Straight from the Desk

Syz the moment

Live feeds, charts, breaking stories, all day long.

8 May 2025

Donald Trump plans to announce a new trade pact with the UK on Thursday, in what could make Britain the first country to ease tariff tensions with the US

➡️ https://lnkd.in/eG8ABj8f Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday that a “Big News Conference” was coming “concerning a MAJOR TRADE DEAL WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF A BIG, AND HIGHLY RESPECTED, COUNTRY”. The expected UK-US deal is one of 17 agreements that the Trump administration has been aiming to sign with its major trading partners as it rows back on the sweeping tariffs on countries around the world announced on April 2. The US president has been under pressure to deliver some early deals to show investors that he is serious about de-escalating the trade tensions that have caused huge volatility in markets in recent weeks. But US officials have also insisted that a wide range of countries have made offers to Washington in the hope of clinching deals to put a lid on their trade disputes with Trump. The scope and details of the pact expected on Thursday with the UK was not clear, including whether further negotiations will be needed to finalise it, and how much relief from US tariffs Britain will get. The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that Washington and London were close to agreeing a trade pact that would offer lower-tariff quotas for British cars and steel exports, which were hit by 25 per cent levies by Trump earlier this year. Such tariff relief would help offset the impact of Trump’s “liberation day” levies on UK exports to the US — which were set at the baseline rate of 10 per cent last month. Source FT

8 May 2025

The Gold/Silver Price Ratio is now trading at 102x, the highest level in history since the U.S.

Dollar came off the Gold Standard (excluding the Covid scare) Source: Barchart

8 May 2025

S&P 500 operating profit margins expanded to 12.4% in Q1, their highest level since Q4 2021.

$SPX Source: Charlie Bilello

8 May 2025

Foreigners are BUYING US stocks again

Source: Barchart

8 May 2025

Japan is cheap...

Japan's forward P/E ratio is 13.5, or a 7.4% earnings yield. That is a 609bps premium to the 1.31% yield in 10-year Japanese government bonds. For context, the S&P 500 trades for 20.6 times forward earnings, for an earnings yield of 4.87%. That is just 0.56% over 10-yr T-Notes. Source: Jeff Weniger

7 May 2025

Breaking

PBOC: TO LOWER RRR BY 50 BPS TO CUT POLICY RATE BY 10 BPS TO CUT STRUCTURAL MONETARY POLICY RATE BY 25 BPS TO CUT PERSONAL PROVIDENT FUND LOAN RATE BY 25 BPS. TO INCREASE THE CAPITAL MARKET SUPPORT TOOLS QUOTA TO 800B YUAN.

7 May 2025

🚨Two nuclear powers are now at WAR, as Pakistan launches retaliatory strikes against India after India’s initial attack

➡️ India says it has targeted 9 Pakistani terror camps in Pak occupied Kashmir using standoff missile strikes as part of Operation Sindoor

7 May 2025

BREAKING: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says he will be meeting with Chinese officials in Switzerland to begin trade talks with China.

Bessent went on Fox News to break the news. "So, we will meet on Saturday and Sunday..."

Thinking out loud

Sign up for our weekly email highlighting the most popular posts.

Follow us

Thinking out loud

Investing with intelligence

Our latest research, commentary and market outlooks