Trump’s G20 Summit: Love him or loathe him, Donald Trump seems to be able to get things done. Given he is the most powerful man in the word – at the very least, in a political sense – perhaps this isn’t such a difficult task. When you have the world’s largest economy, coupled with the world’s most potent military at your disposal, one would have all the leverage needed to get their way. But nevertheless, arguably not since Ronald Reagan has global politics experienced such a rapid ideological sh
Weeks Left of Liquidity, A Laundry List of Unresolved Fundamental Threats
We have officially closed out November Friday and we are now heading into the final month of the trading year. Historically, December is one of the most reserved months of the calendar year with strong positive returns for benchmark risk assets like the S&P 500 along with a sharp drop in volume and significant drop in traditional volatility measures (like the VIX index). There is a natural, structural reason for t
You can now add % Range to a watchlist on the web trading platform
% Range is the difference between the high and low quotes of the session divided by the current mid price
This can be used to show a relative volatility on the asset and its potential trade opportunity
% Range has a number of advantages over % Change and Range in points
How to add % Range
A new function added to the web trading platform is % Range, a measure of volatility that will enable you to so
The G20 summit in Argentina begins today, where discussions around trade, Brexit, and tensions between Russia and Ukraine are expected to be the dominant topics to take centre-stage.
FOMC minutes released yesterday pointed towards another rate hike in December, with concerns that trade tensions and corporate debt could impact growth.
China’s official PMI fell to 50.0 in November from 50.2 last month, adding pressure on the country to implement more economic support measures amid t
Written by Kyle Rodda - IG Australia
A relief rally, now onto the next risk: The relief rally for market-bulls was sweet, but fleeting: it’s on to the next risk event now. Traders are being inundated by information, much of it speculative. Against this backdrop, volatility reigns: while off its highs still, the VIX is up 2.7 per cent on the day. To be clear, the Fed’s dovishness and Mr. Powell’s-famous-Put is underwriting the potential for future bullishness. But market participants can’t a
Continuing our #IGCommodityChat and following our previous chat on gold, join us on Thursday the 29 November at 1pm (UK time) to discuss the future of the oil market with industry advisor Malcolm Graham-Wood and Spencer Welch, director of oil markets at IHS Markit.
Submit your questions now or during the live show
Use the comments section at the bottom of the blog (even if you're not an IG client or not logged in) and we'll put them to the panel. If there are any questions which
Fed hints that future interest rate rises may be lower than anticipated. Whilst Wall Street saw it's 5th biggest daily increase Asian stocks also gained as a result, the Nikkei saw a 0.9% increase whilst SoftBank rose over 3% and Nintendo a further 4%.
Trump announced yesterday that he is exploring new auto tariffs with a view to promote domestic production. This comes as part of an ongoing Trump Administration tariff war.
Georgia elects first female president. Salome Zurabishvili
A game of chicken: Did Powell just blink? That’s how last night’s speech from the Fed chair is being interpreted. Debate has raged whether in the face of financial market turmoil, the Fed will be forced to cool its rate-hike rhetoric. Powell’s speech – and this is speculative – may have represented this. Gone was the talk of rates being “a long way” from neutral, and that rates may need to move “past (the) neutral” rate. Instead, it was replaced with the key comment interest rates are “just belo
Asian equities gained as investors weighed in comments from Federal Reserve officials and a possible breakthrough in US-China trade war. Shares in Hong Kong and China led the gains with the Hang Seng Index climbing 0.5% and the Shanghai Composite gaining 0.7%.
Oil crude was up with WTI gaining 0.9% to $52.02 a barrel after a US industry report signaled shrinking gasoline surplus. Concerns of sanctions to Russia following its sea clash with Ukraine and Saudi’s vow to cut production in Dec
Written by Kyle Rodda - IG Australia
A loaded menu: If this week in financial markets is a buffet of information, then yesterday’s session tasted like the entrée. The themes that were predicted to define this week’s trade all showed-up in one form or another, hinting at bigger things to come. US President Trump added heat to the trade war, then spiced up the Brexit debate; a speech from US Federal Reserve Vice President Richard Clarida had traders questioning how many Fed hike’s markets hav
Trump reported that Brexit could potentially threaten a UK-US trade deal, leaving Britain unable to negotiate a free-trade agreement with the US
OPEC to meet in Vienna next week to discuss levels of oil production. It is expected to be cut down by 1million to 1.5million barrels due to worries of the US-China trade war
Trump announced a potential introduction of applying a 10% tariff on iPhones imported from China, which could increase to 25% on January 1st
Ukraine to bring m
Written by Kyle Rodda - IG Australia
US traders return: It’s nice to be back to some normal programming. The big-wigs on Wall Street have returned to their desks and volumes across the market are looking far healthier. After last week’s sell-off and volatility, and well before the meaty part of trade this week, traders appear to have had their appetite for risk whetted. Only slightly, of course: there is an acute awareness that the next seven days will hurl up some major events and some sig
May will start her two-week campaign to sell her historic Brexit deal to MPs as EU leaders have agreed on the UK's Brexit deal during the summit held in Brussels over the weekend, outlining it is "the best and only deal possible".
