Australian Dollar

Dalian is open and going nowhere fast: The Australian dollar loved consumer and credit data.

By Chris Becker Yes, stocks do fall!

Via the excellent Paul Dales at the AFR: …while GDP growth may rise from about 2.2 per cent last year to 2.5 per cent this year, it will fall short of the consensus forecast of almost 3 per cent and leave Australia growing at much the same pace as the average OECD economy.

Crypto carnage last night as global regulators close in on the world’s first global pyramid scheme and bubble: BTC has broken support (if that even makes any sense): As China and Korea move to regulate and block it.

A solid day across Asia despite the poor lead overnight from the lack of trading in the US and the pullback in European stocks.

Via Motherboard: Jackson Palmer is an Australian entrepreneur and technologist best known for creating the infamously successful “joke” cryptocurrency Dogecoin.

By Chris Becker The Yanks had the night off but that didn’t stop the selloff in USD with the Euro lifting higher, pushing European stocks marginally lower after a solid Asian session.

It sure is on a tear again: Some will put this down to global synchronised growth boosting commodity prices.

So, the basic message out there in risk-land is: sell USD, buy everything else.

So says fundie Michael Glennon: When I start to see retailers accepting bitcoin or utility companies accepting it then I will believe that it’s not just a quasi-ponzi scheme, selling something that has no value.

Via NAB: The underpinnings of the current uptrend are likely to be eroded as 2018 progresses leading NAB to keep their forecasts for the Aussie Dollar bearish.

By Chris Becker  It’s this last stage in a blowoff where detailed technical analysis is almost not necessary, as anyone with a ruler and damp finger stuck in the air can sense the bulls are running rampant.

A mixed end to the trading week here in Asia with only a handful of markets putting on any gains as risk appetite wanes going into tonight’s session.

By Chris Becker The so called bond rout has only lasted a day with a rally sending yields back down while stocks made new record highs on US markets overnight.

Outside China, Asian stocks have not fared well today as profit taking and risk aversion following the moves in the bond markets remains the key strategy.

By Chris Becker Stocks finally had a bad day overnight in the fallout from the bond rout and the possible US withdrawal from NAFTA, which had the dollar surge against the Loonie and Peso.

A mid week pause in the “Great Rally of 2018” as most Asian indices treaded water or retreated proper following what was a good lead from Wall Street overnight.

By Chris Becker You guessed it, another night of record highs in US stocks, but more interesting was the selloff in bond markets, precipitated by the BOJ taper yesterday that saw US Treasury yields hit a near one year high.

Another solid day on stock markets here in Asia despite some disappointing results, particularly Samsung as we begin another round of earnings season.

By Chris Becker While the Dow retreated slightly overnight, the S&P500 and NASDAQ both advanced to new record highs on the back of tech stocks, and a positive Asian lead.

A relatively good start to the week here in Asia with most stock markets advancing, although Japanese bourses were closed for another holiday as traders await a big slab of earning reports across the region.

By Chris Becker  It’s hard to be a bear in this risk environment, when economic news comes in above or at already high expectations.

A solid if subdued session to end the week here in Asia with all stock markets advancing, the highlight being the ASX200 which is playing catch up after being left behind for most of the week.

By Chris Becker The Dow hit 25,000 points as stock markets around the world continue the NYE party into the New Year.