Economics

The US dollar had a good week.  It was helped by the strongest service ISM this year, with strong gains in forward-looking new orders component and an increase in export orders. Non-farm payrolls snapped back from a downwardly revised 11k...

The history of the Japanese military’s wartime sexual enslavement of women still plays on the mind of East Asia. Japanese leaders make it hard to forget. Most recently, deputy foreign minister Shinsuke Sugiyama told the United Nations Committee on the...

There is something for everyone in today's US jobs report, and at the end of the day, it is unlikely to sway opinion about the direction and timing of the next Fed move.  The greenback itself may remain range bound...

Initial previews of America’s job market indicate resurgence for workers, but economists remain wary. Jobless claims fell to their lowest point in three months last week, falling to 254,000 versus 270,000 the previous week. That is far below consensus expectations...

The US employment data tends to be among the most important economic reports during the monthly cycle.  It often injects volatility into the market.  The report itself tends to be volatile and subject to revisions.  Economists have little input on...

Any day now, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague will hand down its judgment in the case brought by the Philippines about the validity of some of China’s claims in the South China Sea. Attention is focused mostly...

Amid a better if not strong risk appetite, sterling has rallied two cents from yesterday's lows near $1.28 to poke through the $1.30 level in the European morning.  It was helped by an industrial production report that was better than...

This weekend G20 trade ministers shall meet in Shanghai. It is an opportunity for China to pave the way for the G20 Summit in Hangzhou in September.  Led by China, G20 economies could refocus global attention to world trade and...

  Donald Trump has been bashing free trade for much of his campaign. However, in recent weeks he’s taken his anti-trade tirades to a whole new level in lashing out at the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a deal that was signed by its 12 Asia-Pacific members but...

The conventional narrative has it backward.  It worries about the threats to stability emanating from the periphery in Europe.  Policymakers, investors, and economists still refer to the "Greek, Irish, Portugal and Cyprus' bailouts.  The biggest threats do not come from...

Ireland has been slowly recovering from a long economic roller coaster that started with the global financial crisis in 2008 and has not improved as quickly as the rest of the world has. Canada, on the other hand, is also...

What a difference a few days make.  Many saw last week's equity market advance a sign that Brexit anxiety was overdone.  However, quarter-end position adjustments appear to have been misread.  Equity markets are falling now. Bond yields in the US,...

On 10 July, Japanese voters will go to the polls in the triennial upper house election. The candidates will be all-too-familiar faces; the party leaders wooden; and policy menus unpalatable. The contest is for only half the seats and voters...

Talks just concluded in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday show that plans for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are advancing. Just as both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the next potential leaders of the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s (TPP) biggest partner—the...

Monday, while Americans were celebrating the original Brexit, the US dollar drifted lower.  The Australian dollar fully recovered from electoral uncertainty drop to finish about 0.5% higher.  Asian and emerging market equities rallied, but Europe faltered.  The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index...