SGM-FX insights

Inflation – good, bad and ugly rolled into one   As an avid reader of the market insight that we publish daily to your many multimedia devices, you will likely have recognised a shift in the way we have been talking about inflation. In days gone by, you would have seen Humphrey, me, and your […]

Auto Manufacturer Market Capitalisations   If like me you have recently enjoyed the Netflix documentary film Elon Musk-it does what it says on the tin-you may have wondered at how Tesla’s market cap compares to say 1. VW or, if one took a combination of 2. Mercedes-Benz, Ford, BMW and Honda how they in total […]

Not All That Ordinary   It’s not every day that a nation, let alone two, announces that it will be applying for NATO membership. But yesterday, when Sweden joined Finland in announcing its process towards membership of the defence body, the attention was elsewhere: Russia. Russia has seemingly struggled to make the advances it has […]

Beginning of the End?   Hopes rising over the weekend that the Stock Market correction is nearing the end. US 10 Year Bond at 2.92% , Gold $1,811 and EUR/USD 1.0422. Still offering value GBP/EUR 1.1720.   Saudi Aramco   Anyone unsure of the degree of uplift that the rising oil price post Ukraine has […]

UK Growth   GDP contracted by 0.1% in March in a quarter that saw growth grow by a slender 0.8% which was down from growth of 1.3% in Q4 2021 and below the forecast of 1%. GBP/USD dropped to 1.2166, its lowest for 2 years.   The most valuable company in the world   The […]

Blame the Data   Volatility has continued to stretch the foreign exchange market out of its usual ranges. In the case of GBP, the market is evidently heavily short Sterling but until yesterday lacked the optimism to close some of the open positioning or the conviction to drive speculative positions further. The precarious nature of […]

New Zealand   News just out that NZ is opening its borders 2 months early at the end of July. Named as the best politician in the world at the height of the pandemic, PM Jacinda Ardern is not riding so high now with flagging polls on the back of her don’t care economic regime […]

Emerging Market Meltdown   War as an economic event creates winners and losers. Theories of politics and economics suggest that there’s more losers than winners (on average by mode and mean) and in most episodes of at least recent history the world suffers economic and general setback as a result of it. Some currencies are […]

Markets   As we start the week with WTI oil at $110.60, the USD remains very strong at EUR/USD 1.0550 and GBP/USD 1.2280 and GBP/EUR 1.1680. Gold firmer at $1882.   US 10 Year Treasury Bond   Last week the yield reached 3.14% at the same times as the Dow lost 1000 points on Thursday. […]

UK Interest Rates   25bp increase versus the widely expected 50bp rise: a predictable market reaction: GBP smacked. Never mind that the BoE is once again saying they know best and that economic activity is fragile and cannot sustain a 50bp shot. Hopefully this turns out better than the Bank of England inflation is transitory […]

Half a percent   Over the past two decades, the norm for the size and frequency for interest rate adjustments has continued to fade. The tool most obviously available to central banks, the interest paid on deposits held at their institution, is now seen as the heavy touch option and accordingly even when it is […]

Australia   RBA raising interest rates from 0.10% to 0.35% may not sound like much, but it may be the final nail in the coffin that is incumbent PM Scott Morrison’s hope of re-election as he trails in the polls ahead of the National Election on May 21. In case you have lost sight of […]