Blog / 24 November 2011 / Dean Peters-Wright
The eurozone crisis became even more critical this week with France’s AAA credit rating now under serious threat and an auction of German 10 year bonds failing to be fully taken up. (more…)
November 2011 / 9 November 2011 / Dean Peters-Wright, Columnist, FX-MM
FX-MM columnist Dean Peters-Wright takes his monthly look at currencies and the underlying economic issues which are affecting sentiment in global markets.
The global economic recovery seems to have ground to a halt. Policymakers disagree on the best way forward and the large economies in the West simply cannot gain the necessary traction to get going again due to persistent high unemployment and weak performance in key sectors. Just as the root causes of the problems are somewhat different in each economy so, it seems, are the approaches for producing viable solutions. The number of economic summits and meetings of political leaders to find solutions to these economic woes seems to be endless but we don’t seem to be getting too many answers at the moment. The financial markets have been in turmoil in recent months and almost every news headline coming out of the Eurozone takes them in a new and unanticipated direction. Traders in all asset classes are finding the markets tough. As Kathleen Brooks, Research Director at forex.com explains, “although asset classes are correlated they are not moving in a trend. Instead they are all stuck in ranges, which can make for some frustrating trading conditions. Europe is still the dominant theme in the markets and until the crisis is solved one way or the other – either satisfactorily or not – then it is hard to see stock indices breaking out.” (more…)
Blog / 27 October 2011 / Dean Peters-Wright
While the Eurozone continues to struggle with its ongoing sovereign debt crisis, Russia has announced some positive economic news in recent weeks. It posted a 5.2% increase in its GDP in the third quarter, up from 3.4% the previous quarter. This will be welcomed by Russian officials as well as by Russia’s key trading partners who may derive benefit from the increased demand. This is particularly significant for Germany and Italy, two of Russia’s biggest trading partners. (more…)
Blog / 13 October 2011 / Dean Peters-Wright
Policymakers in the US and China are adopting increasingly aggressive positions in respect of bilateral trade relations which are clearly based on economic self-interest rather than the wish to get global trade moving more quickly. It does now seem that a major trade showdown is fast approaching. (more…)
October 2011 / 11 October 2011 / Dean Peters-Wright, Columnist, FX-MM
The world has teetered on the brink of financial collapse for so long that it seems that the markets are now ruled as much by fear as reality. Over the last few months the global financial system has shown just how complicated it really is and in a strange paradox, brought about by the continual state of anxiety, it has shown that it can be both robust and delicate at the same time. That is not to say that the hardship being felt is anything other than substantial and high unemployment levels in all major developed economies are taking their toll.
The difficult situation in the world economy is forcing political leaders and the financial authorities to come together to find solutions which will pull the world back from the precipice. It is not a lack of ideas that is the issue but rather the lack of definitive action. The Sovereign Debt crisis in Europe, the danger of a US recession, rising global prices and the hope that emerging markets will drive growth are all part of the mix. Recession reality is now outpacing recession fear in the US, and Greece seems to be moving toward default of some kind. Time seems to be running out for solutions to be found. (more…)
October 2011 / 11 October 2011 / Dean Peters-Wright, Columnist, FX-MM
If ever there were a time to reflect back on history and consider what lessons can be learned from past mistakes, a good place to start would be the Great Depression of the 1930s; a financial collapse so immense that the US and the world at large suffered for almost a decade with high unemployment and slow growth. The roots of the Great Depression go back to 1928 – back then it was the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy that triggered the financial meltdown and the economic stagnation which followed.
Comparisons can be drawn with today’s financial troubles in Europe and how the European Central Bank has acted in the face of similar slowdowns, prioritising inflationary concerns over growth and a reluctance to inject liquidity into the system. (more…)
October 2011 / 11 October 2011 / Dean Peters-Wright, Columnist, FX-MM
Stretching over just 580,000km and situated centrally between Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, Ethiopia with access to South Sudan, it is with plausible reasoning that Kenya is developing and re-branding itself into the East African regional hub as the entry point of choice into Africa for businesses around the globe.
Kenya’s political history is rich with reforms and has travelled a rocky road to the stable democratic government that is in place today. The recent constitutional reforms paint a bright future for growth and development, providing a solid standing in which to tackle the challenges ahead in order to achieve its middle income ambitions. The landslide election that ousted the old regime in 2002 installed Mwai Kibaki as President who signed into law a new constitution, thus allowing for a more decentralised government, limiting the powers of the President and the creation of a Senate. The country has now re-orientated once more to push ahead positioning Kenya as a substantial player within the African regional economy. (more…)
Blog / 29 September 2011 / Dean Peters-Wright
The global financial crises are seeping through to markets around the globe as the eurozone sovereign debt crises become worse. Investors have taken capital out of risky assets and put them into safer havens. Even some safe havens such as gold have not escaped the immense sell off as the quarter draws to a close and fund managers and investors positions themselves for the remainder of the year. (more…)
September 2011 / 13 September 2011 / Dean Peters-Wright, Columnist, FX-MM
It seems that every one is looking for the light at the end of the tunnel that still eludes the world’s economies. UK growth indicators are not encouraging and inflationary pressure is coupled with job losses and real income loss. While US treasuries have remained attractive against all odds, the second round of Quantative easing finished in June and there is no further room to stimulate growth. Furthermore, market reports from the Eurozone expect a weak euro although no clear direction seems to have been taken over the medium term, writes Dean Peters-Wright.
