Parliament Attack, Robo-Adviser, Le Pen, Bear Greenbacks…
What is the World coming to?
Breaking from our normal MosaicaFX news article model, we thought we would touch on a few different subjects in this submission. It seems like so much is happening almost simultaneously anymore that we may occasionally need to combine multiple subjects since they all end up in the same place.
Specifically, it seems like nearly every day some type of “headline” is screaming for our attention to try and either scare us into a “knee-jerk reaction,” or paralyze us with fear.
More than a portion of the articles we read today will never impact our lives or our businesses due to them focusing on unlikely scenarios or outcomes. While other articles may contain interesting and even important information that our knowledge of, could indeed be important.
The bottom line though is that we need to adjust our “input-filters,” to handle and prioritize the extreme amounts of data and information we are inundated with in this era of instant reporting. Below are some subjects that are from both ends of the information spectrum. The only thing we know for sure about them is that they will undoubtedly result in currency and economy fluctuations in the global marketplace.
Parliament Attack
Wednesday, March 22, 2017 – some type of attack occurred at the House of Commons in Westminster London. At least four people were killed and more people were injured, some of them gravely. The Prime Minister was evacuated from the Parliament grounds during the attack. No word as of yet if this was a terrorist attack…although the early indications are that it was.
Outcome: Our prayers and best wishes for these innocent victims and their families are of course with them. From a business standpoint, we can only imagine that this attack will have some type of negative effect on the GBP currency in the short term. Is such an anticipated negative effect on the UK’s currency logical? Not really. However, logic does correlate with many currency or economic outcomes as of late. Sometimes it appears as though the market reacts only because it thinks it is supposed to do so.
Robo-Advisor
Goldman Sachs is developing a robo-advisor for the financial markets. This platform would be software based to provide mass-affluent clients, “…detailed information on their financial portfolio and analytics,” as noted in Bloomberg. The digital project will, “…cover mass affluent markets by building an Automated Digital Advice Platform (Robo Advisor.)” This news came after Merrill Lynch launched its own robo based advisor in February.
Outcome: Evidently we are moving towards a world where taking the time to actually speak to a client who may have millions of dollars invested with you is no longer worth the effort. Goldman Sachs private wealth unit targets clients with at least $50 Million in assets so we can only surmise that the future will mean that to qualify for a live human being to answer your questions…you will need more than $50 Million in assets. To be fair, Goldman Sachs has been attempting to drive a more “mass-market” oriented approach to client growth lately. Perhaps, this will pair with that approach.
Le Pen
Just as in the recent U.S. national election, the polls in France are all over the place. Official surveys forecast that while the candidate may squeak by a win in the primary, she will be trounced in a general election. However, new “secret polls” claim the National Front candidate is actually far more popular with voters than the official surveys forecast! What?! The polls are not in agreement with each other? Official polls from major media houses seem to indicate that the establishment candidates are poised to win the election….but secret polls are indicating that the far-right, nationalist agenda candidate may be unstoppable at this point.
Outcome: Marine Le Pen may have the backing of more than 30% of the voters ahead of the presidential elections in late April and May, according to these hidden surveys. Terrorism and EU globalist driven policies are not setting well with the French people. If this candidate is in fact elected to the highest office in France, it will no doubt roil the EU in general while possibly strengthening the U.S. Dollar and GBP. What may be good for France may cause reverberations felt throughout the EU and beyond.
Bearish Greenback
The U.S. Dollar is still working its way through a technical correction to the downside after last week’s lukewarm endorsements of the Dollar by the Fed after announcing their latest rate increase. Considering the concerns over the labor market’s background disappointments (Payless Shoes soon to be filing for bankruptcy and Sear’s announced floundering… as examples) not only wages but even the Congress struggling to develop the Administration’s promised tax cuts in a timely fashion… has forced the Greenback to erase all of its post-election gains.
Outcome: If the U.S. Dollar continues to slide due to weak payroll and employment concerns coupled with apparent Congress infighting, it is expected that this “correction” in value may not be a completely bad thing. It is possible it will provide a clean slate for the Dollar as the year moves forward. General expectations from most currency experts indicates that the Greenback may remain flat or slip a bit more until a foundation for stabilization is in place.
The Bottom Line….
There is a lot of things happening in the world today no doubt. As currencies and economies are more dependent upon each other than ever before, this is the time to rely on experts and trusted advisors to support your business ventures. If is for these reasons that MosaicaFX is contacted by new clients literally every day who are interested in working with us. Now is the time for you to consider who you plan on relying on for 2017 and beyond. Now is not the time to face these uncertain days alone.
