Gold & Precious Metals
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Ginormous numbers, FX swaps and spot trades, USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, Australian & Canadian dollars… but where the heck is China’s CNY?
It happens every three years: The Bank for International Settlements released its Triennial Central Bank Survey about the global foreign exchange (FX) and over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives markets, as it occurred in April. The numbers are ginormous, and get more ginormous with every survey, with trading volume measured in trillions of dollars per day. This is a huge data trove, and I will focus here on global FX trading.
To start with, there are the amounts. Currencies are traded in pairs, such as the US dollar against the euro. In April 2019, trading in FX markets reached $6.59 trillion per day, up 30% from the prior survey period, April 2016. Trades with the USD on one side of the trade averaged $5.82 trillion per day in April 2019. This was up 31% from the daily average in April 2016 and was over five times the daily average in April 2001…CLICK for complete article
If the Fed cuts interest rates, it means more money would flow into the economy and find its way to banks, individuals, and corporations (in that order), or so goes the traditional macroeconomic thinking. So why did investors not instantly embrace the news of the Fed cut by immediately plowing into growth assets, and instead flee all asset classes in favor of cash during the first hour after the announcement today?
Perhaps because not everyone in the professional financial community was prepared to take in the 0.25% rate cut the Fed announced – at least not immediately after the news. How these professional investors eventually responded may speak volumes about their upcoming investment strategy.
The major U.S. stock indexes ended the day essentially unchanged, but only after selling off significantly in the first hour after the Fed explained its reason for the cut. Curiously, it wasn’t just stocks, but all asset classes sold off during that hour, with the exception of the U.S. dollar (see chart below). U.S. dollar futures rallied notably during the hour, suggesting that in the immediate wake of the announcement Wall Street pros had to regroup and take the measure of the environment they were now in….CLICK for complete article
Canadian households are sending a lot more cash to lenders, but it’s not paying their debt down. Statistics Canada (StatCan) data shows household mortgage payments jumped in Q2 2019. Rising payments are seeing fewer dollars pay off debt, and more towards carrying it.
Canadians Paid Over $93 Billion On Mortgages
Canadian real estate owners paid a new record amount for mortgage debt. Over $93.15 billion in payments were made towards mortgage debt in Q2 2019, up 1.85% from the previous quarter. Compared to the same month last year, this number is 7.70% higher. The dollar amount dedicated has never been higher, but that’s not all that surprising. The surprising part is fewer dollars are going towards paying down the actual debt….CLICK for complete article
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