Major currencies like the JPY and EUR have moved by ONE BIG FIGURE against the USD in the past 24 hours!!!
Welcome everyone…………..I am back!!! After stepping away from FX trading the past 4 years, I am now re-engaging trading again……….lots to catch up on……..the economic and financial dynamics between countries are so different now.
Will keep all of you updated on my thoughts……………
Here’s wishing one and all a prosperous and happy 2018.
The Year of the Dog will probably bring more positives than negatives………….like the Dog we should all be positive, happy, hardworking, playful and loving throughout the year.
Geo-political issues will continue to evolve, however, there is sufficient rational and mature politicians to manage the likes of Trump and Kim Jong-un.
Global economies will the front and centre, as more and more economies have to begin grappling with the issue of monetary tightening. What is that going to do to their respective economies? What will that mean for trading countries? How will the balance of trade and balance of payments pan out? Which currency will be stronger and which currency will be weaker this year?
Gold holding at US$1,333 is indicative of the tension amongst countries with geo-political issues, namely, the USA with the rest of the world, thanks to Humpty Dumpty Trumpy…………….making a mess! It also signifies that global economies could very well turn back south is the moderate growth is not managed well.
The dialing back of both monetary and fiscal policies must be done gradually in order not to shock the economy and also the financial markets.
The recent diarrhoea in the USA equity markets is testament that there isn’t sufficient fundamentals to support the runaway equity market.
I am excited at the prospects for trading this year, are all of you?
Let’s continue to keep up the dialogue and communication, you can reach me at twitter and here.
Here is wishing all of us a great 2018!!!
As it happened last month with the BOE, market decided to sell off the GBP when BOE announced the rate hike………….the classic rally on rumours and sell on fact.
Of course, in the GBP’s case, the GBP rallied aggressively prior to the rate decision by BOE.
In the case of the US Dollar, it has lost ground to the EUR. GBP’s weakness is because of the failure of the recent round of Brexit talks between the EU and Theresa May.
The JPY is the reverse with US gaining ground coming up to the FOMC decision. AUD has weakened recently because of the fear of a softening economy.
So how will the US Dollar react on FOMC rate decision day?
Right now, it appears that it can go either way, so it looks like I will be putting on a straddle to capture either direction if and when it happens.
Are we expecting volatility? Yes!
An event organized by the ECB, bringing together the mightiest central bankers of the major currencies of the world together to TALK SHOP?!
Will we expect any surprises during this meeting or will all the central bankers keep a neutral tone on their respective monetary policies?
Let’s see where the different central bankers positions are at the moment: –
Yellen: the rate hike in December is a done deal and Wall Street has fully priced in the hike. Everyone is now speculating about the ‘path’; both speed and magnitude, this will move the financial markets.
Draghi: he keeps on maintaining a neutral position, saying that monetary policy could go either way depending on the needs of the Eurozone. However, he did mention that the easy monetary policy is coming as the policy has produced positive economic results in the eurozone area supposedly far better than the USA.
Carney: he is also hinting about a rate hike but didn’t pull the trigger in the last BOE meeting. Is the BOE deliberately keeping the GBP bidded? We know that the UK economy is a services economy, a financial markets economy and an education economy. The education sector is rather inelastic, so even is the GBP is stronger, people who need to fund their children’s education in the UK will just keep on paying the higher exchange rate. The services economy and financial markets economy is beginning to feel the exodus of firms moving out of the UK. Volumes of trades in the financial markets for the time being is still stable.
Kuroda: no sign of monetary tightening from him. He keeps on reiterating that Japan will have no problem hitting its inflation target of 2%, but the fact is it’s still far away. Abe’s 4 arrows economic policy had limited impact on the economy and thankfully, he has been re-elected, so any new arrows to look forward to?
The world seems to be in a state of flux both from the economic perspective and also from the monetary policy perspective. Financial markets like the USA has gone crazy, with P/Es never seen before in the past 10 years. Is liquidity channeling itself into the financial markets instead of the real economy? It may appear to be so.
December 2017 will be rememberd in history as one of the pivotal months of the past 10 years. I am not so sure traders will be closing their books just yet and miss out on what could be one of the best trading periods for the entire year.
