Economics

The G7 heads of state summit has begun.  The host, Japan's Prime Minister Abe began with doom and gloom.  Accounts suggest he warned of the risk of a crisis on the scale of Lehman if appropriate policies are not taken. ...

At the end of this month, President Obama will become the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima. The momentous visit is planned around Obama’s trip to nearby Ise-Shima for the G7 Summit. In light of the United States’ consistent...

Greece has become the focus of a battle between European nations and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The economically struggling nation that is drowning in debt will not receive any additional aid from the IMF, according to a senior International...

The US dollar is trading with a softer bias today after the momentum stalled yesterday.  The pullback is shallow but could be extended a bit more in the North American session.  The US reports weekly jobless claims, durable goods orders...

The big economic issue on the agenda at the G7 is the continued sluggish growth of the global economy. While the group of seven major advanced countries does not include rising powers such as India and China, it still accounts for...

The US dollar is little changed against the major currencies as yesterday's moves are consolidated and traders wait for fresh developments.  Global equities were higher after Wall Street's advance yesterday.  Asia-Pacific bond yields were firm, following the US lead, but...

‘As President of the United States of America, I express my profound apologies for the sufferings inflicted on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the atomic bombings’. These, of course, are the words that we are not going to...

The US dollar lost momentum yesterday but has regained it today.  The euro has been pushed through last week's lows near $1.1180.  The next immediate target is $1.1145, which corresponds to the lower Bollinger Band today, though the intraday technical...

Despite occasional reasons to be optimistic, relations between China and Japan have been consistently poor over recent years. Despite occasional reasons to be optimistic, relations between China and Japan have been consistently poor over recent years. This is in part fuelled by...

Diseases such as Ebola, Zika, and AIDS have long sent shivers down the spines of people around the world thanks to their virulence and capacity for contamination. Many popular television shows and movies have pondered the potential social consequences of...

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s whirlwind tour of Brunei, Cambodia and Laos during 22–24 April 2016 courted support for his country’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. However, the issue of China’s policy in the South China Sea has...

The capital markets are off to a mixed start to start the last week of the month.  Asian shares were mostly higher, though the Nikkei shed 0.5%.  European shares are also higher, extending the three-week high seen last week. The...

The US dollar’s weakness in recent months, despite negative interest rates in Europe and Japan likely had many contributing factors.  These factors include shifting views of Fed policy, weaker US growth, the recovery in commodity prices, including oil, gold and...

The combination of stronger US economic data and signals from the Federal Reserve that it is looking to continue the normalization process helped the dollar extended its recovery.  The dollar posted a significant technical reversal against many of the major...

The new normal. EPA/Lukas Coch Tobacco kills nearly half of all long-term smokers and in the UK alone accounts for the deaths of 100,000 people annually, according to the public health charity ASH. This is the harsh reality behind plain packaging for...