PE ratios: What they tell you (and what they don’t)

What is a P/E Ratio? The Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio is a indicative valuation metric that measures a company's current share price relative to its earnings per share (EPS).  It is relatively simple calculation and is simply worked out through dividing the current share price by the Earnings per share. There are two common variations of...

Look before you leap …FIVE reasons why a low PE Ratio may be a reason NOT to jump in

What is a PE Ratio, and Why is It of Interest to Investors? The Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio is a metric that measures a company's current share price relative to its earnings per share (EPS). It's a relatively simple calculation, worked out by dividing the current share price by the Earnings per Share. Traditionally, it has been used as a p...

AUDUSD Reacts in Anticipation of Fed Chair Powell’s Talk

In yesterday’s session, the AUDUSD pair experienced a decline of nearly 1%, erasing the gains it had achieved over the past few days. This retracement arrives as the USD displays signs of renewed strength ahead of an upcoming speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Market participants are eagerly awaiting Powell's remarks for to see if he drops any hi...

FX Analysis – USD rallies as markets turn risk-off ahead of Jackson Hole

USD was higher on Thursday, with The Dollar Index bouncing back strongly from Wednesdays decline, breaking through the resistance level of 103.60 to touch on the weekly highs at the big 104 level and hitting overbought levels on the daily RSI. Market risk-off, rising yields and a lower than forecast jobless claims figure giving the USD a boost as g...

FX analysis – USD drops, Gold pops on soft data, falling yields

A raging US equity market fuelled by soft data, a drop in treasury yields and blowout earnings from NVDA (which saw its stock price hit an all-time high) saw risk-on trading through Wednesdays session. USD was choppy on Wednesday with an initial rally in DXY, which saw it briefly pierce the major resistance at 103.60, dramatically reversing cour...

EURUSD tests near term support

After reaching the high of 1.1250, last tested in 2022, the EURUSD has been trading steadily lower and currently sits along the 1.0850 support level, formed by the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level and the previous swing low from early July. Looking at the technical aspects, the Ichimoku cloud indicates continued bearish pressures, with the top ...

FX analysis – Euro lower ahead of PMIs – AUD, JPY and Gold stumble higher

USD was mostly firmer in Tuesday’s session as a mixed equity markets saw some slight risk-off conditions. Also support USD was rates markets shifting hawkishly (September meeting now pricing a 16% chance of a hike) ahead of Jackson Hole and Fed Chair Powell speaking on Friday. Fed member Barkin spoke but added little new, as he noted consumer spe...

Asian Open FX Analysis – EUR, JPY, AUD, USD

Despite runaway US treasury yields which saw 10-year yields hit their highest level since 2007, the USD was flat in Monday’s session as it seems improved risk sentiment and a technically overbought Dollar Index (DXY)held it in check. DXY traded within a tight range with a low of 103.13 and a high of 103.50, where it was again rejected at the majo...

Entries for longer-term stock investment approaches can be based on either long-term technical trends or more commonly, fundamental data related to a company's current and projected performance. Despite the plethora of such suggestions, there is often a lack of clear guidance, or even a complete absence, of instructions on determining the timing of...

Money in Motion: The Factors Influencing Currency Appreciation and Depreciation

Currency appreciation refers to the increase in value of one currency relative to another currency or basket of currencies. Depreciation refers to the opposite scenario where a currency loses value against another. When a currency appreciates, it takes more units of other currencies to purchase one unit of the appreciating currency, and of cours...

Navigating the Curve: Backwardation and Contango in Futures Markets

Backwardation and contango are terms used in the context of futures markets to describe the relationship between the prices of futures contracts with different expiration dates for a specific underlying asset, such as commodities, currencies, or financial instruments. In this article, we aim to explain these terms within the context of futures cont...

Averaging down: A Risky Move or a Smart Strategy?

Averaging down is an investment strategy in which an investor purchases additional shares or other assets at a lower price than their initial purchase price. This strategy is employed when the price of the asset has declined after the investor's initial purchase. Through buying more of the asset at a lower cost, the average cost per unit or share d...

Upcoming Nvidia earnings: Has the AI hype cooled?

Nvidia has been the star of the US markets since the AI hype kicked off late 2022. The trillion-dollar chip manufacturer’s shares have almost tripled in 2023 alone, with the price increasing every month so far this year. In May, Nvidia surprised the markets by posting earnings and revenue figures well above analysts’ expectations. This se...

FX Analysis – CNH strengthens on intervention talk – JPY breaks losing streak – Gold breaks key support

FX WRAP USD was choppy with the US Dollar Index ending the session flat in range bound trade. Unemployment claims dropped to 239k from 250k the prior week which was in line with consensus and having little effect on the USD, though Philly Fed Manufacturing figures did have a big beat coming in at +12.0 vs an expected -9.8, which was the highest ...

Market responses to actual versus consensus numbers in data releases

As traders and investors one of the important facts you need to get to grips with is the difference between Consensus (sometimes termed “expected”) and actual data. Variations in these can have a profound impact on asset prices and so are often part of your decision-making.   In financial markets, the "consensus" refers to the average or m...