Market Depth

Blockworks
Market Depth

Weston Nakamura’s “Market Depth” is your direct access to the Asia Pacific region. Tune in every Monday, Wednesday & Friday to stay up to date on the macro forces driving markets from Asia to the U.S and everywhere in between.

  1. 25/08/2023

    How Asia Markets Are Reacting To Nvidia’s Blowout Earnings

    Nvidia surprised the street with another major beat to guidance estimates for its Q2 earnings release - arguably the most widely watched corporate earnings report globally in 2023, with the stock +9% higher in after-hours trading. However, in the following Asia trading session - which is the world's first region to start the full trading day, and thereby the first to react to the A.I. giant's strong quarter and optimistic guidance - the various market reactions were surprisingly tepid. Shares of TSMC, SK Hynix, Advantest and other "A.I. plays" were consistent in being fairly muted. The broader Nikkei225 and Nasdaq 100 index futures were also limited in both upside and in volume traded. Weston Nakamura walks through these market cues out of Asia, which point to a potentially disappointing market response on NVDA shares themselves at US market open later, as well as other A.I. thematic shares globally. Weston also provides the market background of what had helped drive the A.I. and NDX momentum from last quarter, as well as the August market sell-off for critical context in understanding NVDA and A.I. momentum plays. -- Follow Market Depth On Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3mVTs9U Follow Market Depth On Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40dA2vm Follow Weston: https://twitter.com/acrossthespread Follow Blockworks: https://twitter.com/Blockworks_  Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Disclaimer: Nothing discussed on Market Depth should be considered as investment advice. Please always do your own research & speak to a financial advisor before thinking about, thinking about putting your money into these crazy markets.

    40 min
  2. 22/08/2023

    China Drags Global Markets Down As Half-Measure Policies Prove To Be Ineffective

    China has had a very rough 2023, in markets and in the real economy. But, last week was a particularly brutal week for China’s markets, as the Hang Seng Index closed the week in bear market territory, and the yuan edged ever closer to its treacherous 15-year lows - all of which had spilled over to broader global markets. Weston Nakamura gives a comprehensive overview of what happened in China through the week of utmost consequence to global markets, including record strong yuan fixings, Country Garden Holdings Group’s bond defaults, Zhongzhi Enterprise Group and the $3 trillion Chinese shadow banking industry contagion risk, and China’s policymakers daily policy proposals in attempt to support markets (to no avail), and much more. This is not only a way to catch up on a critical and consequential week of non-stop headlines and developments, but this is the ongoing state of affairs in China that had been dragging global equity markets down since the start of August, and therefore is relevant to all investors everywhere. -- Follow Market Depth On Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3mVTs9U Follow Market Depth On Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40dA2vm Follow Weston: https://twitter.com/acrossthespread Follow Blockworks: https://twitter.com/Blockworks_  Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Disclaimer: Nothing discussed on Market Depth should be considered as investment advice. Please always do your own research & speak to a financial advisor before thinking about, thinking about putting your money into these crazy markets.

    1h 7m
  3. 08/08/2023

    What Triggered Fitch's Downgrade Of U.S Debt?

    With still no further clarity on Bank of Japan’s new policy framework of Yield Curve Control, and currency and cash bond markets out of sync, Weston Nakamura examines market price action and activity on US and Japan rates through the lens of futures markets, in order to determine if cross asset market behavior is normalizing. Weston also notes the schedule for this week, in which there will be 30-year auctions held in both the Japanese Government Bond market, as well as the US Treasury market, within 2 days of one another. Given the respective policy setups for US debt issuance and Bank of Japan YCC, there may be competition for investors’ capital playing out at these long-dated bond auctions. Finally, Weston offers a potential theory as to why Fitch Ratings had suddenly downgraded their credit rating of US debt, while subsequently publishing positive commentary on Japan’s credit risk in light of the Bank of Japan’s surprise jump in interest rates - which largely went unnoticed. In doing so, Weston dives into the very active world of of yen-denominated foreign bond issuance, in which global corporates and sovereigns have been rushing in to Japan in order to tap the last bastion of cheap money left. -- Follow Market Depth On Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3mVTs9U Follow Market Depth On Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40dA2vm Follow Weston: https://twitter.com/acrossthespread Follow Blockworks: https://twitter.com/Blockworks_  Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Disclaimer: Nothing discussed on Market Depth should be considered as investment advice. Please always do your own research & speak to a financial advisor before thinking about, thinking about putting your money into these crazy markets.

