The price of victory: comparing the cost of Olympic gold to an elite arts prize

Aug 22, 2016 10:13 am UTC| Insights & Views Sports Entertainment

The Olympics is almost over now for another four years, and beyond the glorious highs and heartbreaking lows of participants and spectators, theres the ritual of the cost-benefit wash-up where we calculate the public cost...

FxWirePro: USD/ZAR “credit put spreads” to mitigate risks of both short-term upswings and long term bearish rout – a run through of theta effects on ITM shorts

Aug 22, 2016 09:52 am UTC| Research & Analysis Insights & Views

Weve seen bullish swings in recent our post on technical analysis, although USDZAR has been spiking in the recent past from the lows of 13.2492 to the current 13.6061 levels, whereas the major bear trend of this pair is...

ZAR stands out to outperform among EMFX timing FOMC rate hike comments

Aug 22, 2016 07:00 am UTC| Economy Insights & Views

Notwithstanding the ongoing debate regarding the timing of the next US rate hike, the case for emerging markets remains intact, the next FOMC rate hike will not occur until Q1 2017. DXY is down 3% over the past month...

FX Hedging Strategy Series

FxWirePro: ECB to influence with its QE stimulus in euro zone – EUR/AUD 1m IV skews signals EUR OTM call strikes and AUD puts

Aug 22, 2016 06:35 am UTC| Central Banks Insights & Views

We are foreseeing for excess reserves at the ECB to rise above EUR 1,000 bn. Although the European central bank is pumping in money by buying securities worth EUR 80 bn every month and hence increasing the excess reserves...

Minutes show ECB cautiously optimistic at July meet, may announce fresh policy measures in September

Aug 19, 2016 10:52 am UTC| Insights & Views Central Banks Economy

The minutes from the ECB meeting July 20-21 showed the central bank was cautiously optimist and keen to contain stimulus hopes at meeting after Brexit vote. There was general agreement among the ECB Governing Council on...

FOMC members divided, minutes provide no hard clues about the timing of the next rate hike

Aug 18, 2016 11:34 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy Central Banks

US Federal Open Market Committee minutes released overnight highlight that officials are divided, with no clear indication of when the central bank will hike next. The minutes showed that members were generally upbeat...

FxWirePro: Bidding XAG/USD vega calls on 1M HY IVs and bullish delta RR optimizes efficiency of CRBS to arrest upside risks

Aug 17, 2016 13:30 pm UTC| Research & Analysis Insights & Views

ATM IVs of silver of 1-3m expiries are at 23-25%, while bullish delta risk reversal flashes higher positive numbers that signify OTC bullion is more concerned about upside risks of silver. If IV is high, it means the...