Russell Shor

Over the last two weeks, Bitcoin has been in a consolidation pattern - a small ascending triangle. This pattern generally suggests continuation, i.e., a base case of a breakdown as the cryptocurrency comes under further pressure.

Fed Chair Powell is due to speak about the economy, inflation and employment at the Brookings Institution at 6:30 pm GMT. He will likely take the opportunity to reiterate the slowing of rate hikes to 50bps after four 75bps increases. However, he is also likely also to emphasise the fight against inflation. A tighter policy will continue until the Fed has managed to reign inflation in

The daily NAS100 has slipped from its bullish area, between the upper blue and red bands, to neutral, between the blue bands (green rectangle). On a relative basis, this suggests weakness. The hourly chart shows that the trend-following EMAs and the momentum-based stochastic have turned negative (black ellipses). If the EMAs develop angle and separation to the downside and the stochastic makes its way to the 20- levels, a bearish…

As the real rate appreciated, gold declined (green trendlines). This trend then morphed into a sideways pattern (blue-shaded area). The cc is currently reading a robust -79%, implying a meaningful inverse relationship between the two instruments.

In this week's podcast, FXCM senior market specialists, Russ and Nik, discuss the aggressive hike by the RBNZ despite other banks signalling a slowdown in pace. In addition, the two also talk about oil demand out of China and give their opinion on the Fed's minutes. In addition, this Thursday will see the preferred measure of inflation - core PCE - released, and Friday is NFP Friday. Listen to these…

The hourly chart on the right has developed bullishly. In addition, the trend following EMAs have crossed bullishly, as has the momentum-based stochastic (black ellipses). If the stochastic makes its way to the 80+ region and holds, bullish momentum will be underlying. This, in turn, will align the short-term traders with the daily positions.

The USDOLLAR gapped on the open as protests out of China weighed on sentiment. There is a risk of escalation and crackdown. However, the broader market pattern is still suggestive of a weaker dollar.

If the real rates start reflecting dovishness or a softer terminal rate, and given the inverse cc, the FXCM FAANG basket may be a beneficiary. This is because the FAANGs are sensitive to interest rate changes. As such, we continue to monitor.

Since the week starting Monday, 17 October (black dashed vertical), the US 10-year real rate has been drifting lower (blue arrow top chart). An appreciation in the EURUSD (red arrow bottom chart) accompanies this.

The Fed and BoE both hike by 75 bps but their tonality contrast with each other. RBA shows conservativeness, with central bank signs of slowing down in some regions. NFP leads to an odd market reaction and critical inflation data this Thursday. Into this mix, we also have the US mid-terms. All this and more.

The USDOLLAR (bottom candlestick chart) pullback that started on Friday seems disconnected from the underlying fundamentals. On Friday, the real rate (top candlestick chart) charted an indecisive doji, whilst the greenback declined markedly. Moreover, the dollar has shown weakness in today's morning session, with minimal movement from the real rate. Over the two sessions, their correlation coefficient declined from 69% to 52%.