The UK, the US, Europe and Japan have all had their troubles over the first half of the year and each region has fought gallantly to continue functioning within an economic climate that has put obstacle after obstacle in the way of growth and prosperity. The circumstances have been anything other than normal and each problem solved has led to the next in a chain of events in the ongoing debt crises. (more…)
September 2011 / 13 September 2011 / Dean Peters-Wright, Columnist, FX-MM
Working closely with its customers, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets has redesigned a new functionally-rich e-Commerce platform, Arena, which launches this month. Dean Peters-Wright talks to head of product development at Lloyds Bank, Lucian Lauerman, about the launch and the reasons behind it.
Creating an e-platform that offers not only precise trade execution, but a host of value-added pre- and post-trade services designed to meet the needs of a diverse client base, is quite a challenge. This is, however, exactly what Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets has achieved with the development of its new e-platform, Arena.
Due for launch this September, Arena boasts an insightful and comprehensive blend of services and powerful features, whilst maintaining a user friendly environment and customisable user interface. (more…)
September 2011 / 13 September 2011 / Dean Peter-sWright, Columnist, FX-MM
Rich in natural resources and with a strong fiscal position and a healthy financial sector, Canada fared better and came out of the recent downturn in a better fiscal shape relative to other countries. As it tries to diversify trade agreements with regions other than the US and attract foreign investment, Canada looks to an age of more service-orientated exports.
Canada has grown from small populations of indigenous people to a technological, economical and political world power. It is a vast expansive land mass endowed with an abundance of natural resources that have shaped the area economically, socially and politically throughout its history. Rapid immigration from Europe and technological progress rapidly changed the face of Canada throughout recent history for ever. Canada now enjoys substantial economic fundamentals, has a rich culture and identity and has developed into a highly technological and economically strong nation with influence on world affairs. The sheer size of the country puts Canada as the second largest country by land mass in the world. It contains 10% of the world’s forestry and more importantly for the world economy at large, Canada currently has the second largest proven oil reserves on the planet. This puts Canada in a very important economic position. Canada can also boast of having one of the strongest banking systems in the world after the global credit crises. (more…)
Blog / 1 September 2011 / Dean Peters-Wright
There has been much turmoil in recent weeks that has stemmed from concerns around growth and the reports that have been coming out are with mixed signals in terms of how the economies of the US and Europe are faring up. Disappointing growth numbers coming out from the Eurozone (revised down to 2% for the region) has led Jean Claude-Trichet to indicate that there may be a revision in strategy for tackling inflation. So far the ECB has taken a tough hawkish stance on inflation resulting in rate hikes twice already this year. With the Eurozone coming under pressure from investor concerns over growth, the ECB has purchased Italian and Spanish bonds in order to keep borrowing costs under control. This has now bought the total assets purchased under the ECB to €115bn. It seemed to have had the desired effect and once the yields declined the ECB scaled back it purchasing spree. (more…)
Blog / 18 August 2011 / Dean Peters-Wright
The UK continues to fight against external factors from the global economy that seem to be dictating the rate at which the UK recovers from the recession. Global prices continue to present problems. CPI inflation has increased to 4.4% from 4.2% most notably in energy, clothing, and financial services fees. Input prices from currency fluctuations and strong demand from emerging economies seem to be the key factor and continue to dominate the financial system. (more…)
August 2011 / 9 August 2011 / Dean Peters-Wright, Columnist, FX-MM
FX-MM talks to Saxo Bank CEO, Torben Kaaber, about his new role in Saxo Bank and the plans for the near future.
Since inception in 1992, Saxo Bank has gone from strength to strength displaying vast amounts of foresight and staggering performance over the years. The company’s net profit trebled from 2009 to 2010 and this year looks to be another of strong performance in spite of the tough market conditions for the bank. Talking to Torben Kaarber, CEO at Saxo Bank UK , it is easy to understand how Saxo Bank has avoided the pitfalls that other banks have witnessed and how it has sustained its performance and continued to grow substantially in both the institutional and retail trading markets. Torben Kaarber has been with Saxo Bank since 1994 when the bank grew from just ten employees to 70. Today, it is now fast approaching 1,000. After a short spell heading an electrical trading company, he re-joined Saxo Bank in 2004 as the Global Head of Institutional Business overseeing the bank’s offices around the world. (more…)
August 2011 / 9 August 2011 / Dean Peters-Wright, Columnist, FX-MM
Dean Peters-Wright looks at the events taken place in the last few weeks within the USA, China and Europe and provides an analysis and what impact this is likely to have on business.
July set the stage for global economics to come to a pivot point resulting in a possible incremental step forward for both Europe and the US to follow. Both regions will put in place mechanisms that will lead towards recovery and it is hoped with an element that has been missing: significant growth. It can be seen that these steps are actually more likely to be a temporary band aid and the issues will have to be dealt with again further down the line. The concern is a world wide financial implosion; however this is unlikely, although the US is cutting it very close to the deadline of 2nd August. (more…)
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