The global financial markets are little changed today as investors wait for the most important Fed meeting of the year. The Fed officials will announce the interest rate decision at 1900 hours today. The expectations are that the Fed will hike interest rates by 25 basis points, which will leave the rates at 2.0%. What […]
Yesterday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the CPI data. The data showed that the core CPI – which excludes the volatile food and energy products – rose at an annualized rate of 2.2% which was in line with the expectations. In general, the CPI rose at an annual rate of 2.8%, which was […]
Today, the biggest news among the trading community was on the US-North Korean summit, which ended successfully. As such, the global financial markets are up, with the dollar index remaining largely unchanged. In addition to the good news from Singapore, traders are focusing on the Brexit issue, UK employment numbers, EU business sentiment, and the […]
Early this morning, Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un met for the first time. This was the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries in history. The meeting capped many months of increased preparations and tensions between the two countries. At the end of their meeting, the two leaders signed a document, which […]
Wheat is one of the most important agricultural commodities in the world. It is consumed by billions of people every day. It is produced in many countries, with the main producer being Russia which produces more than 60 million metric tonnes per year. It is followed closely by the United States and France which produce […]
This will be a busy week for investors. The main issues this week will be on politics, central banks, and geopolitical events. Tomorrow, the historic meeting between the United States and North Korea will take place in Singapore. The two leaders arrived yesterday and are currently preparing for the meeting. The outcome will be consequential […]
The G7 meeting, held in Quebec was the focus among investors this past weekend. It was always expected to be a contentious meeting especially after Donald Trump announced his plans to place tariffs on steel and aluminum on the countries. Before the meeting, there was a concern that the president would not even attend it. […]
Trade was a major point of discussion this week as the leaders of the world’s 7 largest economies meet in Quebec, Canada. Recently, the United States announced that it would impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum on Canadian, Mexican, Japanese, and European Union steel and aluminum. This led to retaliatory tariffs from these countries […]
Today, Eurostat announced the Q1 GDP numbers for the euro area and the EU28. In the first quarter, the economy in the region expanded at a quarterly rate of 0.4% as expected. It rose at an annualized rate of 2.5%, also as expected. During the same time, the US economy expanded by 0.5%, which was […]
Gold has been in use as a means of exchange for more than 2000 years. In all the major religious and historical books, the role of gold as an important and precious metal has been prominent. Today, the role of gold as a currency has changed. In fact, most people who own gold don’t own […]
Natural gas has been a great miracle for the current generation. The gas, which is found deep within the earth’s crust has been used to provide clean energy to household and natural grid. It has been used to replace the traditional coal-powered plants that were known to be heavy pollutants. In the past, natural gas, […]
This year is turning out to be an interesting one for the financial markets. When it started, optimism around the world was rising. The United States had just passed the massive tax reform package. In the EU, traders expected calm, in a year when there was just one election. In the Middle East, we expected […]
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) concluded its meeting today and – as expected – left interest rates unchanged at 1.5%. As a result, the Australian dollar was little moved against the dollar, though it has seen a major increase in the past few days. On Wednesday, the pair started an upward surge, rising from […]
Cocoa is an important agricultural commodity used in the manufacture of chocolate bars, candy, and other products. As the global population has grown, so has the demand for cocoa-made products. Most of this demand has come from Asian countries such as China. Their middle class has grown leading to more demand for chocolate bars and […]
Like last week, trade is going to be the main focus among the investors this week. Last week, the US announced that it would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum on the European Union (EU), Japan, Canada, and Mexico. These countries were given exemptions when the US announced the tariffs. They were given the exemptions […]
In the past one month, the AUD/USD has gained against the dollar by more than a percentage point. Some of these gains happened today when Australia released its retail sales numbers that beat analysts’ forecasts. It also rose a day before the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is expected to release its interest rate decision. […]
The weekend began with the release of the May employment numbers by the labor department. The release was unique a number of ways. First, an hour before the news was released, the United States president announced that he was ‘looking forward’ to the news. This broke an old tradition where the executive branch never discloses […]
In May, the EUR/USD pair dropped by more than 2.65% as the dollar strength continued. The decline was attributed to the political risks in the EU and the risks about trade. It was also attributed to a slightly dovish ECB. This month, the issue of trade will continue being a thorn in the flesh for […]
This week, the biggest news came from Italy, the fourth largest economy in the European Union (EU). The country has had no government since the election was held in March. After the election, the two main parties – Five Star Movement and League – negotiated to form a government. On Monday, they announced the economy […]
May was a consequential month for the financial markets. During the month, the US administration exited the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran deal. This was an important deal signed between Iran and the largest economies in the world. The US exited and announced that it would reintroduce the sanctions […]
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is one of the largest indices in the world. The companies that make the index have a combined market capitalization of more than $23 trillion dollars. The biggest of them is Apple which has a market valuation of $953 billion while the smallest is the Travelers Group which has a […]
This week, the biggest economic data will be released tomorrow. The US labor department will release the jobs numbers for the month of April. Traders expect the non-farm payrolls to grow to 184K, from last month’s 164k. They expect the unemployment rate to remain at 3.9% and the participation rate to improve to 62.9%. The […]
Joseph Stiglitz is one of the most respected economists in the world. He currently teaches Columbia University and is also one of the few economists to receive the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Joseph Stiglitz has published multiple books on economics. In 2016, he published a book on Europe and the risks posed by […]
Crude oil had one of the best months in the recent past until it all came falling down. This month, Brent and WTI crude rose to the highest level in almost four years. Brent reached a high of $80.45 while WTI reached a high of $72.86. The surge in crude oil came after Trump exited […]
Early this month, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) held its meeting. As expected, the officials left interest rates unchanged but predicted that a hike would come in a near future. In the meeting, they left rates unchanged between 1.5% and 1.75%. Yesterday, the officials released the minutes of the meeting. The minutes showed that […]
In the past one month, the EUR/USD pair has declined by more than 4%. The decline is associated with the decline in the European fundamentals and a strong dollar. In that duration, the dollar has gained by almost 3.5% mostly because of a hawkish Federal Reserve. The EUR/USD pair is now trading at 1.17000. Yesterday, […]
Yesterday, the UK parliament held its inflation hearings with the Bank of England (BOE) officials. The meeting resulted in a few headlines with the main one being the hawkishness of key officials. One of them said that he expected the central bank to hike 6 times in the next three years. As a result, the […]
The manufacturing industry is one of the major backbones of all countries. It is through manufacturing that raw materials produced by the countries are converted to finished products. This makes products readily available to consumers and create jobs to the residents. As such, the role of the manufacturing industry cannot be understated. Policymakers, traders, and […]
Copper is one of the most important metals in the world. Its unique characteristics as a good conductor of heat makes it a valuable resource in the manufacture of electronics and other items. An improving global economy leads to an increased demand for these electronics which in turn leads to its increased price. Recently, the […]
The EUR/USD is the most active currency pair in the world. This is because of how the American and the European economies are interconnected and interrelated. The pair started the year moving higher as the euro strengthened. Investors were optimistic that Europe would continue with the excellent performance it had a year ago. After rising […]
