The price of gold has risen sharply during the past two years. More recently, Jerome Powell's August speech at Jackson Hole, Wyoming -- where he signaled the Federal Reserve would begin lowering interest rates -- has turbocharged gold's ascent. Indeed, investors are considering whether the dramatic appreciation signals a flight to quality, reflecting a widespread [...]
Category: FX
Trump 2.0: Tariffs, Trade, and the Dollar
25 September 2025 To be sure, financial markets have needed to react to a daily diet of consequential, and often quickly reversed, policy announcements during the early months of Trump 2.0. What has been consistent, however, has been the US dollar's depreciation: the greenback has fallen 10% this year. Indeed, many had expected the dollar [...]
Trump 2.0 Tariffs: Everyone Loses
3 February 2025 Until now, financial markets have adopted a complacent "wait and see" approach when considering the prospects for the Trump 2.0 trade policy. However, the hope the new Administration's bark would be worse than its bite has been dashed with the imposition of high tariffs on the nation's three largest trading partners. Markets [...]
EM Inflation: Is the Scare Temporary?
25 June 2021 Despite US Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's attempts to reassure investors, financial markets are concerned about inflation. Likewise, price growth has accelerated in key emerging market countries. In response, central banks in Brazil, Russia, Mexico, and Turkey have already begun to tighten monetary conditions. Is Emerging Market inflation temporary? That is, does it [...]