As expected, RBA kept interest rates the same and the statement was positive and supportive of the labour market and economic conditions in the country.
This should be supportive for the AUDUSD, maybe, my call option will be fine.
Let’s see.
Was trying to get a feel for the range of the GBPUSD.
The 4H – High 1.3441, Low 1.2022, spot at about 23.8% retracement level
1H – HIgh 1.2560, Low 1.2119, spot just above 61.8% retracement level
It suggests that if there is positive news coming out of the UK that the 1H could breakout and then the 4H begins to be relevant.
Have to keep watching……………….
After, Yellen’s comments last Friday at Jackson Hole and the subsequent correction in the majors against the USD, I feel levels are now more reasonable reflecting the relative economic health of the countries. However, I believe, the GBP and JPY have more downside adjustment to be made.
Take a look at the 4H USDJPY, the JPY is now just under the 38.2% level, I believe there is more room for the JPY to weaken.
The EURUSD is showing an interesting pattern. Certainly compared to the GBP, it has shown more resilience. I believe it’s because the EU has less problems and issues compared to the UK.
It seems to be creating a floor at 1.0980.
This week’s european PMIs came out steady and upbeat. I believe all we need is to see more positive growth news coming out of EU and the EURUSD should easily jump back up to 1.1388.
If ADP for the US comes out weak, it may just provide the impetus for the EUR to be bidded upwards, of course, the big move will come tomorrow during the non farm payroll numbers.
It’s looking interesting???!!!
Ever since Brexit accompanied by the economic problems in Japan, it appears that a trading opportunity is emerging.
As a safe heaven currency now, every time, negative comments are made of post-Brexit and EU, JPY is usually bidded up to 100 and sometimes higher at 98.98. I noticed that the JPY has hit 100 or better three times since post Brexit and each time rebounding back to 102.70 to 103.20.
Guess what it’s back up to 100.75 now, and moving at the 20% range of the stochastic curves. Possible rebound back to 101, then to 102?
To play the plan vanilla options is not worth it as the vols are high resulting in elevated premiums.
What to do? How to capture the potential opportunity?
I am glad David Cameron resigned as PM, he clearly didn’t get the confidence vote that he needed to keep the UK in the EU, so there’s no point in staying on, the people how silly as they have made their decision.
This made me reflect on Singapore. As a Singaporean, I was quite concerned in the 2011 general elections when PAP won by an average of about 56%+, which was not great by Singapore standards, but a clear signal from the electorate that the people of Singapore were not happy with PAP.
I am so glad and encouraged that PAP, our government, my government, paid attention, took heed and spent the next few years engaging Singaporeans; by and large solving and resolving a number of pressing issues. This culminated in PAP’s surprising victory in the 2015 elections with an average win of nearly 69%.
England, I am no longer referring to the UK anymore, because I believe the UK is gone! If we trace back in history, the 18th century was the glory days of England and the UK. It was the greatest empire in the world, ever since, then, England has been carving a downward path till today.
Though it would have been largely beneficial for the UK to stay in the EU, history tends to repeat itself, so the Brits again have made a poor decision which seals their fate and another negative chapter in the history of England.
Watch the world as it unfolds, Scotland will leave the UK and strike up its own deal with the EU. North Ireland may join up with the rest of Ireland, and then, strike a deal with the EU. Wales will also probably leave the UK, leaving the UK to just merely England. That is what is going to happen, mark my words, it will all unfold in the next 5 years to 7 years.
England has lost everything, it no longer has a manufacturing base, all its brands are now owned by foreigners, up to 1/3 of the liquidity in the financial markets has been moved to Dubai, up to 45% of its exports is attributed to the EU, it has no innovation, it has no invention.
The only thing going for it is that it’s a services economy and that has been eroding the past few years and with Brexit, the pace will pick up.
So, all that is left is England an education centre, a financial markets centre and a strong pharmaceuticals industry.
How is England going to feed 46Million people in an environment where the country has matured and is greying, coupled with low growth, low productivity, burdensome welfare system, far too much burden on the shoulders of the young British people.
Scary!!!
I am born in the Year of the Tiger.
The Panthenon Investment Group 