China Holds Loan Prime Rates Steady in January as Market Expectations Align 
U.S. Banks Report Strong Q4 Profits Amid Investment Banking Surge 
Energy Sector Outlook 2025: AI's Role and Market Dynamics 
Urban studies: Doing research when every city is different 
Oil Prices Dip Slightly Amid Focus on Russian Sanctions and U.S. Inflation Data 
U.S. Urges Japan on Monetary Policy as Yen Volatility Raises Market Concerns 
RBA Deputy Governor Says November Inflation Slowdown Helpful but Still Above Target 
Global Markets React to Strong U.S. Jobs Data and Rising Yields 
Indonesia Surprises Markets with Interest Rate Cut Amid Currency Pressure 
Why Trump’s new pick for Fed chair hit gold and silver markets – for good reasons 
BOJ Holds Interest Rates Steady, Upgrades Growth and Inflation Outlook for Japan 
U.S. Stocks vs. Bonds: Are Diverging Valuations Signaling a Shift? 
New York Fed President John Williams Signals Rate Hold as Economy Seen Strong in 2026 
European Stocks Rally on Chinese Growth and Mining Merger Speculation 
MAS Holds Monetary Policy Steady as Strong Growth Raises Inflation Risks 
Norges Bank to turn more neutral as well: given the 60% chance of a rate hike in June, as penciled in by the Norges Bank, a more dovish stance at the next May 9 meeting would likely drag NOK swaptions values lower, weighing on USDNOK vol as well.
In the following, we will consider two possible implementations of the RV signal discussed above, one as a pure vol RV trade and one as a directional construct.
The vol spread touched a multi-year low in April as CAD vols sank to lowest since 2014 at a more rapid pace than NOK vols. The spread started to rebound but based on the swaptions – FX vol framework still leaves 3pts of misalignment between the two.
While realized vol spread has started to perform, we prefer to focus on the lingering longer-term risks that have been largely ignored by the markets and should play right into our hands.
Historical P/L time series shows the tight correlation between the vol spread and its returns that translates each vol pt of change in vol spread into 1 vol pt of returns.
Hence, we recommend buying 1Y USDCAD straddle @6.0/6.2 vs sell USDNOK straddle @8.45/8.9. Courtesy: JPM
Currency Strength Index: FxWirePro's hourly CAD spot index is inching towards -30 levels (which is mildly bearish), while hourly USD spot index was at -26 (mildly bearish) while articulating (at 09:40 GMT).
For more details on the index, please refer below weblink: http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex
