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…
Fed Rate Hike Still Widely Expected in September Despite a Mixed U.S. CPI Report August 12, 2025 While overall U.S. CPI inflation of 2.7% last month was a tick under expectations, core inflation excluding food and energy rose 0.2 percentage points to 3.1%, crossing above the 3.0% threshold for the first time in five months….
Firm Dollar at the Start of a Week with Many Potential Market-Moving U.S. Data Releases August 11, 2025 (179) Compared to the close of U.S. trading before the weekend, the dollar has advanced by 0.6% against the Swiss franc, 0.5% on a weighted basis and versus the New Zealand dollar, 0.4% relative to the euro…
Gold, Oil, Dollar and Stocks Up, but Bond Prices and Bitcoin Down August 8, 2025 Gold rose 0.8% overnight as gold bar imports were added to the reciprocal tariff list. The price of WTI oil firmed 0.5%, whereas Bitcoin’s cost slipped by 0.5%. U.S. stock markets opened moderately higher in contrast to declines of other…