Currencies
For months, Mahathir Mohamad had been enjoying himself – bashing and condemning everyone and every country he didn’t like, as if the world revolves around him. He has slammed the U.S., Hong Kong, India, Israel, Singapore and even Myanmar. In the process, he has insulted the Hindus, Chinese, Jews, Americans and practically everyone who was […]
... written on Oct 22 2019Most of the stocks had great earnings in 2019, but not the following ones. When the first-quarter of the earnings season ended, the results were great for many companies. But for some it was a weak period in terms of cash. More than 50% of the organisations in the S&P 500 reported earnings, and 75% […]
... written on Sep 20 2019Stocks dropped like a rock on Wednesday (August 14) when the DJIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average) plunged 800.49 points – worst percentage drop of the year. What happened? Apparently the bond market flashed warning of recession. The yield of 10-year Treasury note broke below the 2-year rate – a rare but reliable indicator of economic […]
... written on Aug 16 2019Earlier this month, when President Donald Trump announced a new round of 10% tariffs on US$300 billion worth of Chinese imports, the remaining goods yet to be taxed, Beijing was not convinced that the U.S. would escape from the escalated trade war unscathed. Trump also overplayed his hand in the poker game when he threatened […]
... written on Aug 14 2019Singapore has a piece of very bad news for not only its own people, but also the region, if not the world. The small island’s economy almost came to a standstill in the second quarter, thanks largely to the US-China trade war, which has gotten worse after China retaliated against Trump’s 10% new tariff on […]
... written on Aug 13 2019Every night at 9 p.m. ET, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) fixes a level at which the Yuan (Renminbi) will trade against the U.S. dollar within China. On Wednesday, the central bank sets the Yuan midpoint at 6.9996 per dollar. But by Thursday, it crossed the red line and breached the 7 level – […]
... written on Aug 08 2019In retaliation for Donald Trump’s announcement last week of new 10% tariff against an additional US$300 billion of Chinese goods, effective September 1, Beijing has finally fired its biggest shot since the trade war started in March 2018. It devalues its currency Yuan (Renminbi) and officially suspends purchases of American agricultural products. As a […]
... written on Aug 06 2019In March 2018, about 17 months ago, President Donald Trump confidently – even arrogantly – said that trade wars are good, and easy to win. His first shot at Mexico, imposing a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminium, helped spark a 420-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and […]
... written on Aug 05 2019Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was caught between a rock and a hard place. If he refuses to obey Donald Trump, he would be condemned. If he obeys his boss, he would be a puppet of the U.S. president. So when he took the middle way, cutting the key interest rate as desired by Trump, […]
... written on Aug 01 2019For the 12-month period from April 2018 to March 2019, U.S. home purchases by foreign buyers dropped 36%. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), foreigners bought only 183,100 properties worth about US$77.9 billion, down from 266,800 valued at US$121 billion in the previous period. That’s a loss of US$43 billion worth of home […]
... written on Jul 18 2019
