iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Also of note for BOJ watchers and people with carry trades:

There is another lingering question. Can the yen strengthen if the Bank of Japan remains slow to tighten monetary policy despite high inflation? Again, recent history suggests yes.

Japan began its yen interventions in 2022, when the Fed started hiking rates. Since September 2024, the Fed has cut interest rates by nearly 200 basis points, while the BOJ has raised rates by 75 bps. This 250 to 300 bps compression in yield differentials appears to have had no discernible effect on the dollar-yen rate.

It is thus not evident that a more hawkish BOJ is either a necessary or sufficient condition for the yen to strengthen against the dollar.

Ultimately, the joint intervention's most important message may be the determination of the U.S. and Japan. Neither appears willing to give up or concede to the market. For investors, resistance may be futile.

Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

We could have avoided this whole debate and liberated thousands of spreadsheet people from the drudgery of Microsoft Excel if we had taught people how to code so they could enjoy pandas instead

Norman Rockwell’s Freedom of Speech, here offered in an ironic fashion

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

There is a bizarre subplot in this data dump about Peter Mandelson getting increasingly frustrated with Whitehall staff while attempting to obtain a replica ministerial red box inscribed with the U.S. presidential seal as a gift for Donald Trump

Subject: SV Trump gift
Date:
Friday, 15 August 2025 at 20:41:11 British Summer Time
From: Peter Mandelson
To:
Morgan McSweeney
OFFICIAL
Sorry to return to the ***
I realise it might seem like a ***
question of gifts but I have seen Ailsa's reply to my letter and ***
topic but, ***
***
finding a thoughtful, personal gift is important. The red box - with his name
and a cypher***
on it - fits the bill. ***
Peter

On Tue, 26 Aug 2025 at 07:53, Oliver Robbins
Personal
wrote:
OFFICIAL
Sophie, Anna
BE Washington, as I'm sure you know, is clear that one of the gifts that would mean the most to
Page 25
25
the President would be a red dispatch box with the gold crest and lettering mimicking a UK
Government Ministerial box but with "President of the United States" inscribed upon it.
I am concerned though that we will end up
***
• I am sure you will have been round this issue
at least once already but is there anything I can do to help?
I'm not sure whether the balance is right.
Olly

Subject: Fw: TRUMP RED BOX
Date: Tuesday, 26 August 2025 at 12:52:45 British Summer Time
From: Peter Mandelson
To:
Morgan McSweeney
OFFICIAL
The saga goes on. See Olly email. This is like something out of Thick of it. We are now facing
***
the red box being presented by
***
after
with
***
I have gone tonto on this.
***
Get Outlook for iOS

From: Peter Mandelson
Personal
Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2025 2:18:55 AM
To: Morgan McSweeney
Personal
Subject: Fw: TRUMP RED BOX
at the attachment says is that Whitehall has known about**
since
February and it was confirmed in early July and nobody had the wit to say anything. What incompetence.
Get Outlook for iOS

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Actually it's great being able to earn 4.821% every year for the next decade from a country that has never defaulted

Norman Rockwell's "Freedom of Speech" painting has become a popular meme, often used to illustrate themes of individual expression and dissent.

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Many people still do not seem to realise that AI is an extremely dangerous tool to use in situations where its output cannot be easily verified, the results matter, and credibility is at stake. Like fact-checking journalism in the New York Times www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/w...

Editors’ Note: May 1, 2026

This article was updated after The Times learned that a remark attributed to Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader, was in fact an A.I.-generated summary of his views about Canadian politics that A.I. rendered as a quotation. The reporter should have checked the accuracy of what the A.I. tool returned. The article now accurately quotes from a speech delivered by Mr. Poilievre in April. He said, “My personal opinion is that when a member of Parliament goes back on the word they made to their constituents and switches parties, constituents should be able to petition to throw them out and have a byelection. That would put the people back in charge of our democracy rather than having dirty backroom Liberal deals by Mark Carney determine our destiny.” He did not refer to politicians who changed allegiances as turncoats in that speech.

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Brent crude futures also sold off sharply, after earlier hitting $126.41 per barrel. Japanese officials had previously discussed intervening in energy markets, though many analysts raised questions about how this would work in practice. www.reuters.com/business/ene...

