Today - a look at how narrow the advance is in the US equity market that is taking the main indices close to their record highs and how this rhymes with past less-than-promising outcomes.. As well, we encourage market participants to keep bond yields and geopolitical headline risks on the radar - particularly for Europe if Trump announces an embargo on exporting diesel. This and much more on today's pod, which is hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy.

Links

• Some believe that Trump shouldn't and even really shouldn't announce a diesel export embargo 
• Beware bond holders and savers! Russell Napier is a must-listen on a long-form podcast on the coming financial repression as we move to build what must be built and do so while keeping governments funded.
• A Substack post on China's AI scene - very thorough.

Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here.

Please reach out to us at [email protected] for feedback and questions.

Click here to open an account with Saxo.

Intro music by AShamaluevMusic

DISCLAIMER
This content is marketing material.
Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.

Today, we covered the breaking news of Iran's possible overture on opening the Hormuz Strait, followed by a breakdown of the market's strong risk-on reaction to news of strong demand for Meta's Muse personal AI assistant app, especially the cluster of stocks that rallied the most on the news. Elsewhere, a look at the state of play in FX and interest rates, geopolitical news flow and much more. Today's pod features Saxo Head of Commodity Strategy Ole Hansen and is hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy.

Links

• Some color on the Meta-Amazon dispute, but you can do better if you want to understand the nature of the issue with an AI prompt like "How best to understand the nature of the Amazon-Meta dispute regarding the blocking of the Muse app and what is at stake in the big  picture for the two companies that lies adjacent to this issue."
• Wired magazine says that Meta's Muse is better at surveilling than at helping. Sounds about right if you use the Charlie Munger maxim "Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome." Just remember, for Meta, you are the product.
• A writer who uses AI for some writing tasks but not for most writing says that you should be very careful before allowing AI to write for you, which can turn people away from wanting to every wanting to read what you write again. (HT FTAlphaville.)
• Did the "last veil of Bank of England independence" just drop last Thursday? PML Macro thinks so. (HT FTAlphaville.)
• Taleb acolyte Spitznagel argues (once again) that we are in for one big burst higher before an absolutely massive wipeout. The important thing is to be prepared for either scenario.
• The German political situation is getting fraught, as covered by Eurointelligence.com (see September 18 post on "Goodbye CDU" - their posts not associated with specific URLs  - there was an earlier post about France "A messy turn for the French presidential race" as well.

Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here.

Please reach out to us at [email protected] for feedback and questions.

Click here to open an account with Saxo.

Intro music by AShamaluevMusic

DISCLAIMER
This content is marketing material.
Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.

Today a look at equity market divergences in evidence on Friday as many stocks were lower, perhaps on the fresh rise in bond yields, while many large cap and momentum stocks did well on the day and are off to a strong start this week. Elsewhere, USDJPY is the critical focus in FX, there is plenty to discuss on the geopolitical front, both in terms of oil supply risks and the Trump-Xi summit set for Thursday and much more. Today's pod hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy.

Links

• As we look at high petrol and record diesel prices in recent days, the WSJ covered the risk of a US refined product export embargo, how it would work and the potential price impacts.
• WSJ does a more than 30-minute deep dive on North Korea's secret US work force. Remarkable stuff.
• On the headlines trumpeting Saudi Arabia's quitting mBridge, China's cross-border currency platform, apparently there may far less of geopolitical import. Consider coverage on X from Endgame Macro and Luke Gromen as well as the most thorough take from Izabella Kaminska. 

Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here.

Please reach out to us at [email protected] for feedback and questions.

Click here to open an account with Saxo.

Intro music by AShamaluevMusic

DISCLAIMER
This content is marketing material.
Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.

Today, a look at the steep JPY sell-off post Bank of Japan rate hike as the market was gunning for a firmer commitment to BoJ hiking and a stronger US dollar was already weighing in the background. Also, the BoE surprised slightly dovishly but moved to stabilize the long end of the UK yield curve. Also, we look at the pivotal situation for US stocks as we navigate triple witching ahead of next week's action. This and more on today's podcast, which is hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy

Links

• John's latest The FX Trader piece looking at the Bank of Japan reaction, Bank of England meeting and USDJPY technicals.
• The Real Eisman Playbook podcast poo-poohs the idea that AI security concerns are the real driver of Anthropic's call for a "slowdown". 
• And FTAlphaville is out joining the dots with its latest AI cross-commitment diagram showing how all of the AI companies financing is interconnected.

Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here.

Please reach out to us at [email protected] for feedback and questions.

Click here to open an account with Saxo.

Intro music by AShamaluevMusic

DISCLAIMER
This content is marketing material.
Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.

Today, a look at the hawkish FOMC meeting yesterday, especially Fed Chair Warsh's positioning of the rate hike yesterday as merely removing accommodation, together with the sharp market reaction that has been surprisingly quick to unwind in places. Is this in respect of the incoming BoJ, the deflation of oil prices or because we are entering a new pivot zone for interest rates and possibly the US dollar? This and much more on today's pod, which is hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy.

Links

• Meta's Zuckerberg isn't for the AI slowdown, prefers "evaluators"
• DeepQuarry questions Anthropic's pre-IPO claims of its profitability (first portion of post available for free)

Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here.

Please reach out to us at [email protected] for feedback and questions.

Click here to open an account with Saxo.

Intro music by AShamaluevMusic

DISCLAIMER
This content is marketing material.
Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.

Today, a look at a remarkably resilient equity market even as the fresh spike in oil prices weigh and global bond yields have rushed to new highs for the cycle in many key markets. Looking at US equity market internals, the impact of Anthropic CEO Amodei's call for a "slowdown" in AI development (and perhaps Trump's aggressive poo-pooing of the idea) seems a more important factor for this market, as key AI hardware names sold off and many software-as-a-service companies rallied steeply on the day. Lots more on today's pod on commodities with Saxo Head of Commodity Strategy Ole Hansen and on macro and FX and more. Today's pod hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy.

Links

A great LinkedIn post from Felix Martin (HT to the great Izabella Kaminska) with a round-up of other links to the debate on open-source (usually really open-weight) versus closed source AI models - not necessarily drawing the same conclusion that the market drew from Anthropic's "slowdown" call. One of the better links was to a Toby Nangle FT column on the open-source threat to hyperscalers as well.

Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here.

Please reach out to us at [email protected] for feedback and questions.

Click here to open an account with Saxo.

Intro music by AShamaluevMusic

DISCLAIMER
This content is marketing material.
Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.

Today, a heady cocktail of developments are coming at us across geopolitics, intermarket forces, but especially a new twist in the AI story as Anthropic CEO Amodei calls for an AI development "slowdown" with other key industry voices chiming in with supportive comments. We discuss what this may be all about as risk sentiment is rather spooked by the story and by the latest surge in oil prices and bond yields still pressing on cycle highs. This and more on today's pod, which is hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy.

Links

• Saxo Head of Commodity Strategy Ole Hansen breaks down the latest COT report showing shifts in positioning across the US futures market complex, including some huge shifts in the FX space.
• Arnaud Bertrand says China is hyperscaling an AI data center far beyond anything the rest of the world has ever seen in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia.
• WSJ runs an article on Russia's new generations of drones, which are applying new levels of pressure on Ukraine.
• Cory Doctorow with a very different take (LLM's are real, AI is fake) on the infamous "Hugging Face incident" as he pokes fun at the breathless anthropomorphizing of how AI agents hacked into systems and used message boards to communicate, etc., arguing that all of their actions were fully based on training data and showed no sign of intelligence. Many cool sub-links in this piece as well.

Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here.

Please reach out to us at [email protected] for feedback and questions.

Click here to open an account with Saxo.

Intro music by AShamaluevMusic

DISCLAIMER
This content is marketing material.
Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.

Today, a look at the rip higher in global yields as crude oil prices spiked and the ECB surprised on the hawkish side of expectations. The market is trying to recover its equilibrium on hopes that a Monday meeting between GCC members and Iran will set things right. In the meantime, we have the US CPI report to get out of the way today, an FOMC meeting next Wednesday and Bank of Japan meeting next Friday to contend with. This and much more on today's pod, which is hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy.

Links

• John's The FX Trader piece from today, on currency moves and what to watch for next.
• Goldman Sachs says that interest rates are set to remain higher and outlines why.
• LA Times on how the AI future is already here for some forms of video entertainment in China.
• Some profound thinking on where we are in the "interregnum" as we transition away from the old world order and into the new one.  A taste: "Gramsci’s interregnum, the “time of monsters” when the old is dying and the new cannot be born, has become a cliché of our political moment, which is usually a sign that it is true. But what it means precisely is this: the conceptual frameworks adequate to the old order have ceased to describe reality, and the frameworks adequate to the new order have not yet been assembled."

Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here.

Please reach out to us at [email protected] for feedback and questions.

Click here to open an account with Saxo.

Intro music by AShamaluevMusic

DISCLAIMER
This content is marketing material.
Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.

Today, we note the fresh pop in US treasury yields to new cycle highs after the Treasury market buyback and Treasury Secretary Bessent's posturing failed to shore up confidence. Elsewhere, it was a rather negative day for risk sentiment on the latest aggravated rise in crude oil prices and that rise in yields, with Europe particularly spooked ahead of today's ECB meeting. We note key equity stories like Apple's (Gen Z targeted?) pricey new foldable phone, Meta's pop on the enthusiasm for its Muse AI agent. Most of all, we queue up what to look for over tomorrow's US CPI release. Today's pod hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy.

Links

• Trump wants cheap hamburger meat ahead of the mid-terms. Matt Stoller covers the story and shows what this may cost him politically with some of his base - and what it may cost those consuming the questionable meat. Yikes. 
• The FT version of the widely covered resignation of an Anthropic researcher over concerns that the company is not doing enough to enforce safety guardrails and that AI could end humanity as the company and OpenAI are "'gambling' with the future of mankind".
• Michael Every reposted a news item on X that Germany's Deutsche Bank will be appointed as the clearer and settler of RMB (Chinese yuan) transactions in Europe. Wasn't the EU supposed to be gearing up for a less friendly face to China on concerns it is undermining EU industry with its cheap and subsidized exports?
• (HT FTAlphaville) A Bruegel long-form piece poking into the factors that are driving the rise in long-term interest rates - it's not just about fiscal profligacy.
• ProPublica earlier this year looked into how Trump might look to call the mid-term election results into question if they are not favourable for Republicans - a high risk on this front, but how high when the president himself is so unpopular?

Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here.

Please reach out to us at [email protected] for feedback and questions.

Click here to open an account with Saxo.

Intro music by AShamaluevMusic

DISCLAIMER
This content is marketing material.
Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.

Today, a thorough look across the commodity space with Saxo Head of Commodity Strategy Ole Hansen, discussing the latest developments in oil, refined products and the natural gas markets, the drivers for the recent record highs in the copper price and whether that price remains "too low" relative to gold if suppliers are to increase production. Elsewhere, a discussion of the latest moves in equities, a still heavy focus on FX and rates as the yen is on the move and yields are pushing on the highs for the cycle ahead of the ECB meeting tomorrow and US August CPI report up on Friday. Today's pod hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy.

Links

• Does heavy AI us mean that students don't learn as much? Probably, but there are nuances. "In China and many other countries, well-designed tutoring tools already exist, often at nearly zero cost. Most students just do not use them. Rather, they prefer general-purpose AI tools that make it easy to outsource homework."
• Erik Townsend points out the very high cost of the most recently completed US nuclear power plants and wonders if the new ones can be built (by a South Korean outfit) in the US at prices that are proven possible elsewhere and some 75% lower. Stumbled across another interesting post on NexGen Energy and long-term uranium supply as well.

Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here.

Please reach out to us at [email protected] for feedback and questions.

Click here to open an account with Saxo.

Intro music by AShamaluevMusic

DISCLAIMER
This content is marketing material.
Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.

Today, noting the significant technical break lower for USDJPY and what may come next, with spiking energy prices somewhat of a headwind for JPY bulls and for global risk sentiment in general. At what point could energy prices suddenly seize more of the market's attention bandwidth? Elsewhere, we look into the record copper price, which is partially related to Hormuz Strait woes, Amazon's abuses of its monopoly status, geopolitics and much more. Hosting today's pod is Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy. 

Links

• John's The FX Trader piece from today, focusing mostly on the yen.
• Cory Doctorow carves up Amazon for its "payola" practices and aggressive extraction of profits, even for shipping, from the sellers on its platform.
• Here's a podcast that goes into where risk may be hiding in the cozy relationship between some insurance companies and private credit outfits. 

Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here.

Please reach out to us at [email protected] for feedback and questions.

Click here to open an account with Saxo.

Intro music by AShamaluevMusic

DISCLAIMER
This content is marketing material.
Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.