The Global Economy Podcast with Fexingo: International Markets, Currencies, and World Trade

Copper has quietly become the best-performing commodity ETF this year, gaining 23% while gold has stalled. Lucas and Luna explore the disconnect between soaring copper demand from electrification and AI data centers versus a weakening global trade picture. They break down the specific supply constraints in Chile and Peru, the role of China's producer inflation hitting a near-4-year high, and why c...

In Episode 106 of The Global Economy Podcast, Lucas and Luna examine a striking divergence in China's June inflation data: producer prices rose at their fastest pace in nearly four years, while consumer price growth weakened. They explore what this 'producer-led inflation without consumer pass-through' means for global trade, corporate margins, and emerging market investors. Drawing on the latest...

The trade-weighted US dollar index has slipped to 120.7, its lowest level in over a year, and the effects are rippling through global supply chains. In this episode, Lucas and Luna examine how the softer dollar is splitting emerging markets, creating winners in China and Taiwan while pressuring South Korea and Mexico. They dive into the latest trade data, the yuan's surprising stability, and what...

On this episode of The Global Economy Podcast, Lucas and Luna dig into a paradox: Chinese stocks, tracked by the FXI ETF, have surged 4.6% in the last five days, even as China's consumer price growth weakened in June and producer inflation hit a near four-year high. They explore what this divergence signals about Beijing's stimulus strategy, global trade flows, and why the weakening US dollar is p...

The trade-weighted dollar has slipped to 120.7, its lowest since early 2025, but not all emerging markets are benefiting equally. Lucas and Luna break down why Chinese ETFs are up 4.6% in a week while India and South Korea ETFs are sliding. They trace the divergence to two forces: China's producer inflation hitting a near-four-year high while consumer prices stay soft, and the reality that a weake...

Episode 102 of The Global Economy Podcast unpacks a rare divergence: the US dollar is sliding against the euro and yen, yet American manufacturing ETFs are holding steady. Lucas and Luna examine how the trade-weighted dollar index dipped to 120.7 while the S&P 500 ticked up 0.1% over the past week. They drill into why factory output and reshoring momentum are decoupling from currency moves, using...

In this episode of The Global Economy Podcast, Lucas and Luna drill into a striking divergence in emerging markets: the yuan is strengthening while the yen weakens past 160 per dollar. They examine how China's capital controls and export strategy are supporting the yuan, while Japan's ultra-loose monetary policy drives yen depreciation. The hosts connect these currency moves to real ETF performanc...

With the US unemployment rate at 4.2% but payroll growth down to just 57,000 jobs in June, and the labor force participation rate hitting a 50-year low outside the pandemic, Lucas and Luna dig into a paradox that has economists scratching their heads. They break down what's really happening beneath the headline numbers — from discouraged workers dropping out to the temporary World Cup boost Goldma...

In this episode of The Global Economy Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore why European stocks, particularly German and Italian ETFs, are surging while US markets stall. With the S&P 500 at 7,519 but small caps lagging, and the dollar weakening against the euro and yen, capital is flowing across the Atlantic. Lucas breaks down the two key drivers: European fiscal expansion (especially Germany's infrast...

Episode 98 of The Global Economy Podcast examines Germany's unexpected market leadership in mid-2026. Lucas and Luna break down why the German ETF (EWG) surged 4.2% in the past week while French stocks (EWQ) managed only 2% and Italy (EWI) jumped 3.8%. They connect the moves to a weakening yen (now 160.9 per dollar), the ECB's policy divergence signaled by Christine Lagarde, and a surprising trade...

Episode 97 of The Global Economy Podcast. While Eurozone inflation has fallen to 2.2%, UK CPI remains stuck at 3.4%. Lucas and Luna explore why the UK is an inflation outlier in 2026. They break down three structural factors: sticky services inflation from the UK's labour market, the lagged pass-through of energy price caps, and the impact of Brexit-related trade frictions. Specific data includes...

This episode of The Global Economy Podcast explores why Japanese equities are outperforming even surging European markets in mid-2026. Lucas and Luna break down the yen carry trade unwind, Bank of Japan policy divergence, and how a 4.1% weekly gain in the German ETF reflects a broader rotation. With the trade-weighted dollar slipping to 120.9 and the yen flat at 161.7, they ask whether Japan's exp...

