Panama Canal normalising… slowly: will coal/grain premia compress?
After two years of drought-driven bottlenecks, the Panama Canal has eased both daily transit limits and draft restrictions. Conditions are better than the 2023 nadir—but they’re not fully back to…
Canada’s Data Leak Snafu: How a Premature Manufacturing Post Tests Market Integrity
On Thursday, Aug. 14, Statistics Canada (StatsCan) inadvertently published parts of its June manufacturing release a day early, then pulled the page after Reuters alerted the agency. StatsCan said it…
Brent Hovers Near $66 Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit—How Geopolitics Sets Q4 Oil Risk
Brent crude is orbiting the mid-$60s as markets brace for the Trump–Putin summit in Anchorage, Alaska, a meeting that could shape sanctions, Russian export flows, and sentiment into Q4. With…
UK Opens the Door to Retail Crypto ETNs—What Changes on 8 Oct and Who Benefits?
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed that retail investors will be able to buy crypto exchange-traded notes (cETNs) on UK Recognised Investment Exchanges (RIEs) from 8 October 2025—ending…
UK Beats Forecasts: Q2 GDP +0.3% q/q—BoE Cut Timetable Now Trickier
Better-than-expected growth with services and construction up—even as production slips. What that mix means for sterling and the Bank of England’s sequencing.
Small-Business Credit in the U.S. & UK: Are Tight Standards Finally Biting?
United States. The Federal Reserve’s July 2025 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS) reported that, on balance, banks tightened standards and saw weaker demand for commercial & industrial (C&I) credit…
Concentration Risk: Are AI-Thematic Funds Just Expensive Tech Proxies?
Holdings overlap in “AI” funds is extreme. Many portfolios marketed as cutting-edge AI plays look suspiciously like rebranded large-cap tech—often with higher fees. Here’s how to tell what you really…
European Banks: Lower Provisions, Lower NIM—Is Fee Income the New Story?
As the European Central Bank (ECB) pivots into an easing phase, net interest margins (NIM) are sliding from 2023’s peaks. With credit costs still benign, banks are leaning harder on…
ASML & the Tool Chain: Can Capacity Keep Up With AI Server Demand?
Order books are swelling across lithography, advanced packaging, and power infrastructure as hyperscalers sprint to build AI capacity. The question for the next 12–18 months isn’t demand—it’s whether the tool…
Europe’s Auto Pivot: Hybrids Surge While EV Growth Slows—Winners in the Supply Chain
Hybrids are quietly taking more share in EU registrations. That reshapes who wins across batteries, power electronics and thermal systems—and what investors, policy-watchers and consumers should watch next.