Opinion – Thursday 26 April 2018

US stocks have taken the latest rise in Bond yields on the chin, though this cannot disguise the fact that the pull back in the S&P from above 2700 to below 2620 since mid-April has gone hand in hand with the break up in 10 year Treasury yields from just above...

Opinion – Wednesday 25 April 2018

The VIX rose 10.30% yesterday to close at 18.02 as 10 Year US Treasury Rates hit 3% for the first time in four years. For equity investors the timing could not have been worse. The Interest Rate milestone was never going to spark celebration in the stock market as...

Opinion – Tuesday 24 April 2018

Yesterday’s trading session has been marked by further strength in the US Dollar, further rises in US Treasury and global bond yields, and commodity price volatility. US equities finished flat to lower, again led down by tech shares (especially semiconductor related...

Opinion – Monday 23 April 2018

Well not quite knocking on heaven’s door, but one of the big news from Friday’s trading session was the move higher in 10y US Treasury yields which are now essentially knocking on the 3% mark. The 10y tenor closed at 2.96%, its highest levels since early January 2014...

Opinion – Friday 20 April 2018

There has been a further step up in Treasury yields since I posted early yesterday morning following on the heels of the previous session’s jump in oil and base metals prices, however those prices having taken a breath and steadied over the past 24 hours. 10...

Opinion Thursday 19 April 2018

Yesterday’s trading was marked by a very solid session for commodity prices. Oil prices pushed higher, to levels not seen since it was on the way back down in 2014 from the surge then in US tight oil supplies. WTI and Brent oil are both up over 3% and up...

Opinion – Wednesday 18 April 2018

US equities enjoyed another day of positive returns (DJ 0.87%,S&P500 1.07% and NASDAQ1.74%) initially aided by better than expected earnings results by Netflix (reported after the bell on Monday) followed by beating outcomes from Johnson and Johnson and Goldman...

Opinion – Tuesday 17 April 2018

Strong earnings reports by trucking companies have helped US equities end the day in a positive note shifting focus away from geopolitics and back to fundamentals. The US Dollar is weaker on the back of President Trump’s tweet accusing China and Russia of playing the...

Opinion – Monday 16 April 2018

Friday night’s joint US UK and French air strikes against Syria have thus far drawn only verbal condemnation from Russia (and too Iran and China) with Russia’s prediction of ‘’global chaos’’ if the West hits Syria again not filling markets with fresh dread, at least...

Opinion – Friday 13 April 2018

Ease in trade and geopolitical tensions have helped risk sentiment over the past 24 hours.US and EU equities have closed in positive territory, US Treasury yields are also higher and the US Dollar is stronger, mainly driven by softness in European currencies and yen...

Opinion – Thursday 12 April 2018

We come in this morning to the news that just 24 hours on from President Xi’s conciliatory speech to the Boao Forum advocating market opening and yet there is a semblance of a risk-off market mood. European Equity markets have closed lower, with the Dow closing down...

Opinion – Wednesday 11 April 2018

The impact on markets just after I posted early yesterday morning of President Xi’s comments, in particular the references to reducing car import tariffs and protecting intellectual property rights of foreign entities, was accentuated offshore. Seeing is believing of...

Opinion – Tuesday 10 April 2018

While ECB President Mario Draghi and other ECB Governing Council members have been out en masse imploring investors to not worry and be happy about the Euro-Zone economic outlook, while repeating the ‘’patient, persistent, prudent’’ mantra with respect to monetary...

Opinion – Monday 9 April 2018

After the Asian session headlines noting President Trump’s instructions to look for an extra $100bn in China trade tariffs, Trump’s tweets Friday afternoon added more fuel to the fire. A soft Non – Farm Payrolls report did not help sentiment and shortly after China’s...