Episode 95 of The Global Economy Podcast looks at South Africa's surprising ETF outperformance in mid-2026. Lucas and Luna unpack how a weaker rand, stable power supply, and a pivot toward services exports have lifted the iShares MSCI South Africa ETF (EZA) while peers like South Korea (EWY) tumble. They discuss the role of improved energy reliability after years of load-shedding, the impact of a...

Lucas and Luna explore why Taiwan's stock market is surging while South Korea's ETFs are plunging, despite both being tech export powerhouses. With Taiwan's semiconductor dominance and geopolitical insulation, the iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF (EWT) is up 2% this week, while South Korea's EWY has crashed nearly 9%. They examine how trade flows, currency dynamics, and investor sentiment are diverging, an...

European stocks have been beating US markets for months, and the gap is widening. In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into the numbers: the Euro Stoxx 50 is up over 12 percent year-to-date while the S&P 500 has barely gained 3 percent. They explore three key drivers—cheaper valuations, a weaker dollar, and Europe's heavy weighting in sectors like industrials and financials that are outperforming t...

Lucas and Luna dig into the surprising divergence between European and US equity markets in mid-2026. With the S&P 500 up 1.8% over the past week but European ETFs like EWG surging 4.1%, they trace the drivers: a weakening dollar, ECB rate-cut expectations, and a rotation away from US mega-cap tech. They examine how the VGK and FEZ indices are outpacing US benchmarks, and whether the rally can hol...

In this episode of The Global Economy Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore why European stock ETFs like VGK, FEZ, and EWG are rallying while US markets show signs of cooling. They anchor the discussion in a specific data point: the VGK ETF jumped 2.5% in the last five trading days, compared to the S&P 500's 1.8% gain. They unpack the key drivers: a weaker US dollar, improving European economic sentimen...

Lucas and Luna dig into a surprising divergence in mid-2026: while US job growth slows and the labor force participation rate hits a 50-year low, European equity ETFs like EWG, FEZ, and EWU are up 3-4% in a single week. They trace the story to three drivers: a stabilizing euro, cheap valuations relative to the S&P 500, and a quiet rotation out of overpriced US tech into European industrials and fi...

Episode 89 of The Global Economy Podcast breaks down the growing divergence between US Treasury yields and European government bond yields in mid-2026. Lucas and Luna examine the surprising strength of German Bunds, the role of ECB policy expectations, and what this split means for currency markets and global capital flows. With the US still battling sticky inflation and Europe facing a sharper gr...

South Korea's KOSPI and the EWY ETF have plunged over 9% in the past week, even as the country posts record export numbers. Lucas and Luna unpack the disconnect: a semiconductor-led export boom that isn't translating into profits because of a collapsing won, domestic political turmoil, and China's retaliatory curbs on tech imports. They walk through the data — semiconductor export prices down 15%...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the little-known but crucial world of war risk insurance premiums for oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Following last month's US-Iran deal, premiums have dropped from a peak of 10% of hull value to around 2%, but that's still four times higher than before the crisis. The hosts explain how this hidden cost cascades through global oil prices, shi...

In this episode of The Global Economy Podcast, Lucas and Luna examine a striking divergence in European markets: energy-sector ETFs like VGK and EZU are up sharply in late June 2026, while traditional oil and gas stocks remain flat. They trace the cause to a structural shift in UK energy policy, where the next prime minister faces a defining choice between North Sea oil and renewables. With Brent...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore why Brazil ETFs like EWZ have rallied nearly 2% in the past week while China ETFs like FXI have dropped over 2%. They dive into the diverging fortunes of commodity exporters versus tech exporters, examine how the trade-weighted dollar index at 120.9 is boosting Brazil's commodity-driven economy, and discuss how China's widening export curbs on Japan are resh...

The euro has strengthened to 1.14 against the dollar, yet European ETFs are showing a surprising divergence: the Eurozone-focused EZU is up 2.8% this week, while country-specific ETFs like Germany's EWG and France's EWQ are lagging. Lucas and Luna drill into why a stronger currency is a double-edged sword for export-heavy economies like Germany, while Southern European markets like Italy and Spain...

As of June 30, 2026, the ETF performance gap between commodity-exporting and tech-exporting emerging markets has widened dramatically. Lucas and Luna examine why Brazil's EWZ is up 1.2% over five days while China's FXI has dropped 3.4%, and how the weakening dollar and shifting trade dynamics are creating this divergence. The episode zooms in on the cases of Brazil and South Korea to illustrate ho...