Our Daily Brief provides insights into the news and views driving today’s foreign currency exchange rates.
Brexit Selected by the Conservative Party to deliver Brexit it is now down to Boris to put the Boris factor into Brexit- and deliver. GBP unchanged pro tem and the wider market watching this morning for his cabinet appointments which will be the first signs of intent-and ability. Gold and Star market […]
The Trichotomy Having outgrown my degree in Political Economy, I thought I’d rescinded all ties to the so-called trichotomy. For those of you that don’t know, political economists are bloody obsessed with the phenomena, reducing the world into a series of three possibilities where only two can be simultaneously achieved at the expense of […]
UK New Conservative Leader and New PM This is the week that represents the long awaited denouement of the leadership contest. Disingenuously Philip Hammond has said he will quit if/when Johnson wins. Somewhat cynical as it is no secret that he will be released in any case as Johnson has almost certainly traded the […]
British Tourists: Shock Story This week the theme has been shock horror GBP buying less foreign currency than a year ago. Readers of our Daily will have had ample chance to buy their currency in advance for this summer. Travelling abroad on business last week I was indeed duly shocked to be offered just […]
The Evening Standard yesterday ran with an editorial wedged between the questionable and the totally unreadable – usually about page 8 for those unfamiliar with the free London newspaper edited by former Chancellor George Osborne. They attempted to depict the future dichotomy that their inevitable Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, will face: between a swift US […]
Miami Real Estate Representing real and increasing value, Miami has some stunning real estate which has long been popular with SGM-FX clients. Novak Djokovic who is not a SGM-FX customer (yet) has just snapped up a $6.4 million apartment at 87 Park which overlooks Miami Beach and is surrounded by a 35 acre park. […]
Howzit China? Not so good apparently! Gross Domestic Product figures have grown by their slightest margin on record since official observations began on Chinese economic growth in 1992. Still, the economy posted a growth rate of 6.2% year-on-year for the second quarter of 2019 showing that whilst growth is still resilient, the emerging […]
Turkey and Trump(TNT-hopefully not) With Turkey taking delivery of the first batch of Russian S400 missile systems last week, it was inevitable that POTUS would retaliate by imposing sanctions this week. It is unclear what those may include and there is a range of possibilities from the withholding of the F35 jetfighter manufactured by […]
Gold versus Silver With gold having run up to over $1400 an ounce, market sages are dusting off their files and looking at the Gold to Silver ratio. At present that stands at 92.4 which means that gold is 92.4 times as expensive as silver. The thinking goes that rather than buy gold which […]
Fed Up Powell’s on board – we think – following his testimony to the House Finance Committee yesterday afternoon. The chairman of the Federal Reserve, the United States’ monetary policy and interest rate setting authority, spoke to politicians yesterday offering a dovish testimony that saw the value of the US Dollar fall sharply. The […]
Jeremy Corbyn-the Harry Houdini of UK politics(maybe) After weeks of prevarication despite intense pressure from his MPs, the Leader of HM’s opposition has said that there should be a further Referendum on the EU and at that time, Labour will campaign for the UK to remain in the EU. Brilliant! There is either zero […]
Swing Low The carry trade is a favourite in foreign exchange (or indeed any) investment: use something cheap to buy something rewarding that you hope in turn is still worth something at the time you decide to cash your chips in. For example, with the Rand yielding 6.75% due to its underlying interest rate […]
Greece Exit polls are reflecting what was widely expected: a widespread rejection of Syriza and incumbent PM Tsipras. The New Democracy Party led by Kyriakos Mitsokakis has a clear lead with 38% of the vote over Syriza with approx 28%. This will further strengthen Greece’s standing and build on its recent acceptance by the […]