Conference Dailys TRADETech FX Daily 2018 Wrap-up | Page 4

THETRADETECHFX DA I LY
key takeaways
TAKEAWAYS
TradeTech FX Europe 2018:
The key takeaways
T
his year’s TradeTech FX Europe conference
has closed its doors and the stands have
been packed away, but there was plenty to take
away from all the discussion panels, keynote
speeches and working groups across the two
days in Barcelona.
Whether you stayed until the bitter end or
were unable to make it Barcelona this year, here
are some of the key talking points from this
year’s TradeTech FX Europe event.
Trump and China conflict dominates the
landscape
It’s hard to escape any news relating to the in-
cumbent President of the United States and his
predilection for poking the proverbial hornet’s
nest whenever he sees fit. The FX markets know
this better than most and the 2018 edition of
TradeTech FX Europe found much to chew over
when it came to the US Commander in Chief.
At the top of the list was the ongoing trade
war between the US and China as the two na-
tions impose escalating tariffs upon each other,
and while proposed discussions between the
two governments may go some way to diffusing
the situation, the unpredictable nature of Don-
ald Trump means no-one is taking anything for
granted when it comes to currency trading.
Speakers opined that Trump has engaged
in “a game of chicken” with China over trade
amidst a flurry of claims over the strength of
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THETRADETECHFX DAILY
Issue 2
the US economy but will have little appetite for
playing that game over the long-term with the
mid-term elections just around the corner and a
limited time in power.
For its part, China has showed no desire to
shrink away from the fight the Trump admin-
istration has brought to its doorstep over the
last two years, and with an economy going from
strength-to-strength, pose a much bigger stra-
tegic issue for some in the FX space. Whichever
way the conflict between the two nations plays
out, it’s a safe bet that FX traders will be among
those at the forefront to know about it.
FX is a risky business right now
Leading right on from the discussions regarding
Trump vs. China, the level of geopolitical risk
hovering around the global FX markets can
only be described as “Yuge”. Putting the US and
China aside, there is still plenty of tension to go
around that impacts directly on the FX space,
which panellists spent a considerable amount of
time digging in to.
Europe has provided a significant level of risk
lately, with the ongoing drama of Brexit playing
a lead role. The UK’s approach to negotiations
have put the entire financial sector on edge, as
numerous firms mull over when to enact their
contingency plans with the 29 March 2019 dead-
line fast approaching.
Then there are ongoing geopolitical issues
concerning Russia, Italy and Scandinavia, the re-
cent Turkish Lira collapse, troubles in emerging
markets – particularly Latin America – and the
unpredictability of Korea to take into account.
It’s a lot of FX traders to be cognizant of at the
moment, with few predicting that the global
turmoil will quieten down any time soon.
Big talk on tech but little in the way of prog-
ress
Talking big on technology is always a dou-
ble-edged sword; it may sound impressive, but
once you look past the jargon and shiny new
wrapper, you will often find that not much has
actually changed. Real innovation is a lot rarer
than most would have you believe and that
seem was compounded throughout the panel
discussions in Barcelona, with a number of
sell-side institutions lining up to espouse the
latest advancements in technology without
providing genuine insight into what they are
doing with it.
Of course there needs to be an element of
opacity here – giving all your secrets away to
a room full of competitors isn’t the smartest
move to make, but if the industry wants to be
taken seriously in its approach to technology
innovation, sooner or later the cards need to be
shown. Repeated assertions about how artificial
intelligence and machine learning will only go so
far without the evidence to back it up.