Reader Questions on Negative Interest Rates Our reader L from Mumbai has mailed us a number of questions about the negative interest rate regime and its possible consequences. Since these questions are probably of general interest, we have decided to reply to them in this post. The NIRP club – negative central bank deposit rates…
Currently, stock markets are struggling with several macroeconomic issues like the oil price slump, slow economic growth of China, the strengthening U.S. dollar and weakening energy markets. However, certain optimistic factors such as sound manufacturing data and declining unemployment rate reflect a positive outlook for the U.S. stock market. Nevertheless, since the broader market would…
This week’s Gong Show in the global financial markets reminds me of the early 1980s before the advent of the Internet or online trading or blogs and especially before 30-something financial “advisors” were allowed to go on the national (and international) airwaves or Internet websites and babble on for what seem like days how “The…
The FTSE 100 (FXCM: UK100) is lower by 0.42% at the time of writing and the decline appears to be an adjustment to soft overnight trading in the Asian stock markets. The Nikkei 225 was dealt the biggest blow and it closed lower by 3.55% for the day following the Tankan report and its failing…
USD/JPY The USD/JPY pair initially fell during the course of the session on Thursday, but found enough support to turn things around and form a hammer. This was preceded by a hammer on Wednesday as well, so it’s very likely that we will get a bit of a bounce at this point. Ultimately, the Nonfarm…
Total business sales – sales by wholesalers, manufacturers and retailers – have fallen 5% from their July 2014 peak of $1.365 trillion. At $1.296 trillion for January 2016, total business sales have dropped back to where they were in January of 2013 ($1.293 trillion). In fact, the erosion of total sales by American businesses are even uglier…
Twitter (TWTR) has been an incredibly interesting stock to watch, and I have to say, it’s baffling that there are still people that are bullish on the stock. The truth is that throughout the majority of its history on the market, Twitter has been falling, and recently, the declines have gotten bigger and bigger. Today,…
If there is ever going to be a spot for a short-term top in this stock market, in this case a daily cycle top, today’s employment report should be it. Clearly, the market has been discounting a good number, and for the most part the jobs numbers have been coming in bullish for some time,…
Non-farm payroll numbers are due out today and they should meet Fed expectations. The US labor market has stood out among a faltering US economy, but it may not be enough for Janet Yellen and her colleagues to warranted a second interest hike just yet. Unless there is a significant pickup in the low inflation…
When you open a position in a currency pair, you obviously want the price to move in the right direction. For example, if you take a long position in EUR/USD, you want the euro to rise against the US dollar. However, if the euro falls against the greenback, then you stand to lose money. Hedging…
