market, it would seem that there is a good chance that the UK stock market is set for a decent […]

Best Excuses?!-The Dog Ate My Homework     Yesterday was the last day for filing 2018 tax returns with the UK’s HMRC and they have shared their own favourite excuses for late or non-filing of returns. Not all of them meet the high standards which we all remember from our school days but here are […]

Europe: Wood and Trees   US: Oil on troubled waters     When the history books are written on the 2016-2019 period of the UK, it is odds on that writers will scratch their heads to explain that while the UK nationally was convulsed on leaving Europe or remaining in Europe, the mystery was why […]

Eyes on the Federal Reserve     Today sees the first-rate setting meeting of 2019 at the Federal Reserve. The market expectation is that they will leave rates unchanged but what is of much more focus is what is said about interest rate changes going forward. Will the Fed water down further expectations of rate […]

No Deal Exit Off The Table?       With UK MPs due to debate a number of amendments to TM’s Brexit Deal this evening at 7pm, markets are pricing in the assumption that a No Deal Brexit is off the table. GBP is set for its best monthly performance for a year so what […]

The calm before the storm……?     So that’s the question that markets face today: will tomorrow’s Brexit Debate in the UK Parliament be a damp squib defined as inconclusive or Parliament deciding to apply for an extension to the 29 March Brexit date? That perversely given that fact alone solves none of the Parliamentary […]