The Egyptian Pound is down 37% against the USD after switching to a flexible exchange rate
Source: Barchart
High global cost of capital hurts weak global balance sheets
Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, DRC, Iran, Türkiye, Argentina account for 12% of world population (>1bn people) and they are all hit by inflation rates >30% (Argentina 250%, Türkiye 60%, DRC 50%), interest rates >20% & pressure of currencies. Source: BofA
NEW: Bitcoin just passed the Russian ruble and is now the 14th largest currency in the world 🔥
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Pound Bulls Stand Their Ground
source: bloomberg
The U.S. Dollar is currently used in more than 48% of international payment transactions, the highest level in more than a decade.
USD isn’t going away anytime soon 🇺🇸. Source: Barchart, Macrobond
The negative correlation between the us dollar with stocks (and other risk assets) has been strong for quite some time.
Meanwhile, US Dollar Index Futures are up every single week this year. Has this relationship now changed, or is the unwind about to come? Source: JC Parets
Egypt: The currency is in free-fall
Black market rate: 1 dollar = 70 pounds Official rate: 1 dollar = 30.9 pounds The pounds has weakened by nearly 24% in the market in 2024. Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris criticized delays in enacting a long-awaited devaluation of the pound, suggesting authorities match the spiraling black market rate to end the nation’s chronic foreign-currency shortage. Postponing reforms is “a disaster that will increase the extent of the critical situation we are in,” Sawiris said in an Arabic-language post on social media platform X. Egypt’s pound has plunged on the parallel market to 68-70 per dollar in recent days, leaving it more than 50% weaker than the official rate of about 30.9. Source: Bloomberg, Ziad M Daoud
🇯🇵 Hedge Funds, Asset Managers Take Opposite Yen Bets Amid BOJ Talk - Bloomberg, C.Barraud
Hedge funds and asset managers were split on their yen views as the Bank of Japan laid the ground for an end to its negative-rate policy. Leveraged funds cut net yen shorts to the lowest level since February 2023 in the seven days ended Jan. 23 when BOJ announced its last policy decision, according to a report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In contrast, asset managers, such as pension funds and insurance companies, boosted net shorts by the most since May when the investors switched to shorts from longs.
