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Bessent’s Buybacks - bluster, bazooka or brittle bet?
August 25, 2026 3:57 PM UTC
* Bessent’s buybacks – bazooka or peashooter? It depends on whether it’s a slippery slope. On current proposed scale, possibly only absorbs around 10% or so of gross long end Treasury issuance on duration basis
* Mooted TGA use is not a free $1trn money pot, though it could provide some short-t
Barbarous Relic or Strategic Hedge - Gold in a late-cycle portfolio
September 1, 2026 7:00 AM UTC
* Gold worked off early year retail excess, moving into a more constructive technical and seasonal period
* The strategic case for gold is much wider: rich risk asset valuations can neither be sat out nor left unhedged
* History (no guarantee of future performance…) supports increased gold hedges in
Strait of Hormuz Scenarios
September 7, 2026 7:32 AM UTC
Our new baseline (60%) is for a new ceasefire deal into Q4 2026 or Q1 2027 that allows more shipping to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. We feel that economic pressure on Iran remains intense and that Iran will want to lift the U.S. blockade on its energy shipments and export revenue. The Trump
2026 Q2 Country Insights Scores to Download in Excel
September 8, 2026 10:30 AM UTC
The Country Insights (CI) Model is a comprehensive quantitative tool for assessing country and sovereign risk, measuring a country’s exposure to external and domestic financial shocks and its capacity to grow. Our full range of scores across 174 countries for the second quarter of 2026 is now avai
September FOMC Tightening Looks Likely After Warsh Speech
August 28, 2026 4:19 PM UTC
After the speech from Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh, it appears that failing to tighten in September would put Fed credibility at risk, unless we see some very soft data from the August non-farm payroll and CPI. The key sentence came near the end of his speech. “We must be confident that underlying inf
Back at 5%: Unpacking the US Treasury selloff
September 15, 2026 2:55 PM UTC
* USTs revisit the big psychological level after big selloff
* Sep move has been mainly policy led, with the curve responding
* Longer term trend has been a real risk premium story – with real rates backup led by additional risk/compensation/reduced scarcity effects. Breakeven inflation expectatio
Escalation Risk in U.S.-Canada Trade Dispute
August 24, 2026 3:11 PM UTC
The immediate economic impact of the collapse of the US-Canada trade talks is likely to be modest, but not insignificant in the case of Canada. Where things move from here is uncertain, with Canadian retaliation due to be implemented on September 8, and risk of further mutual escalations after tha
Preview: Due September 11 - U.S. August CPI - Firmer on energy and lodging away from home
August 31, 2026 1:55 PM UTC
We expect a slightly stronger US CPI in August, up by 0.4% overall, lifted by energy, and 0.3% ex food and energy, lifted by a correction higher in lodging away from home. Before rounding we expect overall CPI to rise by 0.37% and ex food and energy CPI to rise by 0.26%. Despite a firmer monthly cor
UK inflation momentum, persistence and 2nd round: BoE in ‘wait and see’
August 25, 2026 8:36 AM UTC
* Constructing alternative measures of inflation from the perspective of momentum, persistence, and second round expectations is useful when considering the BoE’s reaction function
* The message is partly reassuring but not fully and gives a nuanced picture
* Recent signals give time to wait and see
China August Activity Data Review: Further Divergence among the Three Horses
September 15, 2026 1:01 PM UTC
China’s economic imbalances continued to deepen in August, as sluggish retail sales and a fixed-asset investment slump highlighted persistent weakness in domestic demand, with analysts expecting more policy stimulus from Beijing to stave off downside risks. Export and Industrial numbers again salv
ECB Account: Hard Not to Read Between the Lines on Sep
August 27, 2026 1:01 PM UTC
* Some members would not have opposed raising rates at the last meeting
* While decisions remained data-dependent, another rate hike would likely be necessary unless the inflation outlook improved significantly
* Market participants appeared to have a good understanding of the ECB’s reaction functio
UK CPI Preview: Headline Inflation to Increase on Higher Energy Costs but no Second Round Effects
September 14, 2026 9:24 AM UTC
· Inflation figures will come ahead of BoE meeting on September 17 in which the Bank is expected to keep rates on hold. Headline annual inflation rose to 2.9% in July and is forecast to increase to 3.1% in August with core also ticking up to 2.7% from 2.6% previously. The numbers are un
QT: BOE Slowdown But Not BOJ/ECB Yet
September 11, 2026 11:50 AM UTC
· The BOE will likely slow the pace of QT to GBP50bln pa at the September 17 MPC meeting, but the BOJ/ECB have no current plans to slow QT. The BOJ QT at 6% of GDP is huge and pushing up JGB yields and the BOJ could slow the pace over the winter into the spring once the next 25bps pol
DM Central Banks Watching Stablecoins
August 20, 2026 10:55 AM UTC
· Overall, DM central banks have a watching brief for stablecoins and the scale of growth in the next 5 years. This is largely a USD centric issue, with stablecoins dominated by USD issuance. Central banks are watchful on whether it impacts access to low cost deposit for banks; guardi
Running on Empty - Low Rivers could add to Europe’s Supply Squeeze
August 19, 2026 9:30 AM UTC
* Drought is not only directly impacting water-dependent activity, fire damage, and food crops. It is also seeing extreme low river levels across the major Rhine–Danube/Central-European industrial corridor
* That can significantly impact freight flow, adding to costs and disrupting industrial produ
U.S. Equity-Treasury Strains and Correction Risk
September 9, 2026 8:00 AM UTC
· Equity investors have taken note of higher U.S. Treasury yields, but the influence of the AI boom and corporate earnings is greater. Nevertheless, the U.S. equity market valuation means that it is stretched currently versus the U.S. Treasury market and could be hurt by moderate bad
Money supply - Fed Invites an Awkward Ex Back into its Life
September 3, 2026 10:52 AM UTC
* Following the ‘Easter egg’ M2 reference, Warsh has made clear that ‘money matters’
* But while M2 was name-checked and described as benign, broader measures have been running strongly, well above the referenced 2010 norms
* M4 Divisia gives one of the better currently available measures, con
EZ PMI: Help From Manufacturing
August 21, 2026 9:23 AM UTC
· The headlines look reasonable, with the highlight being the August EZ Manufacturing PMI at 52.8 versus consensus of 51.8 (a general pick-up; help in Germany from defence spending and also some AI related output as well). This should keep reasonable expectations for Q3 GDP. However
Preview: Due September 4 - U.S. August Employment (Non-Farm Payrolls) - Corrections from recent payroll weakness and unemployment declines
August 20, 2026 4:58 PM UTC
We expect August’s non-farm payroll to rise by 75k both overall and in the private sector, still moderate but the strongest in both series since April. We however expect unemployment to correct higher to 4.2% after falling to 4.1% in July from 4.2% in June and before that three straight months at
Open AI Delay IPO and Safety Fears
September 14, 2026 6:59 AM UTC
· For financial markets, the Open AI IPO delay risks making the Open AI ecosystem more volatile, despite the huge private financing that it has already done this year. Additionally, the wider safety fears and calls for slowing by leading AI labs increase the risks surrounding the 2027
UK GDP Growth defies expectations in July but expected to slow ahead
September 11, 2026 7:53 AM UTC
Contrary to expectations, the UK economy grew by 0.4% in July (on a month-on-month basis) against a forecast of zero growth. Activity during the month was driven by services (0.4%), production (0.2%) and construction (0.1%). The sector breakdown shows that growth in the services sector was driven pa