T-bonds and Chinese stocks: we’re spoilt for choice

John C Burford explains why things are about to get interesting in one of his favourite swing-trading markets – US Treasuries.

Later today, the Fed will be announcing the minutes of their latest monthly deliberations and the markets are all agog. Will they or won't they? The future of all mankind hangs on what they intend to do with their Fed Funds interest rate target (or so the mediawould have you believe).

Yes, preposterous as it is, many pundits are worried sick, fearing trouble in the stockmarkets if the Fed announces a rise of wait for it 0.25%. For those born before the year 2000, a move of this minuscule amount will seem no more than a blip and of no measurable consequence on whether anyone will decide against taking a loan in the real economy.

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John is is a British-born lapsed PhD physicist, who previously worked for Nasa on the Mars exploration team. He is a former commodity trading advisor with the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission, and worked in a boutique futures house in California in the 1980s.

 

He was a partner in one of the first futures newsletter advisory services, based in Washington DC, specialising in pork bellies and currencies. John is primarily a chart-reading trader, having cut his trading teeth in the days before PCs.

 

As well as his work in the financial world, he has launched, run and sold several 'real' businesses producing 'real' products.