Opinion
Diversifying through Africa
African basket options are a good vehicle for picking up yield and diversifying away risk, says Marios Maratheftis , FX strategist at Standard Charterd Bank in London
Differing approaches from the biggest players
Where you base your business is in some ways just as important as how it is run. Deutsche Bank's decision to move back into Tokyo this week with a full sales and trading operation shows that it has faith in the Japanese economy's ability to deliver…
Cliquet options for the longer view
Cliquet options embedded in a zero coupon structured product can be used to take advantage of a medium- to long-term view, suggests Jeffrey Todd Lins, director, quantitative analysis at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen
Where have all the petrodollars gone?
Jeffrey Young, managing director, head of currency research, and Eric Darwell, vice-president, currency strategist VP at Citibank in New York, analyse where 'petrodollars' are going and the ramifications for the greenback
Differentiate to accumulate
Banks are taking a variety of approaches to make money in a high-volume, low-margin environment, says Giulio Pignatti-Morano, FX & MM solutions manager at Calypso in San Francisco
Interbank market is the one to watch
The move by Lava to get into the interdealer broker space is a bold one that could pay handsome dividends for the Citigroup-owned business.
Risky currencies are well supported
Despite a widespread perception to the contrary, most high-yielding currencies continue to do very well on strong fundamentals and firm inflows, says Beat Siegenthaler, senior strategist at TD Securities in London
Trading FX implied volatility – part II
The use of at-the-money straddles can be an effective way to trade implied volatility, but it is not without its limits. In the final part of a two-part series, Duncan Farnsworth, head of risk analytics in the currency structuring group at Royal Bank of…
Is sterling ripe for a fall?
The trade-weighted value of sterling has dropped to levels last seen in late 2003. At the start of Q2 there has been much speculation about the increasingly negative prospects for the UK economy and sterling, writes Jeremy Stretch, FX strategist at…
Icap needs to keep banks on board
So the deal has finally been done – Icap has paid close to $800 million for EBS.
China is not the only egg in the basket
Reuters' deal with Union Bank of India demonstrates that there is a wealth of opportunity in the sub-continent for banks looking to drive forex returns in emerging markets.
There are no options benchmarks
The following is a case study of option volumes with delayed delivery, by Nasir Afaf, global head FX options, Commerzbank Corporates & Markets in London
Pressure likely for the greenback
The improvement in February's US trade data is likely to be short-lived. Deutsche Bank's strategy team continues to look for EUR/USD to grind higher over the course of the quarter. Is the deterioration of the US basic balance still a valid reason to sell…
A changing regime
Low-yielding currencies are set to make a comeback, writes Teis Knuthsen, head of FX and fixed-income research at Danske Bank in Copenhagen
Defrosting the myths
The risk of an Icelandic crisis and its impact on other high-yielding currencies has been strongly exaggerated, says Beat Siegenthaler, senior strategist at TD Securities in London
Questionable benefits of prime brokerage
The changes at Royal Bank of Scotland, which is merging its FX prime brokerage and futures businesses, reflect structural problems in the wider market.
Retail growth needs responsible attitude
The rise in financials' use of foreign exchange over 2005, as demonstrated by Greenwich Associates research (see related article, this issue), shows just how important it is becoming as an asset class.
The end of emerging market exuberance?
A plunge in high-yield currencies has triggered concerns that global investors had become too lax in their evaluation of emerging market risk, but Caroline Blyth, emerging market manager at Informa Global Markets, says the likelihood of a serious…
How anonymity turned to acrimony
Anonymous trading is still one of the single most contentious topics in the industry. The threat posed by those that trade anonymously using the credit lines of prime brokers, became evident last year.
A Russian revolution
Jurye Pimenov , senior FX dealer at the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, and Igor Souzdaltsev , project manager in financial markets at Investsberbank in Moscow, analyse the Russian rouble's strength and its recent comeback after the financial…
April – a perfect storm for Asian FX?
Investors could profit from the prospect of an unusually volatile month for the normally low-vol USD/SGD. Sean Callow , senior currency strategist at Westpac Institutional Bank in Singapore, explains how this can be achieved
Trading FX implied volatility
How frequently does one need to hedge to effectively trade implied volatility? Duncan Farnsworth , head of risk analytics in the currency structuring group at the Royal Bank of Scotland in London, offers a solution
The winners take it all?
In the past few years, it has become clear that the winners in FX are those that were first to commit to the right IT investment.
Not too late to sell the Swedish krona
As the short-term interest rate spread between the eurozone and Sweden increases, we are likely to see further depreciation of the krona, writes Henrik Degrér , senior portfolio strategist of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB)