The Japanese Yen was hammered by markets in the second quarter. USD/JPY shot by the 2002 peak, touching its highest since 1998. A key driver of the Yen’s weakness has been the Bank of Japan’s policy divergence from its major peers. While central banks like the Fed and RBA gave surprise hikes, the BoJ remained…
JP Morgan analysts outline potential retaliation by Russia if the G7 manage to put together a mechanism to cap the price of Russian oil: “The most obvious and likely risk with a price cap is that Russia might choose not to participate and instead retaliate by reducing exports.” “It is likely that the government could…
‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade’A lot of traders look for breakouts and sharp moves to boost their P&L, and in a lot of cases make a great success of this. However, trading defined ranges can potentially offer more than one opportunity when looking at different assets, and when you have strong levels of…
At one point last quarter the U.S. stock market was off by about 25%, with all losses coming in the first half of the year. Stocks became oversold with sentiment nose-diving, and on that it appears we are in for a bit of a recovery. However, all that is expected is just that – a…
AUD/JPY made a 7-year high in early June at 96.88 then pulled back to the just under 92.00 before settling back into a range. Broad Yen weakness has been seen across the board with USD/JPY hitting a 24-year peak recently. The monetary policy of Japan’s Ministry of Finance (MoF), and by extension the Bank of…
As anticipated in the Q2’22 gold forecast, the main catalyst that drove gold prices higher in Q1’22 – the Russian invasion of Ukraine – proved to be a short-lived catalyst. The conflict has been largely contained, insofar as the European Union, the United States, and NATO have not been drawn in. The net-result: gold prices…
The bullish USD trend turned a year-old last month. And it can be difficult to put into scope everything that’s happened since then but, just last May, DXY was grinding at the same 90 level that had held the lows at the start of the year. Sentiment at the time still felt overwhelmingly bearish in…
First off, a quick note about my Q2 top trade, which was short GBP/USD, looking for 1.2750-1.2800 from circa 1.3200. The rationale behind this view was that market pricing of monetary tightening was far too aggressive relative to a reluctant hiker in the Bank of England. As it stands, GBP/USD is on course to post…
Passing into the second half of the trading year, there is considerable upheaval in the fundamental backdrop. All but the technical analyst purists recognize the implications for trade opportunities. With systemic threats of rampant inflation, aggressive interest rate policy and rising fears of recession, it is likely that the normal slide in ‘summer doldrums’ is…
The price of oil has fallen roughly 20% from the 2022 high ($130.50) as US President Joe Biden takes further steps to combat high energy prices. Crude may face a further decline over the coming months as rising output is met with easing demand.US Output Approaches Pre-Pandemic LevelsThe Biden administration has called upon Congress to…