Central Bank Rate Cuts in New Zealand, Indonesia and Uruguay August 20, 2025 Officials at Bank Indonesia sprung a surprise on market participants at today’s scheduled monetary policy review. No interest rate change had been predicted in light of a higher 2.5% inflation rate last month, but instead the policy rate got cut 25 basis…
Technology Stocks Under Pressure and Lots of Fresh Central Bank News to Absorb August 20, 2025 In less than 45 minutes after today’s opening bell on Wall Street, the Nasdaq’s loss yesterday had been extended by another 1.6%, and the S&P 500 and Russell 200o were each 0.8% weaker. The dollar had depreciated 0.5% against…
Not Much Has Been Clarified August 19, 2025 Yesterday’s talks between Trump, Zelensky and European leaders left the future path in the war between Russia and Ukraine murky. A scarcity of data releases today has also deprived investors of new momentum on which to trade. In financial markets so far today, the dollar has strengthened…
Ukraine Talks at White House Overshadow Other News and Market Developments Today August 18, 2025 (178) Last Friday’s Trump-Putin meeting in Anchorage produced a profound shift in the U.S. President’s position, which again aligns with the Russian viewpoint. As it has been through most of the Ukraine-Russian War, Trump again sympathizes with Putin’s objectives that…
Connections August 15, 2025 As the world turns toward more autocratic styles of government in this 21st century, two of the strangest and most concerning examples of the trend involve the United States and Israel. Is this just mere coincidence, or might there be connections behind this juxtaposition? Many historians have pointed out that literally…
Important Chinese, Japanese and U.S. Data Out… Next Up: Putin & Trump Talks in Alaska August 15, 2025 The dollar fell overnight by 0.6% against the euro and peso, 0.5% versus the yen, and 0.3% relative to the Swiss franc and sterling. Ten-year sovereign debt yields climbed eight basis points in France and Italy, seven…
Suspense Surrounding Several Issues August 14, 2025 A number of key questions remain unanswered. What will be the result of tomorrow’s Putin-Trump talks in Alaska regarding the war in Ukraine? Will higher tariffs lead to a one-time price adjustment or an ongoing acceleration of inflation driven by so-called second-order effects? How much will the Federal…
Bank of Thailand Cuts Interest Rate a Fourth Time August 13, 2025 As widely expected and by unanimous vote, the key interest rate of the Bank of Thailand was cut today by 25 basis points to 1.5%. The reduction marked the fourth such cut since October from 2.5%, which had been the peak since September…
Fed Rate Cut Speculation Gets a Fresh Impetus from Treasury Secretary Bessent August 13, 2025 In the Trump Administration’s opinion, the federal funds target ought to be 150-175 basis points lower than the current 4.25-4.50% target range. Remarks from Treasury Secretary Bessent harp back to overly optimistic jobs figures announced initially for both May and…
Australian Rate Cut Today No Surprise August 12, 2025 The Reserve Bank of Australia’s interest rate cut, like those February and May, amounted to a quarter percentage point (25 basis points). At 3.60%, the new OCR level of 3.60% is its lowest since the start of May 2023. Also as before, the rate change was…