Category Archives: Geopolitics

China A-Shares Inclusion in Emerging Market Indexes

On June 1, 2018, MSCI added 234 Chinese A-Shares into the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. A shares trade in Shanghai and Shenzhen and have historically only been available to mainland citizens. This is expected to increase China’s weight in the index modestly from 31 per cent

The Future of Money

In 2016, Sweden introduced the idea of creating a digital currency. Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, was the first central bank in the 1660s to issue paper notes. The amount of notes and coins in circulation had been cut in half globally in the past

Why is the Yield Curve Still Flattening?

I have said many times over the years that the bond market is often the best forecaster of the economy, but it’s not typically until the yield curve inverts (when short term yields become higher than long term yields) that we must worry about what

Uncertainty Points to More Volatility?

Germany has finally formed a coalition government and the far-right AfD (Alternative for Deutschland) is not the official opposition. Current poling has their support now higher than Merkel’s coalition partner SPD. In Italy, we saw the Eurosceptic alternative M5S party and other hard right parties

Several Indicators Suggest Support Should Hold…For Now

There are several indicators and behaviors I like to see to suggest a trading bottom has developed. First, and most important, we need to see strong oversold conditions in market breadth indicators. One of my favorite is the McClellan Oscillator. It looks at the trend

The Case for Having US Dollar Exposure

There are several key factors all coming together in the next few weeks to months that should shape a somewhat bearish outlook for the Canadian dollar for the next year or two. Here’s a look at them: BANK OF CANADA (BoC) This week, the market