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FOMC Minutes - Fork in the road: scenario-dependent policy
July 8, 2026 10:19 PM UTC
The June Minutes show a Committee that had skewed slightly more hawkish, in pockets, but had mainly moved toward greater uncertainty and dispersion.
The spine of the policy debate now revolves around a fork in the road: two plausible inflation trajectories, with policy calibration in either directi
UK Fiscal Policy and the New Chancellor
July 21, 2026 6:18 AM UTC
· Apprehension will exist until the Autumn budget, despite a repeated commitment by PM Burnham to stick to the fiscal rules. Spending commitments are clearer than tax raises measures, while new Chancellor Healey may not be strong enough to curtail spending pressures. This could mean
Margin Call - Does Margin Debt Really Predict Market Crashes?
July 27, 2026 11:31 AM UTC
· US margin debt has reached USD1.5tn, the kind of huge round figure milestone that is always going to get a fair amount of attention, especially with the market focused on risk and valuations. Should this number be sounding the alarm? The balanced answer is probably partially, though i
The Endpoint Problem: US Asset Prices, Investment and the Current Cycle
July 20, 2026 8:00 AM UTC
· Asset Price Index (API) framework suggests the US gap is elevated and, on some constructs, has moved into top-decile territory.
· The question is whether prices, capex and financing conditions are beginning to reinforce the same cyclical risk-accumulation dynamics.
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EM Government Debt Sinners and Saints
July 3, 2026 1:05 PM UTC
· Overall, the clearest EM fiscal sinner is Brazil, given its tax revenue/GDP ratio is already very high and requires politically sensitive expenditure cuts after the October election to increase the primary surplus to stabilize the government debt/GDP trajectory and get real bond yield
China LGFV Repair Rather Than Reboot
July 7, 2026 9:45 AM UTC
• Our assessment is that this ongoing exercise will likely have a small boost to GDP growth. LGFV’s debt restructuring could allow some new borrowing, but the big issue is that LGFV and LG finances are dependent on one off property taxes with the building of new property. The overhang
Iran/U.S.: A New War or Escalating to Deescalate?
July 14, 2026 10:40 AM UTC
· Our baseline remains that the MOU will hold and that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen. Iran can be pressured economically by the U.S. naval blockade being re-established. Additionally, President Trump loves to escalate to de-escalate to get a deal. This is a 60% probability scenar
FOMC - Warsh leaves markets confused
July 29, 2026 7:30 PM UTC
That this FOMC meeting showed a 9-3 vote for unchanged policy, with the dissents being for tightening, shows there was a case for tightening and a case for steady policy. However, the press conference from Chairman Warsh gave little insight on the nature of the debate, talking a lot about how the Fe
Trump: Tariffs 2.0
July 24, 2026 7:16 AM UTC
• Replacing section 122 at 10% with section 301 at 10-12.5% is unlikely to have much lasting economic impact in itself. However, the Trump administration are also undertaking section 301 investigation against 16 countries on excess production, with the report and new tariffs expected in A
Preview: Due July 16 - U.S. June Retail Sales - Softer on gasoline, only modest underlying slowing
July 2, 2026 5:33 PM UTC
We expect June retail sales to fall by 0.2% overall and 0.4% ex autos, though with a 0.2% rise ex auto and gasoline. Even the latter would be the slowest gain since a flat December 2025.
U.S. June Employment - Upside May surprise offset, but unemployment falls on lower labor force
July 2, 2026 1:12 PM UTC
June’s non-farm payroll is weaker than expected with a 57k increase, 49k private, with downward revisions to April and May. The slowing is consistent with an upturn in the initial and continued claims trends, though both were almost unchanged (-1k to 215k and +2k to 1.814m respectively) in the l
Preview: Due July 9 - U.S. June Existing Home Sales - Pending home sales imply a rise
July 8, 2026 11:00 AM UTC
We expect June existing home sales to increase by 1.9% to 4.25m, which would be a third straight increase and the highest level since December 2025. This would be consistent with signals from May pending home sales, but other housing signals are less positive.
U.S. June Employment - Upside May surprise offset, but unemployment falls on lower labor force
July 2, 2026 1:20 PM UTC
June’s non-farm payroll is weaker than expected with a 57k increase, 49k private, with downward revisions to April and May. The slowing is consistent with an upturn in the initial and continued claims trends, though both were almost unchanged (-1k to 215k and +2k to 1.814m respectively) in the l
U.S. June Durable Goods Orders - Restrained by seasonal adjustments and possibly prices
July 27, 2026 12:49 PM UTC
June durable goods orders with a 0.3% rise were well below expectations with a bounce in aircraft orders implied by Boeing data failing to show up in seasonally adjusted data while the ex transport gain of 0.6% was the slowest since January, though this may in part reflect easing price pressures.
Preview: Due July 20 - Canada June CPI - Energy to correct lower but BoC core rates seen mostly stable
July 17, 2026 5:39 PM UTC
We expect June Canadian CPI to correct lower to 3.0% yr/yr from May’s 3.2% which was the highest since December 2023, with a slowing to 2.98% from 3.23% before rounding. The Bank of Canada’s core rates however are likely to remain mostly stable with CPI-Median at 2.1% and CPI-Trim at 2.0%, both
Japan’s GPIF: Can it turn back the clock on the yen?
July 13, 2026 11:45 AM UTC
· The GPIF story is not that one public fund can singlehandedly ‘rescue the yen’. The question is more whether Japan can use one of the central institutions that helped drive the Abenomics flow-of-funds regime revolution to change the narrative, re-influence domestic allocation and
Economic Data and Events Week Ahead July 13-17
July 10, 2026 3:06 PM UTC
The most significant release of the week is likely to be June’s CPI on Tuesday, which we expect to be unchanged overall, but with a slightly firmer 0.3% rise ex food and energy, 0.26% before rounding. The CPI could however be overshadowed by testimony from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh to the House Financ
China: Debt Surge Problems
July 28, 2026 10:55 AM UTC
· China general government debt/GDP is on an unstable upward trend. China authorities are reluctant to ease underlying fiscal policy more than the already large primary budget deficit, but are also reluctant to consider broadening of income tax or property taxes that would help fiscal
ECB: September Hike 50% Probability?
July 23, 2026 1:41 PM UTC
· Lagarde disclosed that some ECB board members considered a hike at today’s meeting and she noted that the consensus was to wait for incoming data before the September 10 meeting and then reassess. This clearly signals that the September meeting will seriously consider a 25bps hike,
FOMC Preview for July 29: Unchanged policy with an unspoken tightening bias
July 15, 2026 3:52 PM UTC
The FOMC meets on July 29 in a meeting that will see no update to the dots or economic forecasts. With forward guidance now becoming limited all meetings should be seen as live, but after softer than expected June non-farm payroll and more importantly CPI data, a change in policy looks unlikely at t
Preview: Due July 15 - U.S. June PPI - Some fading from recent strength
July 6, 2026 9:05 AM UTC
We expect an unchanged June PPI, a significant slowing from two straight gains of 1.1% as energy corrects from recent strength and other inflationary stimuli from the conflict in the Middle East fade. We expect a 0.4% rise ex food and energy, matching May’s outcome, and also a 0.4% increase ex foo