Category Archive: 4.) Marc to Market

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FX Daily, June 12: US-Korea Summit Fails to Impress Investors

2018-06-12

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2018-06-12

The US dollar initially rallied in early Asia ahead of the US-North Korea summit but has subsequently shed the gains and more. As North American dealers return to their desks, the dollar is lower against nearly all the major currencies, but the yen and Canadian dollar. 

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FX Weekly Preview: Busy Week Ahead

2018-06-11

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2018-06-11

The week ahead is eventful. The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, and the Bank of Japan hold policy meetings. This would make for a busy week by themselves, but there is more. Trade tensions are likely to escalate further, if the US, as scheduled provides a list of $50 bln of Chinese goods that will face another 25% tariff for intellectual property violations.

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Dollar and Yen Rise Amid Heightened Anxiety

2018-06-10

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2018-06-10

With what promises to be an acrimonious G7 meeting, from which the isolated US President will depart early, and a broadening pressure in emerging markets, the US dollar turned better bid late yesterday and is recovering further today.

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Europe’s Woes Multiply

2018-06-08

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2018-06-08

The Markit group that provides many of the PMI surveys noted with today's reports that the eurozone outlook has "darkened dramatically." This makes for a poor backdrop for the ECB, which meets next week. However, with price pressures recovering from the Easter-related distortions, the ECB is still on track to finish its asset purchases at the end of the year. This seems largely taken for granted.

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Greenback Corrects Lower

2018-06-08

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2018-06-08

The consensus narrative is that with rising inflation it is understandable that next week's meeting is live and that the confirmation of such has lifted the euro to ten-day highs, dragging the dollar broadly.  However, to accept this is to accept the debasement of language.  Until now, we dubbed central bank meeting that could result in action as "live."  For example, given that the Fed has not changed interest rates since the hiking cycle began in...

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More Color on Japanese Capital Flows and the Euro

2018-06-07

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2018-06-07

The euro put in a low on May 29 a little above $1.15. That is nearly a 10.5 cent decline since the three-year high was set in mid-February. The thing that is difficult for investors and analysts to get their head around is that the speculators in the futures market, who as seen as proxies for trend-followers and momentum traders, continue to carry large euro exposure.

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FX Daily, June 5: Sterling Jumps Ahead, While US Equities Have Small Coattails

2018-06-05

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2018-06-05

The British pound is benefiting from the stronger than expected service and composite PMI readings, which among other things are serving as a distraction from the government's seemingly tortured approach to Brexit and the sales of part of its stake in RBS for a GBP2 bln loss.  Financials are a drag on the FTSE 100 today (~-0.5% while other major bourses are higher).

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FX Weekly Preview: Macro Matters Now, Just Not the Data

2018-06-04

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2018-06-04

The main concerns of investors do not arise from the high-frequency data that are due in the coming days. Last week, the somewhat firmer than expected preliminary May CPI for the EMU failed to bolster the euro. The stronger than expected US jobs data, even if tipped by the President of the United States, and the pendulum of market sentiment swinging back in favor of two more Fed rate hikes this year did not trigger new dollar gains.

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Great Graphic: Euro Bulls Stir but Hardly Shaken

2018-06-02

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2018-06-02

Euro has fallen 10.5 cents since mid-February. Net speculative longs in the futures market remain near record. Gross long euros have actually increased over the past month.

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FX Daily, June 01: Ironic Twists to End the Tumultuous Week

2018-06-01

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2018-06-01

The week is ending quite a bit different than it began. The main banking concern is not in Italy but in German, where shares in Deutsche Bank shares fell to a record low yesterday, and S&P Global cut its credit rating one step to BBB+ (third-lowest investment grade).

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FX Daily, May 31: Don’t Confuse Calmer Markets with Resolution

2018-05-31

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2018-05-31

The global capital markets that were in panic mode on Tuesday stabilized yesterday, and corrective forces have carried into today's activity. However, the underlying issues in Italy and Spain are hardly clarified in the past 48 hours. Moreover, the US push on trade is intensifying again.

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FX Daily, May 30: Italian Reprieve, Euro Bounces, Trade Tensions Rise

2018-05-30

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2018-05-30

After what could be described as a 15-sigma event yesterday in the Italian bond market, a reprieve today has seen the euro recover a cent from yesterday's lows. While the political situation in Italy is worrisome, many observers suspect that the new banking rules exacerbated the illiquidity that explains outsized moves.

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What Happened Monday?

2018-05-29

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2018-05-29

Italian politics dominated Monday's activity. Initially, the euro reacted positively in Asia to news that the Italian President had blocked the proposed finance minister. A technocrat government would be appointed to prepare for new elections.

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FX Weekly Preview: Political Crises in Europe Rivals Economic Data and Trade to Drive Capital Markets

2018-05-28

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2018-05-28

The end of the Greek assistance program that allowed them to keep their primarily official creditors whole, and the broad expansion in the eurozone, was supposed to usher in a new period of convergence. Monetary union was once again feted as a success, and some observers were forecasting a substantial increase in the euro as a reserve asset.

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FX Daily, May 25: US Dollar Loses Momentum Ahead of the Weekend

2018-05-25

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2018-05-25

The euro and sterling were sold through yesterday's lows in Asia, but rebounded in Europe, with the help of mildly constructive data in the form of the German IFO and details of UK Q1 GDP. The IFO climate measure matched the April reading and thereby snapped a five-month slide. The expectations component slipped, but the current assessment improved.

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FX Daily, May 24: Greenback Pushes Lower

2018-05-24

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2018-05-24

The US dollar is pulling back after recording new highs for the year against the euro and sterling. The greenback is lower against nearly all the major currencies, but the Canadian dollar. It is also softer against most of the emerging market currencies. The chief exception is the Turkish lira. Yesterday's 300 bp rate hike could only stem the rot momentarily and the lira's 2.3% decline today, wipes out 2/3 of the annual rate increase.

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FX Daily, May 23: Dollar and Yen Surge, European Data Disappoints

2018-05-23

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2018-05-23

The US dollar has extended its gains against most of the major currencies. Momentum, positioning, and divergence continue to drive it. The euro briefly traded a little below $1.17, an important technical area and has enjoyed a bounce in late morning turnover in Europe.

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Great Graphic: Euro-Swiss Shows Elevated Systemic Risk

2018-05-23

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2018-05-23

The Swiss National Bank's decision in January 2015 to remove the cap on the Swiss franc (floor on the euro) that it has set at CHF1.20 is seared into the memory of a generation of foreign exchange participants. It is not exactly clear where the euro bottomed in the frenzied activity that followed the SNB's surprise move. Bloomberg records the euro's low near CHF0.8520.

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Italy Defies Gravity and Risk to Fiscal Rectitude

2018-05-22

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2018-05-22

Italian asset markets continue to fare better than many expected. The political uncertainty following the March election has been followed by confidence that the Five Star Movement and the (Northern) League will be able to put together a government in the coming days. If so, Italy would have taken half the time Germany did to cobble a government together after inconclusive elections.

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FX Weekly Preview: Dollar Power

2018-05-21

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2018-05-21

There are several trends in the capital markets at a high-level. The euro and yen's decline has coincided with sustained rallies in European and Japanese equity benchmarks. Emerging market equities and currencies have been trending lower.

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