Scarcely had the Venezuela episode quietened than America began casting around for ways to rattle Iran—a sign that Donald Trump is unlikely to lie low before the 2026 midterms. With voters demanding lower inflation and reliable energy supplies, he must be seen to deliver on those pledges. For Mr Trump, the midterms matter more than most.With both chambers of Congress in Republican hands, Mr Trump’s legislative agenda can glide through with little more than a nod from Capitol Hill. But if the midterms strip his party of either the Senate or the House, his second term will soon resemble his first: gridlocked, frustrated, and reduced to bargaining endlessly with Democrats just to get anything done—a president in name only.The consequences of striking Iran?If America follows through, markets w

At the start of the new year, the drama keeps coming. Over the weekend, the United States launched an operation, directly apprehending Venezuela’s president and bringing him to the U.S. for trial; the speed of the action and the precision of the intelligence once again demonstrated America’s military capabilities. Although there are rumors that the operation went so smoothly because there was an insider, being able to secure an insider is itself a reflection of military strength. Since the incident both occurred and concluded over the weekend (many recent military operations share this style: short duration, clear objectives, and no sustained escalation in responses from either side), for financial markets it would likely be digested within the few hours from Monday’s open through the Asia

The biggest holiday topic is America's move against Maduro, with most analyses covering directly affected assets. This piece focuses on the hidden agenda: dollar dominance.​Common views hold that the US (under Trump) seeks Venezuela's rich oil and commodity resources. Compared to the 1980s oil wars' brute force, today's tactics lack "martial virtue" but prove more effective.​Yet, as ancient wisdom states, subduing the enemy without fighting is the ultimate strategy—direct intervention signals a loss of control.​(Dollar index performance over the past 60 years)​Latin America's Dollar DependenceFor decades, South America and even Canada's North America have fallen fully under US influence. Through debt and the dollar—the two financial weapons—Latin countries have played the role of beasts of

As expected from last week’s outlook, after silver posted its first “top-and-drop” move, silver futures have staged another sharp rebound exactly one week later. As discussed previously, silver rarely tops out with a clean inverted-V reversal based on its historical price behavior; more commonly, it forms a second rebound on the weekly chart and only then peaks again and rolls over, and that second rebound often appears about one week after the first peak-and-selloff.Review: Can the trading distribution of silver futures options “leak” the future path for silver?$白银主连 2603(SImain)$ $微白银主连 2603(SILmain)$

As possibly the most critical week toward year-end, the Fed’s 25‑basis‑point rate cut this week is already common knowledge. This means the market now needs new information to trigger meaningful volatility. Some believe Chair Powell may announce a bond‑buying program, while others expect a highly dovish outlook at the press conference. However, given that Powell is set to step down in May next year, doing nothing may actually be the best option.​From recent market behavior, even though monetary policy no longer dominates as it once did, investors still generally accept the logic that rate cuts equal easier financial conditions, which in turn are positive for markets. Following this line of reasoning, announcing Treasury purchases or signaling a more dovish path for next year would both be

Many people may not yet have noticed that the current market is showing a very intriguing and seemingly contradictory pattern. On one hand, bond market pricing suggests that investors do not believe the Federal Reserve, even after its leadership change, can smoothly and quickly transition into a clearly dovish policy environment. On the other hand, silver prices have hit fresh highs even without any visible squeeze caused by tightness in the physical inventory. The gold–silver ratio has undergone a technical collapse, which implies that market bets on future inflation remain elevated, and silver is very likely front-running a new upcycle in broader commodities.​国内现货白银市场的基差持续走弱，但美白银仍然持续逼空上涨In Chinese physical silver market, the basis has continued to weaken, yet U.S. silver prices are still

A significant market movement for gold and silver is anticipated leading up to the Federal Reserve's final meeting of the year. The market widely expects the Fed to continue cutting interest rates, with some even forecasting another cut in January. However, with the market having already priced in the likely successor to the Fed chair, this meeting is drawing less attention than usual. The primary source of uncertainty may lie in the differing opinions among the voting members. In the near future, the market is likely to focus more on the statements of the "shadow" Fed chair to predict the future path of rate cuts, potentially making the market less sensitive to Fed meetings until the leadership transition is complete.​Gold Awaits a Clearer Path for Rate CutsDespite strong expectations for

Two weeks ago, we discussed that WTI crude oil was trading within a range-bound market, making it suitable for selling weekly WTI put options below the prior low of $55 or holding a short WTI futures position combined with selling weekly put options to construct a covered put strategy for this environment. Investors without access to futures or options can consider energy or crude oil ETFs as an alternative.Bearish Crude Reports Trigger a Sharp Selloff: How to Use Options to Trade a Choppy Market？Since then, WTI crude oil has continued to oscillate and weaken, but it has not yet broken below the $55 level, confirming the effectiveness of the previous strategy. Recently, the price volatility has increased, and WTI crude

