mintdotfinance

mintdotfinance

Ever dreamt of being an oil refiner? Fret not. You can operate a virtual refinery using a combination of energy derivatives that replicates oil refiner returns. Crude oil is the world’s most traded commodity. Oil consumption fuels the global economy. Crude is refined into gasoline and distillates. Refining is the process of cracking crude into its usable...

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Two men adventuring in the wild. They see a tiger racing towards them. They turn and start dashing away. Then, one of them stops to put on shoes. “What are you doing? The beast will outsprint you despite those” says the other. “I don’t have to run faster than the tiger” he retorts. “I just have to outrun you.” FX stories are not dissimilar. Relative strengths and...

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Days of triple digit volatility and rampant amateur speculation are gone. Unlike the overblown enthusiasm which defined the peak of 2021, investors now are more measured and discerning. 2023 has been defined by (a) discrete and information fuelled rallies followed by unprecedented low volatility, and (b) rise of traditional finance entrants in digital assets. ...

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Shining bright and sizzling hot, gold has surged 8% over the past two weeks. Ample supply of geopolitical shocks from violence in the Middle East to ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has been driving gold high. This paper examines the drivers supporting the gold rally and prevailing bullish & bearish factors. It posits two hypothetical trades to astutely position...

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Not too long ago, watching interest rates was as boring as looking at wet paint dry. Not anymore. Interest rates and currencies are as interesting as they get. The US dollar has been clocking moves more akin to an EM currency. The greenback has been on a rollercoaster ride over the past three months in line with market expectations of Fed’s interest rate policy...

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Risk strikes when least expected. Optimism peaks before a downturn strikes. Chart below shows remarkable spike in articles mentioning soft-landing before recession hits. Human brain is engineered to think linearly. Anything non-linear tricks the mind. Recession is non-linear which muddles up investor estimates of recession, its timing and impact. Count of...

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Seasonality is pervasive in financial markets. Some are benign while others are not. The “September Effect” refers to a month when equity returns gets crushed. Typically, this is followed by a volatile October. Other well-established pattern in equity markets is the "Santa Claus Rally" which is known to occur during December. Equities go bullish with increased...

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El Niño means little boy in Spanish. The fishermen in Latin America observed periods of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean in the 1600s around Christmas. El Niño can cause 50% variation in local weather in regions growing essential crops like beans, corn, and coffee. Soybean is a giant in global trade. It ranks among the top comprising more than 10% of the...

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Despite unprecedented rate hikes up to 450 basis points over the last 12 months the Euro has lost ground to the US Dollar for the last nine straight weeks. As a result, the Eurozone interest rates are historical highs. Currencies desire nothing more than higher rates. The Euro should have popped but instead it flopped after the ECB’s rate hiking decision last...

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Interest rates are to asset prices, like what gravity is to an apple, once said Warren Buffet. Low interest rates imply low gravitational pull to asset prices. Similarly, a loose interest regime when faced-off against a fierce monetary stance, can send the former currency deflating at an alarming clip. This paper peeks into the Japanese macro environment. It...

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Boring is better in a recession. Fed Chair reaffirmed his steely resolve to fight inflation. In short, he wants to break the back of inflation "at any cost" to subdue it down to Fed’s target of 2%. Soft-landing is desired. But overcorrection to fend off sticky inflation could tip soft-landing into a hard one. In a recession, economic activities shrink resulting...

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Natural gas was once considered a byproduct of oil production. It is now becoming increasingly important as one of the cleanest burning fossil fuels and a key piece of the clean energy transition. Today, it forms the backbone of global energy production. This paper delves into the supply and demand factors affecting natural gas prices and proposes a long...

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"Volatility gets you in the gut. When prices are jumping around, you feel different from when they are stable" quipped Peter L Bernstein, an American financial historian, investor, economist, and an educator. Crude oil prices are influenced by a variety of macro drivers. Oil market shocks are not rare events. They appear to recur at a tight frequency. From...

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AUD is a commodity currency. Australia’s resources rich economy is heavily influenced by commodity trade, particularly with China. When China sneezes, the AUD catches cold. With the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)’s rate hiking cycle approaching an end plus China’s economic recovery remaining anaemic, the AUD is likely to weaken further in the short term. This...

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Ever heard of risk-free rates? Risk free rates are commonly understood to refer to interest rates on 10-year US treasuries. These are considered risk-free as the likelihood of the US government defaulting is considered extremely unlikely. Treasuries pay out a fixed interest and can be redeemed for their face value at maturity. Fixed returns and negligible...

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AI hot; Crypto not! That’s set to change. Bitcoin prices have bounced back even as AI hype hogs the newsfeed. Crypto was disregarded as a product of inflated bull market fuelled by easy money last year. “Risk-on” assets like Bitcoin (BTC) plunged sharply. Subsequent recovery has been refreshingly consistent suggesting a potential resurgence. BTC stands 80%...

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The US Dollar has been thriving on borrowed time. Time has run out. The US Dollar plunged to its lowest in 15-months in what many experts see as the beginning of a secular decline. Till now, A hawkish Fed served as a solid tail wind. A Fed pause will take the wind out of USD sails. The USD peak is behind us. Leveraged funds have repositioned their portfolios to...

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The US Government runs a large budget deficit which in turn has helped enrich several emerging markets by creating a massive market for their products and services. These deficits are financed by issuance of treasuries. Given US’ global heft, treasuries are considered “risk-free” assets, held by institutions and other central banks as reserves. Investors hold...