Two forces are pulling markets in opposite directions this week, and that’s exactly what makes it worth paying attention to. On one side, the US labor market just showed its first real crack in months. On the other, oil prices are climbing again because of an unresolved conflict in the Middle East. Normally, a weak … Read more
This week’s currency and commodity markets revolve around one number: Friday’s U.S. jobs report. After a Federal Reserve meeting that ended in a rare split vote, and a Bank of Japan decision that came with a currency-market shock attached, traders are heading into August with more uncertainty than usual about where the dollar, gold, and … Read more
Oil is trading near a one-month high after renewed U.S.–Iran hostilities disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and that single story is rippling through gold, silver, the U.S. dollar, and oil-linked currencies like the Canadian dollar. On top of that, the European Central Bank meets Thursday, July 23, days after its first rate hike … Read more
If you check the calendar for a Federal Reserve meeting this week, you won’t find one — and neither will you find a meeting from the European Central Bank, Bank of England, Bank of Japan, Reserve Bank of Australia, or Bank of Canada. Every major central bank sits out the week of July 13–17, 2026. … Read more
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady in June, but it also nudged its year-end forecast toward one more rate hike — right before a much weaker-than-expected jobs report landed on July 2. That contradiction is unresolved, and it makes Wednesday’s release of the Fed’s June meeting notes (the “FOMC minutes”) the single most important … Read more