mintdotfinance

mintdotfinance

This is a big week for financial markets, a long-anticipated election in the US is likely to have widely varying impacts across major asset classes. Safe haven assets such as silver stand to benefit from the uncertainty. There is also an FOMC meeting scheduled on 7/Nov (Thu) where the Fed is widely expected to cut rates by 25 basis points. A lower rate...

mintdotfinance

Japan’s October 28 elections delivered a surprise to the market with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)’s loss of the majority in the parliament. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba now faces the challenge of securing a majority in the 465-member Diet, Japan’s national legislature, in the coming weeks. This political uncertainty has impacted the outlook for...

mintdotfinance

Gold prices have reached another all-time high, supported by strong bullish momentum. However, the composition of buyers has shifted. While central banks fuelled the previous phase of the rally, institutional investors and retail buyers are now leading. Over the past six months, ETF inflows have totalled nearly $5 billion, and asset managers continue to build net...

mintdotfinance

Silver’s dual role in both investment and industry makes it highly sensitive to economic slowdowns but also well-positioned to thrive during periods of strong growth. Silver prices have surged 30% year-to-date, driven by a fourth consecutive year of supply deficit, soaring demand from the expanding photovoltaic (PV) industry, and spillover momentum from gold,...

mintdotfinance

Fed sets the rates. Rates guide treasury yields. Fed remains data dependent. Incoming data creates nuanced shifts in yield spreads. The September jobs report revealed 254,000 jobs added, significantly exceeding expectations of 147,000, with August figures also revised upward. This strong report, along with the JOLTS data from earlier in the week, indicates that...

mintdotfinance

The Nikkei-225 is trading near 40,000 once more. The sharp decline in early August due to the BoJ rate hike has been swiftly reversed. The outlook for the Nikkei remains bullish with continued investor interest driven by market reforms as well as foreign investor interest. With the BoJ currently on pause and signalling no urgency to raise rates further, the...

mintdotfinance

US equities soared to record highs on higher-than-expected rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve. Additional rate cuts implied by the Fed dot plot signals a goldilocks economic scenario. A booming economy coupled with low crude oil inventory levels with intensifying geopolitics could tip crude oil prices into a rally. Oil prices rose higher yesterday as hard...

mintdotfinance

With inflation finally cooling and the Fed signaling rate cuts, it seems relief is on the horizon—until you look at the job market. As recession risks grow and Treasury yields falter, a steepening yield curve presents a compelling opportunity. Positioning in the yield curve ahead of the FOMC meeting offers a more measured way to navigate the uncertainty. ...

mintdotfinance

When prices diverge, like shadows in the night, spread trading strategies unfold in plain sight. WTI Crude Oil (“US Crude”) and Henry Hub Natural Gas (“US Nat Gas”) Futures have diverged recently. US Crude prices continued sliding amid easing supply concerns and weak demand from the US and China. Meanwhile, US Nat Gas prices rose steadily on rising demand,...

mintdotfinance

You cannot predict the future, but you can prepare for it. This is even more true for crude oil prices. Forces driving and pulling back oil prices are in full play in parallel at the same time. Oil prices remain at the risk to both the upside and the downside concurrently. Take this week as an example. WTI prices started with a rally extending a three-day...

mintdotfinance

NVIDIA will announce its Q2 2025 results on 28th August. The semiconductor giant is expected to deliver USD 28.6 billion in revenues. Even a mild shortfall can send its stock prices tanking. The firm is slated to scale even greater heights on continued AI hardware demand & explosion in data centres. ANALYSTS REMAIN BULLISH NVIDIA enjoys buy rating with...

mintdotfinance

Last week, U.S. housing starts, a key economic measure of new residential construction, dropped to their lowest level since 2020, with single-family housing starts hitting a 16-month low. Meanwhile, overall housing inventory has climbed to its highest point since 2020, and new housing inventory has reached levels not seen since 2008. Despite a moderating mortgage...

mintdotfinance

Markets have rebounded sharply after last week's fear-driven decline. Despite this, rate cuts are still anticipated in the upcoming FOMC meetings. Changes in monetary policy often benefit some sectors over others, providing investors a chance to adjust their portfolio allocations accordingly. This paper delves into a comparative analysis of sectors around...

mintdotfinance

Last week was pandemonium for US Equities, Japanese Equities, Foreign Exchange markets, Cryptocurrency markets, and Bond markets. Yet, for those positioned for the normalization of the yield curve, results are apparent as the curve has officially normalized into positive territory with a sharp recovery on Friday which continued into Monday. The non-farm payroll...

mintdotfinance

The SEC approved the listing of nine spot ETH ETFs on 23/July. The launch of these ETFs was expected to drive capital flows with spot buying. But it didn’t. ETH prices plunged by 9% over the following two days. Crucially, the decline in the ETH/BTC ratio was a similar 9% as BTC remained resilient. Following what appears to be a sell-the-news event, the outlook...

mintdotfinance

The (in)famous Yield Curve remains inverted. In recent past, spreads normalized only to revert to inversion as rate cut expectations got pushed out. This time though, is different. Recent CPI print has significantly altered market sentiment. The likelihood of an initial rate cut at the September FOMC meeting now exceeds 90%. Consequently, the yield curve is...

mintdotfinance

US Presidential Elections and US Equities are a match made in heaven. History shows that market swings more up than down. This year, prepare for a wild ride full of twists. Sadly, former President Donald Trump was shot at a rally over the weekend. He survived and is safe. Investors are expected to shift into haven assets. Gold could test all-time highs. The...

mintdotfinance

Just because something is cheap does not mean it is a good buy, and just because something is expensive does not mean it is a sound investment. This investment adage applies to Bitcoin (“BTC”) ever more so than now. Bitcoin prices dropped 11% over the past week, triggered by substantial BTC sales by the German government. Concerns loom about the forthcoming Mt....