    49 min
  4. 05/08/2023

    Bank Of Japan's Week Of Bond Market Meddling Spikes Global Yields

    Developed markets globally saw a dramatic rise in sovereign bond yields that spanned this whole week - notably at the long end of US Treasuries. Some attribute the move to Fitch Ratings downgrade of US debt, while others point to the government's announcement to boost its bond issuance in the coming months. Following up from the previous episode of Market Depth, Weston Nakamura shows how this week's global bond rout not only stems directly from the Japanese Government Bond market and the Bank of Japan's recent surprise policy change to the way in which it conducts Yield Curve Control policy, but also how previous major episodes of extreme global bond market volatility had been triggered by an illiquid, malfunctioning JGB market, and Bank of Japan meetings as market moving catalysts. In light of these recent developments in policy experimentation and purposeful obfuscation by the central bank, Weston also provides an explainer on a "trading-day-in-the-life" of a Bank of Japan bond buying operation for a critical dose of clarity as we move forward with Bank of Japan's experimental processes. -- Follow Market Depth On Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3mVTs9U Follow Market Depth On Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40dA2vm Follow Weston: https://twitter.com/acrossthespread Follow Blockworks: https://twitter.com/Blockworks_  Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Disclaimer: Nothing discussed on Market Depth should be considered as investment advice. Please always do your own research & speak to a financial advisor before thinking about, thinking about putting your money into these crazy markets.

    1h 7m
  5. 31/07/2023

    Bank Of Japan Takes A Major Gamble With Yield Curve Control

    At the July 2023 Monetary Policy Meeting, the Bank of Japan took markets by surprise (after "pre-announcing" its policy 10 hours prior during US trading hours and moving global currency, equity and bond markets) by making a significant change to its Yield Curve Control policy framework, in which it lifts the upper trading band on 10-year JGB yields from 0.50% to 1%. The central bank also made a major revision upwards on its inflation forecasts for fiscal year 2023 to 2.5%, well above its 2% target. This is the first policy change implemented under newly appointed Governor Ueda. While the consensus debate revolves around whether or not this is the start of Bank of Japan's exit from its outlier accommodative policies, Tokyo-based Weston Nakamura believes that there is far more to the policy decision than just a "YCC tweak." Aided by utilizing financial media outlets to move markets and clear out existing positions, the Bank of Japan is attempting to wrestle its policy away from the hands of markets, and return it back under its own control by purposely introducing elements of confusion and uncertainty - which it labels as "flexibility." Weston gives a historic overview of how Yield Curve Control trading bands had been a market-creation in the first place, what the market implications are, and why this policy change fundamentally reshapes how the Bank of Japan and market participants interact. -- Follow Market Depth On Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3mVTs9U Follow Market Depth On Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40dA2vm Follow Weston: https://twitter.com/acrossthespread Follow Blockworks: https://twitter.com/Blockworks_  Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Disclaimer: Nothing discussed on Market Depth should be considered as investment advice. Please always do your own research & speak to a financial advisor before thinking about, thinking about putting your money into these crazy markets.

    1h 20m
  6. 25/07/2023

    A Defining Week For Major Central Banks & Global Markets

    The final week of July ends with the three major central banks’ policy decisions - the Fed, the ECB, and the Bank of Japan - each with their own set of issues and tools respectively, and all of which are highly interconnected with one another. However, the economic backdrop is completely unique this time - as Japan now has a higher inflation rate than the US, while still in easing mode. Would the Bank of Japan really begin tightening monetary policy, just as the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and others are finished? Just a hint of policy convergence, particularly between the ECB and the Bank of Japan, can have significant, widespread market impact. Weston Nakamura begins the episode with an update on the PBOC’s daily fixing of the Chinese yuan exchange rate. He then discusses the Bank of Japan once again leaking their own policy through media outlets ahead of the official policy meeting. And finally, Weston takes a look across various markets globally, and assesses what may occur if sentiment around policy divergence shifts to policy convergence. -- Follow Market Depth On Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3mVTs9U Follow Market Depth On Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40dA2vm Follow Weston: https://twitter.com/acrossthespread Follow Blockworks: https://twitter.com/Blockworks_  Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Disclaimer: Nothing discussed on Market Depth should be considered as investment advice. Please always do your own research & speak to a financial advisor before thinking about, thinking about putting your money into these crazy markets.

    47 min

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Weston Nakamura’s “Market Depth” is your direct access to the Asia Pacific region. Tune in every Monday, Wednesday & Friday to stay up to date on the macro forces driving markets from Asia to the U.S and everywhere in between.

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