April 21st, 2008

Haiti's prime minister resigned over food riots; other riots in Egypt, PHP, IDR, Ethiopia, and Cameroon
Gold fell 5% on Friday; much more volume on the downside
Canada CB rate decision 22Apr; expected to cut rates 50bp to 3.0%

South Africa
- March CPI on Wed, PPI on Thurs; forecast a jump to 9.8% due to higher oil and food prices
- peak in inflation no longer behind us as Eskom tariff still proposed
- originally had forecast inflation to hit 10% in March and then moderate, but with Eskom can't hold to this


Asian markets fared positively as China introduced new restrictions on stock selling which were deemed very market positive. Currencies were fairly unchanged with brief spikes in USDINR and USDPHP on perceived risk aversion. Little data out of EMEAwith Russian CB chief saying they will introduce greater flexibility in the exchange rate. Main market news appeared to be continually rising oil prices, as further pressure now on middle eastern countries and Russia to adjust ccy's to reflect the gains. BofA earnings dominated the US market open as EURUSD was bid up back to last Thursdays levels of 1.5940 as stocks sold off. A fairly quiet day overall however, as market ended fairly flattish and it appears we're still trying to digest whether we have seen a bottom.