I have to say that the Japanese economy performed horrible in the last quarter.
I think the issue is that as much as oil prices have stabilized, they are still obviously well below the level we saw this time last year.
We know that the budget estimates can be quite fallible.
First and foremost, I think the market is expecting a much stronger overprice as we are going forward.
There was a confluence of factors affecting Q1 GDP in addition to weather, such as disruptions from the West Coast ports dispute and impacts from lower energy prices and the stronger USD.
At the current moment, we are definitely seeing some negative impact from the very strong appreciation of the Swiss Franc and as mentioned previously, the weaker Manufacturing Price index numbers alongside the KOF leading indicator have been weakening.
It is clearly one of the most important issues that the growth number in the Q1 was surprisingly weak, but against that we have had very strong employment growth, while inflation remains low.
I strongly disagree with this assessment, since the European integration and in particular the common currency has done a lot to support economic growth on the continent during the last decades.
I totally agree with the majority opinion that Greece should remain within the Euro zone, which was expressed by couple of political leaders and also by the ECB and IMF, due to the fact there seem to be not only economic, but also political risks in the case of a Grexit scenario.
In the near term the silver performance will be influenced by the precious metals seasonal cycle.
First, it is important to understand that, while silver is a precious metal, it also holds a significant attribute which other precious metals lack.
I believe the door to further monetary activism is certainly not closed, but the trigger at present is less obvious.
That is a very good question, since gold is not being moved by the mining supply news or jewelry demand, but the economic news.
The comparatively strong Kiwi will dampen exports to Australia, which is the second biggest export market after China for New Zealand.
I believe the worst of the effects will be temporary.
I think the underlying picture for the US economy is quite strong.
I agree with the statement, since the return of Iranian oil definitely gives a bearish signal to oil markets, especially with as much as close to 500-800 thousand barrels per day.
We expect the Euro to continue being weak and underperform among other currencies.
While UK inflation might produce some negative prints in the coming months (our central forecast is that it remains zero or above), the threat of deflation is limited.
Actually, I believe there is a positive consolidation in the Dollar over the next 1-2 months.
Germany and Euro zone as a whole are experiencing quite strong economic tailwind at the moment.
Generally, the Ruble is feeling itself much better now. We have seen a significant turmoil in the currency during the month of December, which was triggered by a set of various factors.
I believe Japanese interest rates increase is still a very long time away.
I believe some market participants, especially some US hedge funds, thought that the Danish Krone and the Danish central bank were more likely to respond the same way as SNB did if the Danish currency reserve increased much like in Switzerland.