US rate cut boosts silver to all-time highs; watch platinum

After a contentious Fed meet on Wednesday, the final monetary decision was a 25 bps cut. The new band level is set at 3.5-3.75%.

Why contentious? Simply because there was no unanimous decision on: first, the direction of the policy rate and, second, the magnitude of the move. The result…[Read more]

‘Super glut’ heading oil’s way

While natural gas prices keep climbing, the other major energy fuel – crude oil – remains suppressed.

Crude’s 3-year chart below highlights this bear trend clearly. Since 2024, each reaction high was marginally lower than the one before. And each lower low dipped deeper south. Over time, a definitive “downtrend…[Read more]

Japan in a secular bull market

After the onset of the great covid pandemic, one financial boom happened after another. From the EV bubble to crypto to MEME ‘stonks’ to AI, these speculative frenzies just never stop.

But there is one that is still not widely mentioned. That is Japan.

The great normalisation of the country’s economy and finan…[Read more]

Dollar Down?

President Trump has announced that he will make an announcement in early 2026, concerning the new Fed chairman.

During the last summer, an intense political battle was fought over the leadership of the venerable institution. From Lisa Cook’s appointment to Fed’s multibillion renovation, no stone was left unturned in the bid to cha…[Read more]

Time to buy Chinese stocks?

While trade war remains a sticky topic for the Sino-US relation, on both sides of the Pacific their respective stock markets are on a bull run.

On Wall Street, animal spirits are riding high. Generous valuations are heaped on AI, crypto and a wide swathe of stocks. Key US equity indices are near record highs. In…[Read more]

For better or worse, Christmas is now a season of intense shopping.

From ‘Black Friday’ in the States to ‘Double 11’ in China to ‘Boxing Day Sale’ in the UK – these special shopping festivals are there to tempt consumers to open their wallets and splash out on bargains.

Every year, these discounting programs are launched with great fanfare, wh…[Read more]

A few days ago, I highlighted the gentle, but firm, recovery in silver.

That rally has now intensified.

At the time of writing this morning, the metal has surged to its highest nominal price ever.

An upside breakout last Friday was quickly followed another leap today. The metal is currently changing hands above $57.50 (see below).

Silver…[Read more]

While Nvidia retreats, other AI behemoths are taking up the mantle. The AI juggernaut continues to power ahead.

One of the general market observations is that stocks, even if they are in the same sector, do not peak simultaneously. Some earlier; some later.

During the Great Financial Crisis of 2007/8, for example, Bear Stearns and Lehman…[Read more]

In yesterday’s much-delayed Autumn Budget, the embattled Chancellor omitted a raid on UK banks (via a levy). Investors immediately cheered.

Share prices of UK banks started rising shortly after 12pm. This upward momentum carried on to the morning of Thursday.

If we plot the charts of the big three domestic bank stocks, their well-defined u…[Read more]

Fresnillo (UK:FRES) regains upward initiative

As soon as market sentiment improves somewhat, traders quickly piled back into those market outperformers.

Silver miner Fresnillo (UK:FRES) is one such instrument. Airtel Africa (UK:AAF) is another.

For the past year the Mexico-based precious metal miner had enjoyed a sterling run. Prices…[Read more]

Time to sell student rental REIT Unite Group (UTG)?

UK’s higher education sector is a multi-billion industry.

Many students value the prestige of a quality UK degree. Graduating from ‘OxBridge’- short for Oxford and Cambridge – carries a distinct premium in the job market.

In the years before the pandemic, the numbers of students – inter…[Read more]

From a Covid Winner to the most shorted stock in S&P

One recent news caught my attention. Moderna (MRNA), the covid vaccine maker, is currently the most shorted stock in the S&P. 

Its stock price, naturally, is under immense pressure; and hit new 52-week lows last week. 

Why are the bears targeting the biotech company? In the last quarter, M…[Read more]

Where’s the support for Bitcoin?

The past month or so was utterly dismal for the king of crypto assets. Prices have literally crashed through one support after another.

At $83K, there is a big floor on the chart still to be tested. That’s the April low of $74.5.

Why is this level important? Because that’s the previous peak of the 2023-…[Read more]

India’s Sensex outshines rival stock markets.

While many markets and sectors – crypto in particular – are mired in frightening downtrends, India is bucking the gloom and doom.

Sensex hit new all-time high this week. In particular, the 30-stock equity index edged above the previous high set last year at 85.6K.

High-flying stocks like Bharti A…[Read more]

BoE to cut rates as inflation drops. Will this boost FTSE 100?

UK inflation readings today show October CPI dropped to 3.6 percent. (CPIH was 3.8%)

This figure, whilst still above the central bank’s 2 percent target, may bring a dose of relief to the Treasury. Chances of a rate cut next month are now quite likely.

25 basis points is the e…[Read more]

Is the AI boom about to implode?

The warnings are coming in fast and furious.

Yesterday the CEO of Klarna (KLAR), Sebastian Siemiatkowski, is reported to be ‘nervous’ about the gigantic scale of investments made by AI companies.

Today, the CEO of Google (GOOG), Sundar Pichai, also voiced his worry about the presence of some ‘ir…[Read more]

Is Strategy’s (NASD: MSTR) decline overdone?

Since prices peaked at $450 in July this year, Strategy’s shares have collapsed by a whopping 55 percent. Last week, the Bitcoin-focussed company even slipped beneath the key psychological $200 support.

Coinciding with Strategy’s persistent decline was the rumour that the firm is starting to dump i…[Read more]