July 31, 2017 - Market Update (JPY of interest as safe heaven after CHF moving, MSCI not happy with Chinese suspended companies, Trys yield lower on softer GDP, Volkswagen not in a rush to sell Ducati, JP fund managers keep trimming equity exposure)

Short recap Asia in green Europe opening higher Trump & Abe talked North Korea JP fund managers kept decreasing equity holdings in July, especially North American assets JP-US may discuss trade and currency as a one package JPY may be of interest as a safe heaven choice after CHF is moving on ECB normalization Equities MSCI warned Chinese companies...

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July 28, 2017 - Market Update (Bad day for Trump - no Russia sanctions, no VAT, no BAT, no Obamacare repeal, EURUSD hitting strong multiyear resistance zone, USDJPY played by expiring options today, US GDP to surprise, NASDAQ down on rotation out of Techs, Apollo rising USD 25 bln)

Short recap Asia lower on risk off Europe opening Mnuchin to support steps not tough talk against FX manipulators As it hasn’t been working for years Senate rejected new sanctions against Russia Not even watered down Obamacare repeal bill can pass through Senate Another huge blow to Trump after no VAT and BAT implementation Those two got rejected due to the need...

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July 27, 2017 - Market Update (FOMC on summer vacation, playing safe, DXY close to support levels, EURUSD close to 200 WMA (1.1794), Gold/gold miners going higher? Heavy Deutsche Bank, Facebook enjoying the ride, Cameco - weak uranium price making heavy print)

Short recap Asia up on dovish feeling Fed (stocks, bonds and commodities up) Europe opening flat ECB’s Nowotny – some room to reduce asset purchase from Jan 2018 but not stopping them EU warned US over new sanctions against Russia as energy security is on the table UK’s Rudd promised to keep access for EU workers UK’s car industry production down 14% in June US...

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July 24, 2017 – Weekly Commodity : Opec meeting and Crop Progress report today will be crucial

The holiday mood (and liquidity) was felt all over the commodity markets. Traders are chasing news and this is bringing volatility which is however quickly fading and volumes are declining. The Bloomberg Commodity index increased 0.3% the last week with precious metals and the part of the soft sector among the biggest winners, while the energy and grain sectors were searching...

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July 18, 2017 - Market Update (Trump not able to deliver anything, EURUSD above 1.1500 but below 1.1600 ahead of ECB, 10-yr Trys yield positioning ahead of FOMC, Gold shorts to get squeezed?, UniCredit selling EUR 18 bln of bad loans, ETFs outflow to trigger next downturn, Citi in Frankfurt)

Short recap Asia in red Europe opening lower After 2nd Obamacare repeal vote failure Doubts about ability of Trump administration to deliver anything on the rise Markets getting more comfortable with Fed slowing its hiking pace and all USD negative Trump news Since US elections S&P 500 is up 13.7% vs Gold being down 7.7% Equities Lufthansa rising...

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July 17, 2017 - Weekly Commodity: Commodities boosted by fundamentals and falling dollar

The commodities tracked by Bloomberg Commodity index (BCOM:IND) rallied 1.1% on mixed to worsening fundamentals and weaker dollar. Speculators cut a significant part of their short positions up to Tuesday but commodity prices surged especially the last day of the week as traders were adjusting positions to the holiday liquidity. Crude Oil Oil had a pretty good week....

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July 12, 2017 - Market Update (All about Yellen today, Merkel flying EUR high, Siemens chasing their turbines, Chinese banks another opportunity, Trump and Russia (but Junior this time), 10-yr Bund yields jumping above 0.60% mark)

Short recap Europe opening higher Trump Jr – Russia blow here but markets focus on Yellen Trump administration constantly distracted, not focussing on proper work Gary Cohn Trump’s candidate to replace Yellen Fed’s Mester likes taper sooner rather than later Merkel putting pressure on ECB to raise rates JPM’s Dimon – taper can caught people by surprise Chinese...

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July 10, 2017 - Weekly Commodity: Oil and precious metals dropped while crops rallied

Despite the rally in grains the Bloomberg Commodity Index dropped 1.5% last week as oil and precious metals fell. The weakening of the dollar couldn’t give sufficient support to the commodity bulls as fundamentals were lagging. Oil As Nigeria and Libya, exempt from the OPEC deal, are increasing production, the cartel fails to cap the production. The US rig count increased...

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July 7, 2017 - Market Update (Good NFPs may trigger collapse in bonds/stocks, EZ stocks under pressure from higher yields/EUR, BoJ buying and buying, ECB not respecting allocation key, thus pushing core yields/EUR higher, EUR - make it through 1.1500 or ? Berkhsire to buy Oncor, Celgene/BeiGene to cooperate)

Short recap Asia in red Europe opening lower Flash crash in Silver Trump to meet with Putin Very good US NFPs numbers may trigger collapse in bonds and stocks As the risk of rising rates further will all implications will be higher ECB Minutes with some tightening of financial conditions Central Banks’ Reversals Signal the End of One Era and the Beginning...

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July 6, 2017 - Market Update (Trump in Poland, EUR - lower global use on high hedging cost, EURUSD - focus on Minutes & 1.1300 with lots of expiring options, USDZAR - central bank to be nationalized, Gold supported by geopolitical risks, ExxonMobil, Shell, Total courting Qatar gas, Volvo - green from 2019, Nokia sharing patents with Xiaomi)

Short recap Asia mostly in red Europe opening higher Trump in Poland to reassure about commitment to Eastern Europe through gas and military support Before meeting with Putin Also to outline the future relationship with Europe as such FOMC Minutes show a split and no timing on balance sheet reduction US ready to use force against North Korea but looking for...

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July 3, 2017 - Market Update (Trump, Xi, Abe, China-Hong Kong bond connect on, Banco Popular clean up, Buffett banking at BofA, FX markets to become very sensitive to data beats/misses, Trump to fight the steel and bank regulation at G20)

Short recap Asia in green Europe opening higher Overall markets are still digesting last week’s movements Low liquidity due to July 4 US Independence day holiday Japanese PM Abe hit by the significant loss in Tokyo elections, likely to face more troubles in the future Trump had a call with Xi and Abe discussing North Korea and pushing China on trade issues Abe’s...

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