Asking the Right Questions
US Fed Chatter: “Lower for longer” to “faster and further”
The minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting at the start of November were judged to be supportive of a possible rate hike in December. Federal funds futures contracts are now fully pricing in a 25bps increase, which would see the Fed…
Janet Yellen grunging to Nirvana
Last week marked the 25th anniversary of the release of Nirvana’s iconoclastic album, Nevermind, September 24th 1991. The album catapulted the band and the genre of music into the commercial mainstream, something that was perhaps too much for front man Kurt Cobain to handle….
Key points from Janet Yellen’s speech
In April I wrote a blog “Central banks and the certain uncertainty paradox”, reminding everyone that these institutions are no more certain than anyone else about how economic conditions will unfold. Still, market participants continue to hang on every word from the leaders of…
Central bank liquidity keeps everyone dancing
While the Bank of England (BOE) surprised markets by holding interest rates steady in July, the Bank announced an aggressive package of measures at their meeting on Thursday that had financial markets salivating once again. This package, intended to lower the cost of borrowing…
Weekly Market Update: June 7th 2016
Market Recap Global equity markets ended the week on a sour note as market participants were caught off guard by much weaker than expected monthly US jobs data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics. The sharp response across equity, bond and currency markets on…
Weekly Market Update: May 9th 2016
Market Recap Global equity markets continue to struggle, with all of the major equity indices ending lower for the week. Europe and Asia underperformed the US, with the currency backdrop playing a huge part in the divergence of returns this year.
Central banks and the certain uncertainty paradox
“Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one.” – Voltaire US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen lifted markets midweek by pouring cold water on recent comments from a number of regional US Federal Reserve Presidents. In a speech at the Economic Club…
US Fed Policy: A Much More ‘Gradual’ Path
Global equity markets sold off sharply last week, as weak economic data outweighed the recent positivity generated by the prospect of more easing from the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and the European Central Bank (ECB). Much of the focus was on the US, as…
Rate hike this week from the US Federal Reserve
To raise or not to raise? That has been the question for a long time now for the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee. Year after year, meeting after meeting, the Fed have pushed out the timing for US rate hikes. Well, it appears…
Weekly Market Recap: W/E November 13th 2015
Market Recap Many of the major equity indices ended last week sharply lower, as some of the issues that caused the market sell-off in the third quarter came back to the fore. Economic data – a mixed picture from China, slower than expected Q3…
