To The Moon

After Warsh replaced Powell as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, expectations and rumors regarding an interest rate hike within the year have persisted. The substantial inflationary pressure brought about by the outbreak of the war in the Middle East has already forced multiple central banks to opt for rate hikes in response, and there is a high probability that the Federal Reserve will not go against this trend. However, looking at history, a rate hike does not signify an inevitable change in the trend; more often than not, other external crises are required to trigger a reversal in the market's trajectory. According to the latest FedWatch data, the probability of maintaining the current interest rate level at the Federal Reserve's year-end meeting is only 22%, while the combined prob

Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East saw renewed uncertainties over the past weekend, ultimately failing to reach a comprehensive agreement. However, considering that the market's sensitivity has significantly dulled, unless hostilities officially resume, this is not expected to disrupt the performance of most assets. Recently, we can shift our focus toward the foreign exchange market. Taking the US Dollar Index (DXY) as a reference, the price action is currently hovering near a crucial watershed level. Based on our long-term bearish view on the dollar, there is reason to suspect that new selling opportunities may emerge, and the DXY itself faces the risk of a bull trap. Earlier this year, the dollar once approached its 10-year long-term trendline, but the bulls ultimately defended thi

After two months of back-and-forth, the US and Iran finally announced over the weekend that a ceasefire memorandum of understanding had been reached. Although the final signing is still a few days away, the market has already fully priced in the impact of the news. Before the fourth quarter, geopolitical issues are expected to stop bothering investors. On the trading side, we still lean toward the view that most assets will remain range-bound over the next one to two quarters. As long as there are attractive relative lows or highs and the risk-reward is acceptable, there will be opportunities to try and trade the move. We will not go into the details of the agreement itself. Those can be found on various financial websites. Instead, we will focus on how asset prices are moving. Crude oil i

Following Trump’s announcement over the weekend that the United States is close to reaching an agreement with Iran, oil prices naturally opened with another gap lower at the start of the week. The overall trajectory of geopolitical developments is consistent with what we anticipated in April, and this phase of relative peace is likely to last through the period around the midterm elections toward year-end. Although both technicals and news flow have dealt a double blow to the market, the structural issues in the Middle East will not be fundamentally resolved as a result. Therefore, if oil prices undergo a sufficient pullback going forward, lower levels should still provide solid support. In addition, changes on the news front are unlikely to alter the broader trends of most asset classes;

Market regime review and the uncertainty of future directions Last week, Trump’s visit to China dominated most of the headlines, but after the lively atmosphere and optimistic expectations, it ultimately appears that no substantive outcomes were achieved. This led to a decline in most non-dominant risk assets in the latter part of the week, with both gold and silver signaling that the previous round of a corrective rebound has ended. However, as the summer rally approaches, whether a sustained performance can be achieved remains highly variable. Weak relative performance signals for precious metals and non-mainstream metals Silver posted a large upper shadow last week, with a intraday high near $90, but then retraced the gains over the next two trading days. The pace of the rebound is slow

Cooling Tensions in the Middle East and Shift in Market Focus As previously anticipated, with the 30/60-day overseas military operation cycle reaching its end without further escalation, the situation in the Middle East has naturally entered a phase of “unstable peace.” This implies that the primary market narrative will extend for another 1–2 quarters, and most asset classes will fall into broad range-bound fluctuations. At this stage, after a sustained rebound, crypto assets may present opportunities to sell at higher levels. Crypto assets, which had dominated market attention in recent years, reached their peak and began to decline after Trump’s second term in the White House. A major contributing factor was the “algorithmic” liquidation event in October last year. Following this event,

Macro Theme: De-escalation and “Unstable Peace” as the Core Pricing Driver Although last weekend’s White House dinner shooting incident attracted significant attention, it did not create any material impact, and markets were not disrupted at the start of the week. Meanwhile, the ongoing “Middle East saga” continues steadily, and the U.S. decision not to arrange “in-person” negotiators suggests that the intermediary model has shifted toward “remote” communication. If no surprise attacks occur within the next one to two weeks, it can largely be concluded that this tug-of-war style “peace” will persist until around the midterm elections, when potential changes or turning points may emerge. The three potential models and scenarios of U.S.-Iran negotiations have already been discussed in previo

Trump once believed he was the only one in the market capable of “drawing K-lines with words,” but it turns out Iran has learned the same trick. From last Friday to the beginning of this week, both sides have been locked in a tug-of-war over whether the Strait of Hormuz remains open and whether to extend ceasefire negotiations, each telling its own version of the story. Judging by market reactions, investors are largely in a passive, headline-driven mode: bullish news triggers risk-on buying, while negative developments lead to risk-off selling. Based on our analysis and judgment from last week, a delaying strategy remains the most likely scenario, with the key question being whether it is short-term or a more prolonged standoff. 1.     Negotiation Tug-of-War: Tough Tal

The most closely watched development over the weekend was the progress in talks between the United States and Iran. Based on the weekend news flow, there has been some progress, but the core issues remain unresolved. Since the Strait of Hormuz was blocked a month ago, Gulf countries’ crude inventories are also nearing full capacity. If, during this two-week ceasefire window, the United States and Iran still fail to reach a better agreement that ensures safe passage through the strait, the market is likely to further lift long-term inflation sentiment, creating trading opportunities in the forward contracts of many commodities. I. Focus on the Forward Crude Oil Contract When this round of oil price gains first began, the market initially believed the blockade of the strait would be only a s

Pentagon Reshuffle Signals Ground War Last week, oil prices experienced a new round of surging—with single-week gains exceeding double digits—driven by President Trump's aggressive, pre-war mobilization-style remarks. Although a dramatic rescue of an American pilot took place over the weekend, the more critical focus remains the personnel upheaval within the upper echelons of the US military. From a logical standpoint, this could be a strategic move to install loyalists in preparation for an eventual full-scale conflict. Therefore, even if a "ground war" is not necessarily the optimal choice, the risk of its outbreak can no longer be ignored. According to public sources, at least three top military officials have been "reassigned" or "forced into retirement," including the high-ranking Arm