Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee, January 28-29, 2025 I thought the most significant statement in the Minutes was this: “the effects of potential changes in trade and immigration policy as well as strong consumer demand. Business contacts in a number... Read More

Divorce a l'Americain The Liberal World Order and NATO are dead ducks. That opens the way for the Trump 2 Administration to hit Europe with very high (remedial/reciprocal) tariffs in April. Trump has no need for Europeans to help him with Ukraine. The EM... Read More

Brace Yourself! Reciprocal US Tariffs. - tariffs likely to be announced April. These are not in market prices. The report sent you on Friday 15, 2025 - The Anatomy of Exceptionalism- deals with the categories of Tariffs President Trump is likely to impose see Chap... Read More

US Exceptionalism is the investor conviction that “things can’t go wrong in the US of America” for you or your money. Like Frankenstein, “Exceptionalism” is half man, and half beast, half economic reality and half perception - laced with large dollops of hope. The markets ca... Read More

The liberal world order, if not dead, is very ill in bed. What replaces it will not be orderly or come cheap. States, previously part a network of alliances, will go it alone to ensure their own defense and strategic interests. There will be a massive increase in defence... Read More

This update looks at US “Exceptionalism” and USD strength. The drivers of both are international equity flows as much as safe haven demand for US assets or central bank activity.. The investment conclusions are that a bear market in US equities would have have negative implic... Read More

How US "Exceptionalism", and the bull market in the US$ and US equities are linked. Since just before the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, foreigners' holdings of US financial assets has risen from US$ 20 trn. to US$ 30 trn. Of this increase 10% was down to increased holding by ... Read More

As a P.S. to the Rules of Thump - the Canadian, Chinese and Mexican Tariffs. My rough calculations of the Tariff hit to economies outside the US were included in the Friday (1/31) Update sent to you. But to summarise: The effect of these (1/31 Canadian, China & Me... Read More

Investment Conclusion. Tariffs have pride of place in President Trump’s toolbox. We have only seen them applied to fentanyl and immigration so far. But they can and will be used as instruments to correct perceived economic imbalances and imperialist territorial ambitions. T... Read More

Tariffs: Rules of Thump . This is a follow up to my e-mail to to you on Trump's Tariffs last Friday (1/31) & the 2 reports Astern (1/08) & The McKInley Factor (1/26). Cantext; The Mexico, Canada, China tariffs ("Tariffs 1/31") declared by President Trump so far ... Read More