Mentioned
iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term FuturesTM ETN
VXX
0.0100 (0.04%)
22.59
22.60
Richard Stroud
Richard Stroud
United Kingdom
5mo
COPIERS AND FOLLOWERS UPDATE Here is another update for you all as we catch up on a quite eventful few weeks for the markets and geopolitics in general. Firstly, it seems hard to believe that the Greenland saga only really abated just over a week ago, as the markets have already have turned their attention to other things and have left this episode firmly in the rear view mirror. However, the threats Trump was making in terms of taking Greenland by force were certainly more than a little concerning and stock markets did take a dive lower for a few days. However, it is very noticeable how markets and investors have increasingly got the measure of the U.S President, as any threats and big announcements now are treated with more indifference. Make no mistake, stocks did take a tumble the other week and the $VXX (iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term FuturesTM ETN) volatility index spiked a fair bit, but compared to Trump's "liberation day" tariff announcements, after which stocks fell very sharply, the moves we saw this time round were far less drastic. Most people are now more used to the idea that Trump does always seem to back down from any extreme policies he announces and indeed this was the case with Greenland, with a framework for a future deal announced between him and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. This deal appears to address U.S Arctic security concerns, including a possibility of a "Golden Dome" missile defence system. As I mentioned in my last post, it is unlikely that markets will stay calm for very long whilst there are these big announcements from the U.S President and no doubt this will not be the last time the Greenland issue comes up. But it is noticeable that markets have learnt to deal with it a lot better and at the very least it stops us all from becoming too bored!! In the meantime, Trump has now named his nominee for the next U.S Federal Reserve Chairman, with the seemingly market-friendly candidate Kevin Warsh being announced as his pick. We can expect any candidate Trump picks to be pro rate-cutting, but the consensus is that Warsh will likely be more measured than other possible candidates. The trade-off is likely to be that he insists on the Fed having a smaller balance sheet, thereby lessening the inflationary risks of lower rates. As you know, I am a little nervous of inflation in the U.S as it is still pretty sticky and with fiscal stimulus coming from the U.S President's "big beautiful bill" coming in the next few months, I will be keeping a close eye on how inflation progresses over the next 6 months or so. The markets' hope now is that with a steady hand like Warsh, who has previous Fed experience, inflation will not be allowed to run out of control. For now, we are keeping everything as is for the moment, although I will be increasing our non-U.S exposure soon. We are well invested in the States and with sentiment over the U.K and Europe improving to go alongside the much more attractive valuations they come with, I think this would be a wise move to further improve our diversification. Of course, I will always keep you informed of any changes in the portfolio. In the meantime, wishing you all a good weekend ahead and stay posted for more updates coming soon. Best wishes, Richard.
Not investment advice. The author may have financial interests in the mentioned instruments.
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VXX
iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term FuturesTM ETN
22.57
0.0100 (0.04%)
1 Mentioned
iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term FuturesTM ETN
VXX
iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term FuturesTM ETN
1 reply
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