Markets Spooked By a Looming U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on the Legality of 2025 Tariff Hikes January 14, 2026 The Supreme Court will be revealing its decisions on several cases at 10:00 EST today, and it’s possible that the decision on Trump’s large and widespread tariff hikes may be included in this batch. Those tariffs…
Four-Ring Circus: Japan, Powell-Trump, Iranian Protests and Imminent Release of U.S. December Consumer Price Data January 13, 2026 The focus on Venezuela at the start of this year has quickly given way to other attractions like the spiraling street protests in Iran, President Trump’s relentless pursuit of Federal Reserve officials, fresh speculation about a possible…
Criminal Probe Against Fed Chairman Powell Depresses Dollar and U.S. Stock Futures January 12, 2026 (157) This Monday ought to have been a quiet day in financial markets due to a paucity of data releases and Japan’s Coming of Age holiday closure. Instead, the dollar has declined 0.4% against the euro, sterling, Swiss franc, Mexican…
This Week’s Menu: January 10-16, 2026 January 10, 2026 Central Banks: Interest rate policies will be reviewed in Poland, Serbia and South Korea. The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book of recent regional economic conditions since the last FOMC meeting arrives on Wednesday, and a slew of Fed officials will be making public comments during the upcoming…
Weak U.S. Job Growth Continued But Unemployment Rate Unexpectedly Slipped Back to 4.4% January 9, 2026 In a week full of data releases, the most eagerly awaited report from the get-go had been today’s U.S. December employment situation report from the Labor Department, which presented mixed results relative to market expectations but an overall soft…
Investors Being Cautious Amid Elevated Economic and Geopolitical Uncertainty January 8, 2026 Yesterday’s declines in equity prices have been extended. U.S. stock futures are around 0.5% lower prior to the release of U.S. statistics today of jobless insurance claims, the trade balance, consumer price expectations and labor productivity, as well as tomorrow’s most eagerly awaited…
Watching the Situation in Venezuela and Awaiting Some Key Data Due Soon January 7, 2026 The Trump Administration continues to unfold sweeping changes in policies toward other countries in the Western Hemisphere. Precise details remain sketchy, but the roll-out of assertions has been very bold, with implications stretching well beyond Latin America and Canada to…
Tuesday Attention on Economic Matters, Not Geopolitics January 6, 2026 Investors seem to be paying greater attention to economic news such as inflation data, AI news, and comments from central bankers than to the U.S.-powered upheaval in geopolitical norms that has greeted the new year. Yesterday’s U.S. stock market rally carried into Asian trading where…
A Third Israeli Interest Rate Cut January 5, 2026 At the Bank of Israel’s first scheduled review of interest rate policy this year. In light of a 25-basis point cut at the prior review in late November, analysts were not anticipating an interest rate change, but it was instead cut by a further 25 basis…
Financial Markets React to Madura’s Capture January 5, 2026 (158) President Trump’s efforts to replace Madura was pitched originally as a solution to the U.S. Fentanyl problem, but the deeper motive of this still unfolding narrative is a gambit to drive up Venezuelan oil production, cheapen the price of fossil fuel energy and drive faster…