China’s Growth Faces Structural Challenges Amid Doubts Over Data 
Oil Prices Dip Slightly Amid Focus on Russian Sanctions and U.S. Inflation Data 
Gold Prices Slide as Rate Cut Prospects Diminish; Copper Gains on China Stimulus Hopes 
Trump’s "Shock and Awe" Agenda: Executive Orders from Day One 
Lithium Market Poised for Recovery Amid Supply Cuts and Rising Demand 
Indonesia Surprises Markets with Interest Rate Cut Amid Currency Pressure 
Gold Prices Fall Amid Rate Jitters; Copper Steady as China Stimulus Eyed 
Mexico's Undervalued Equity Market Offers Long-Term Investment Potential 
Moody's Upgrades Argentina's Credit Rating Amid Economic Reforms 
Fed May Resume Rate Hikes: BofA Analysts Outline Key Scenarios 
Moldova Criticizes Russia Amid Transdniestria Energy Crisis 
2025 Market Outlook: Key January Events to Watch 
Wall Street Analysts Weigh in on Latest NFP Data 
U.S. Stocks vs. Bonds: Are Diverging Valuations Signaling a Shift? 
US Gas Market Poised for Supercycle: Bernstein Analysts 
Stock Futures Dip as Investors Await Key Payrolls Data 
Global Markets React to Strong U.S. Jobs Data and Rising Yields 
Stay short in CAD vs USD as Loonie has further unwound turn-of-the-year weakness in the previous month, having now retraced back to mid-November levels.
However, the most recent leg in CAD strength is mostly driven by the generalized lift
seen across growth-sensitive high-beta assets, but is less rationalized by the typical fundamental drivers – US/CA rate spreads and oil prices are both little changed on net
from a month ago.
We maintain comfortable with our medium-term play on long USDCAD via a one-touch calendar call-spread as an expression of political tension still to come.
The USMCA ratification process is starting to pick up steam in the US, and while still under the radar, is starting to show signs of pressure that we’ve been anticipating.
While it’s still too early to manifest in broader markets, we believe our timeline for mid- to late-year political stress (and subsequent FX pass-through) remains on track. BoC Governor Poloz’s speech highlighted that USMCA ratification remains an uncertainty, though its hiking bias remains intact for now; we assume that if peak stress does occur, that this could be put on hold until USMCA is resolved in late-2019.
Trade tips: Activated longs in a -3m/+7m OT USDCAD calendar call spread (k=1.40). Paid 16.6% in mid-January. Marked at 17.15%. Courtesy: JPM
Currency Strength Index: FxWirePro's hourly USD spot index is flashing at -22 levels (which is mildly bearish), while hourly CAD spot index was at -115 (highly bearish) while articulating at (11:16 GMT).
For more details on the index, please refer below weblink: http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex