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker explained that anyone who thinks that the EU will offer improved terms if MPs reject the deal will be left "disappointed" - MPs are expected to vote on the 12th of December.
Asian equity markets had a mixe
Written by Kyle Rodda - IG Australia
The themes: Boy oh boy, are we facing a significant week. It promises to be a big one, with so many of the pressing macro-economic issues currently driving market activity set to dominate headlines. Given this is so, and the Thanksgiving hangover kept trade light on Friday, casting an eye ahead and speculating on what the next seven days may deliver the most valuable insights. The themes won’t be foreign to traders: we’ve got the US Federal Reserve and g
Expected index adjustments
Please see the expected dividend adjustment figures for a number of our major indices for the week commencing 26 Nov 2018. If you have any queries or questions on this please let us know in the comments section below. For further information regarding dividend adjustments, and how they affect your positions, please take a look at the video.
NB: All dividend adjustments are forecasts and therefore speculative. A dividend adjustment is a cash neutral ad
A G20 Meeting of Extreme Consequence
As far as summits for leaders of the world’s largest economies go – in other words, an already very important affair – the gathering in Argentina this coming Friday and Saturday is crucial. There are a host of global conflicts that will inevitably be addressed at this gathering, but certain aspects will preoccupy the market’s immediate focus. It will be important to recognize what will carry the weight of speculative interest. On the one hand, there are
What is the murky future of Oil?
Continuing our #IGCommodityChat and following this week's chat on gold, join us on Thursday the 29 November at 1pm (UK time) to discuss the future of the oil market with industry advisor Malcolm Graham-Wood and Spencer Welch, director of oil markets at IHS Markit.
The demand for oil has increased over the last few decades due to the rise of emerging economies and the requirements of the transport industry. However, in recent years, concerns have been ra
Dolce and Gobbana tension rises as their goods are no longer available on a few Chinese e-commerce sites, including Taobao and JD. Com.
Spain threatens to vote against the Brexit deal as they request that any decisions in relation to the territory of Gibraltar to only be discussed directly with Madrid. EU negotiators are meeting today to try and resolve this before the summit taking place on Sunday
Asian markets show a decline with the Shanghai composite falling 2.25%, the Shenzhe
Written by Kyle Rodda - IG Australia
Time to give thanks: It’s Thanks Giving in the US, so US traders are away from their desks and equity markets in the country are offline. Perhaps it’s something the bulls can be thankful for: the holiday has resulted in very thin volumes across the globe, giving a subsequent ability to take pause from the unfolding market rout. There is so much information awaiting market participants coming into the end of November and start of December, so surely the o
After yesterday´s meeting in Brussels, Theresa May said “both sides have given sufficient direction” and she will meet Jean-Claude Juncker again on Saturday “to discuss how we can bring to a conclusion this process and bring it to a conclusion in the interest for all our people”, indicating that a final deal is likely to come very soon.
The 27 remaining countries in the EU will meet with Theresa May on Sunday, where they will vote on the Brexit deal. Spain, the only country that was set t
Written by Kyle Rodda - IG Australia
Overnight bounce: A bounce in equities has finally arrived, unwinding some of the week’s heavy losses. As it currently stands, the NASDAQ – ground zero for much of the recent market correction – is leading the pack, up 1-and-a-half per cent for the day, followed by the S&P, which is up 0.8 per cent, and the Dow Jones, which is up 0.65 per cent. Volumes are down generally speaking, so the recovery today lacks bite – though the Thanksgiving holiday in
FAANG stocks have now shed more than $1 trillion in market value since recent highs, whilst Target leads the fall in retail as its shares dropped 10.5% yesterday after posting worse than expected earnings figures.
The Nasdaq ended the day down 1.7%, whilst the S&P was down 1.8%. The Dow Jones dropped 550 points to close on Tuesday, erasing this year’s gains as it moved into negative territory.
Asian stocks slipped on Wednesday as intensifying fears on global economic growth and
Written by Kyle Rodda - IG Australia
I see red: The global equity rout continued last night, and out to the furthest horizons it was a sea of red. There was very little reprieve no matter where one spun the globe. The Asian session saw China's equity bounce faded again, joining the suffering experienced by the Nikkei, Hang Seng and ASX200; European indices continued their orderly decline, underpinned by a 1.6 per cent drop in the DAX and a 0.76 per cent fall in the FTSE 100; and with less t
