Entries for the 'History and fx' Category
Posted in History and fx on Monday, April 21st, 2008
- 24 April 2003 – NZD/USD down 1% after a surprise RBNZ 0.25% rate cut to 5.50% p.a., the first of three rate cuts that—in hindsight—are considered to be a factor behind the persistent tight monetary policy today (to put the move in perspective, the day before China had closed schools for two weeks because of SARS).
- 29 April 2004 – RB raise OCR by 0.25% to 5.50% p.a. in the second of many hikes.
Posted in History and fx on Sunday, April 13th, 2008
- 17 April 1837 – John Pierpont Morgan is born—one day fewer than 171 years later JP Morgan Chase’s quarterly results will be watched with much interest.
- 17 April 1958 – Fed Vice Chairman Balderston states “neither monetary policy nor fiscal policy can maintain economic stability if psychology runs rampant”.
- 19 April 1772 – David Ricardo, “the richest economist in history”, is born.
Posted in History and fx on Monday, April 7th, 2008
- 7 April 1998 – Citicorp and Travelers Group form Citigroup, a merger that symbolised the breakaway from the US Glass-Steagall Act that seperated banking from other investment activities, in turn creating the weakly regulated markets now causing many problems. The merger is now seen as a mistake by the initial joint CEO John Reed.
Posted in History and fx on Monday, March 31st, 2008
- April – NZD/USD up over April in 8 of the last 10 years.
- 3 April 1973 – First portable cell phone call—now the Blackberry all but makes the coffee.
- 5 April 1976 – The Tiananmen Square Incident when protestors were driven from the Square—not a part of fx history but a anniversary to be wary of this year.
Posted in History and fx on Monday, March 24th, 2008
- 24 March 2000 – The S&P 500 reached an all-time high of 1527.46 (since bettered but not sustained). The USD turned downward seven months later.
- 27 March 1980 – Silver price in freefall from the $52.50/ounce January peak engineered by the Hunt brothers. The 18% fall last week looks mild in comparison.
- 1 April 2004 – Germany has pulled out of the EUR for the GBP—a BBC hoax.
Posted in History and fx on Monday, March 17th, 2008
- 19 March 1831 – City Bank becomes the first US bank to be robbed, by Edward Smith (alias Jones, alias James Smith).
- 22 March 1642 – France liberalises interest rates from the regulated, lower yields since 1601 (during which time credit had dried up as moneylenders withdrew, in contrast to today when the banking system enables accelerated credit growth when interest rates are lowered by regulation).
Posted in History and fx on Monday, March 10th, 2008
- 10 March 2000 – after rising more than 110% in twelve months the NASDAQ Composite Index peaks and falls over 60% in the next twelve months; it remains 57% below that peak today while the USD is now 45% below the peak reached eight months later in Nov-00 against the EUR.
- 16 March 1830 – the dullest day on Wall Street when only 31 shares traded, amidst a downturn that started 6 years earlier.
Posted in History and fx on Monday, March 3rd, 2008
- 3 March 1961 – US economist John Kenneth Galbraith’s words “one of the greatest piece of economic wisdom is to know what you do not know” is very apt when it comes to exchange rate forecasting.
- 5 March 1954 – The DJIA breaks 300 again—a mere 25 years after the first time!
- 8 March 2007 – First of four tightenings by RBNZ in 2007.
Posted in History and fx on Monday, February 25th, 2008
- 26 February 1797 – The BoE issues the first one-pound and two-pound notes.
- 26 February 1995 – UK’s oldest investment banking firm, Barings Bank, falls after Nick Leeson loses US$1.4 bill.
- 1 March 2002 – Spain’s peseta is replaced by the euro.
- March – NZD/AUD down in 14 of the last 20 years, including the last five.
Posted in History and fx on Monday, February 18th, 2008
- 19 February 1785 – “The wisest prophets make sure of the event first” Horace Walpole—one must go a step further in fx markets and anticipate how others will react to a forecast event.
- 28 February 2007 – Shanghai share index down 8.8% on fears of tighter government policy; NZD/JPY drops 3.7%, the fourth largest 1-day NZD fall (vs major TWI currencies) in 2007.
