Oil highest since November 2014; Dollar index hits its highest level in 2018; Warren Buffett and Bill Gates on Cryptocurrencies

Oil Prices

The price of crude oil crossed $70 per barrel today, the highest since November 2014.

US firm ConocoPhillips has taken over oil inventories and terminals of Venezuelan state-owned PDVSA under court orders to enforce a $2 billion arbitration award by the International Chamber of Commerce. Further, US President Donald Trump said he’d announce his decision on the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday. Both developments contributed to soaring oil prices. Continue reading “Oil highest since November 2014; Dollar index hits its highest level in 2018; Warren Buffett and Bill Gates on Cryptocurrencies”

Weekly Overview: UK interest rate hike expectations; Argentina hikes interest rate to 40%; LIBOR OIS; US Money Supply growth accelerating again; Bank of Canada and Bank of England speeches

UK interest rate hike expectations

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England meets on Thursday, May 10 to decide the direction of interest rates.

Following a weak UK Q1 2018 GDP growth of only 0.1%, the slowest since Q4 2012 (read here) and inflation falling from 2.7% in February to 2.5% in March (against a Bank of England target of 2%), the market is now pricing in a 17% of a rate rise in May. The market had factored in a 100% chance of a hike just a few weeks ago.

UK 10-year bond yields fell 5bps during the week. The 10-year bond now yields 1.4% (up 0.32% over the past year)

Continue reading “Weekly Overview: UK interest rate hike expectations; Argentina hikes interest rate to 40%; LIBOR OIS; US Money Supply growth accelerating again; Bank of Canada and Bank of England speeches”

Highlights from April 2018

Here are highlights from April 2018,

Our three most read posts in April 2018

1. Alphabet (the parent company of Google) spent the most as a company on lobbying. Facebook’s spend on lobbying increased 5500% since 2009. They spent most lobbying on changes to … data privacy (Click here to read).

2. This is what has happened to the unemployment rate in the US four to eight months before every recession since the 1940s and why it matters now (Click here to read).

3. Not an April Fools’ Day joke – this really is how the US Dollar has performed against each currency of the world over the past one year (Click here to read). Continue reading “Highlights from April 2018”