Last week’s U.S. non-farm payroll data attracted widespread attention due to severe market disagreements and the need for official data to guide trading decisions.As the first official data released after the U.S. government shutdown ended, although it was delayed by two months, it still provided a baseline for the market's subsequent trend. Before the release, the market had largely withdrawn expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in December, with the probability dropping below 50%, which was a main reason for the stock index decline last week. After the data release, Federal Reserve officials voiced mixed views, with both dovish and hawkish statements highlighting significant divergence ahead of the December Fed meeting. Dovish comments raised the odds of a rate cut and boosted sto

The most important event this week is the release of the first nonfarm payrolls report following the shutdown of the U.S. government. This September nonfarm payrolls report was originally scheduled for release in early October, but due to the U.S. government shutdown it has been postponed to 21:30 Beijing time on November 20. At this stage, the market is unable to fully anticipate this report; after all, with a report coming after a 40‑day shutdown, nobody knows the path of the data from here or how much impact it will have on the Federal Reserve’s rate‑cutting process. According to probability data from CME’s FedWatch tool, the odds of a rate cut versus no cut in December have already narrowed to roughly fifty‑fifty, and the public statements by Federal Reserve officials are also highly d

The rebound in the crypto market the weekend before last ultimately proved to be nothing more than a flash in the pan. As both Bitcoin and Ethereum have gone on to set new recent lows, the overall rhythm of the market has started to clearly signal the arrival of a new bear market in cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, last week’s sharp pullback in silver after making a midweek high continued the sequential logic of the “three-horse carriage”: after the bull trap in precious metals, U.S. equities have become the only fortress that has not yet been breached by the bears. With a large batch of economic data due this week, plus important individual earnings reports, will this be the final straw that breaks the camel’s back?​Among the three drivers of crypto, precious metals, and U.S. equities, the cl

Last week, after publishing a medium- to long‑term bullish view on U.S. equities in the piece titled “Government Reopening: Why It Could Ignite the Next Leg of the U.S. Stock Rally” equity indices did not immediately reverse higher, but instead remained stuck in a weak, choppy range near the lows. This time, the focus is on why U.S. equity indices are currently trapped in this kind of weak consolidation, and how retail investors should respond and hedge risk.​The global market is now in a dangerous transition characterized by a “macro data blackout + liquidity repricing,” during which index directionality is weak, but volatility pricing is prone to s

Ahead of OPEC’s monthly market analysis and the IEA’s annual energy outlook this week, WTI steadied after three straight up days, signaling a shift from chasing strength to waiting on new data. Traders are focused on Wednesday night’s OPEC release and the forthcoming IEA outlook.​ $WTI原油主连 2512(CLmain)$ Curve signalsThe WTI term structure has seen the spread between far-month and near-month contracts narrow markedly, a classic sign that inventories are moving from tight toward looser in the physical market. Since the October 20 bottom in WTI, far-month vs near-month spread have kept compressing, implying faltering buy interest in near-month and a supply backdrop shifting from tight to more ample. Throughout the year, worries about a “large sur

Last night, the S&P 500 staged a sharp rebound and completed a daily bottom fractal from a technical perspective, while S&P futures extended modest gains today, nearly piercing the prior fractal’s high; technically, they are just shy of confirming a daily‑level bottoming rebound pattern. Even though the continuing resolution still needs a House vote, markets have been strongly buoyed by the prospect that the government will “reopen.” In this view, the U.S. equity pullback likely found a bottom and may now transition into a new Santa‑rally leg.​The core logic can be summarized as a transmission chain of “liquidity return → rate stabilization → risk‑appetite repair.” During the shutdown, the Treasury absorbed substantial market cash and squeezed system reserves; once the government r

Cryptocurrencies show signs of a rebound, and a rally is likely this week. Although last week’s widely watched U.S. government shutdown issue remained unresolved, the prevailing view is that the two parties will reach a compromise this week as time goes on. With newsflow relatively muted over the weekend, the crypto market’s unusual rebound seems to be front‑running that possibility. As a key leading indicator, once it stabilizes, overall market risk appetite is expected to improve to some extent in the near term.​Ether briefly tested lows near 3,000 dollars last week, but short‑term technical demand absorption still looks fairly solid. After reclaiming 3,355, the need for continued correction and consolidation remains evident. Notably, on the weekly timeframe, prior episodes featuring lon

Over the weekend, the market received favorable news: China and the United States reached a basic consensus on addressing each other's concerns during their economic and trade consultations in Kuala Lumpur. This development led to varying degrees of gains and rebounds across most risk assets over the weekend. Given the previous experience of abrupt policy reversals and rhetoric from Trump, this outcome was not entirely unexpected. However, many assets had already sustained considerable damage from prior declines, and whether they can follow the U.S. stock market back to a gradual bull trend remains to be seen. In this context, the performance of the Japanese yen offers valuable reference points.Since the end of 2024, the yen has been oscillating near its lows without a definitive breakthro