The US Dollar: From Exceptional To Average?

"Optimism Has Picked Up": Retail Operators See Consumer Relief After Gas Prices Tumble As soon as the national average for 87-octane gasoline at the pump dipped below the politically sensitive $4-a-gallon level early last week, we observed multiple institutional desks begin to forecast that the light at the end of the tunnel was beginning to materialize for consumers, especially working-class households that have been financially battered by surging fuel prices over the past several months. UBS analyst Mark Paski told clients about "early signs of a turn in U.S. consumer discretionary." Then,...

As Japanese Bond Yields Soar, Unrealized Losses At Life Insurers Hit $200 Billion With Japanese bonds in freefall every day, pushing yields on 10Y JGBs to a 3 decade high, just shy of 3%... ... the time to pay the piper is fast approaching as unrealized losses on domestic bonds at Japan's major life insurers have soared to 30.86 trillion yen ($194 billion) as of the end of June, up 60% year-on-year, and trillions more since then, revealing the downside of the rising interest rates that have lifted investment income. The total...

India Targets Five Small Modular Reactors By 2033 India expects to build domestically five small modular reactors (SMRs) by 2033, India’s Atomic Energy Minister, Jitendra Singh, said. The five SMRs would be part of India’s push to accelerate nuclear power capacity installations over the next two decades, the minister told lawmakers in a written reply to questions as carried by local media. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), India’s premier nuclear research facility under the Department of Atomic Energy, is currently developing a 220-MW Bharat Small Modular Reactor, a 55-MW reactor, and a...