Brent crude futures plunge after hitting a high of $126.41 earlier

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

The yen is suddenly strengthening following months of warnings of intervention from officials www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

But as I kept checking Aliexpress throughout the day, not only did I find more robots, I started to find a small but growing category of robot accessories

Uh, a costume for a robot schoolgirl or maid or something?

A dust cover for a robot dog to resemble a New Year lion

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Here is Unitree's flagship G1 model, yours for the price of a small car www.aliexpress.com/item/1005010... With free shipping!

A Unitree G1 Humanoid robot, on sale on Aliexpress for $14,565.70

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

The Hungarian forint surges against the euro and the dollar in Asian trading as Viktor Orban loses power to the centre-right Tisza party in Sunday's election after 16 years in office. Goldman Sachs expects an "immediate improvement" in relations with Brussels and a complete resumption of EU funding.

Euro/Hungarian forint appreciating 1.8% to 367.97, the strongest level in four years

U.S. dollar/Hungarian forint appreciating 1.5% to 315.02, the firmest since January and close to its strongest level in four years

A Goldman Sachs research note titled Hungary: Opposition Tisza Party Wins Decisive Victory in Hungarian Parliamentary Elections

Bottom Line: Preliminary results indicate a decisive victory for the opposition Tisza party in Hungary’s parliamentary elections, bringing an end to Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party’s 16-year rule. With 98% of votes counted, Tisza is projected to secure 138 seats (or 69% of the 199-seat parliament), Fidesz is projected to win 55 seats, and the far-right Our Homeland (Mi Hazánk) party has gained 6 seats. All other parties failed to surpass the 5% threshold required for parliamentary representation. With a two-thirds 'super-majority', Tisza will have the power to amend Hungary's constitution and govern with limited institutional constraints. Following Tisza’s win, we anticipate an immediate improvement in EU-Hungary relations and a complete resumption of EU funding. Hungarian assets have reacted positively to the news in early trading, with the Forint trading close to 2% stronger than Friday's close, despite a strengthening of the Dollar and higher oil prices.

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Korean stocks buckled on Tuesday, with exchange data for March showing that monthly outflows from the Seoul market hit the highest since records began, while the Kospi logged its biggest one-month crash since the global financial crisis of October 2008 www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

Fund outflows into Korean equities hit their highest level on record in March as the Kospi Index saw its biggest crash since the global financial crisis of October 2008

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

The FT reporting says Hegseth didn't go through with the trade, but there's no way he could have bought this ETF in February and made money

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

It got pretty bad after the 1973 crisis when OAPEC used the oil weapon. Consumer prices rose 23.2% the following year! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oi...

Graphic showing Japanese inflation hitting 23.2% in 1974, the sharpest increase on record. Source: World Bank via FRED®

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Chat, is this a TACO? truthsocial.com/@realDonaldT...

A Trump Truth Social post, reading: "If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far. Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again — Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen! This is a gift from the United States of America to China, and all of those Nations that heavily use the Hormuz Strait. Hopefully, it is a gesture that will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP"

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Sorry, I gave up on this article when I got to this part. What this writer is describing is science fiction. This is a bit of a canard and a symptom of the current hype cycle, that there is really no distinction between the carefully exercised judgment of experts and superficially plausible drivel.

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

“It was a sea of red across Asia as markets opened…”

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

What's also interesting in looking at the Debt Service Ratio, alongside the more positive take on the U.S. deficit, is that Germany and the U.K. are in even better health. Data here: www.bis.org/publ/work123...

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

This is a pretty critical point for thinking about the debasement trade. The fiscal deficit shows up as a surplus for the private sector. In effect, the U.S. government is subsidising corporate America.

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Microsoft Copilot can't even provide basic tech support on *other Microsoft products* without hallucinating false advice. And yet I'm expected to believe that this slop machine is some enormous productivity boost for the global economy?

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Personally if I were the CEO of Intel and had staked the company's future on a new chip, when the time came to give it a catchy name I might go with something other than "Panther Lake" www.theverge.com/report/79714... Especially now we have the tools to instantly visualise said water feature

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

Who suggested that? Why, one plucky young US senator named Joe Biden. And who approved it? Deng Xiaoping, with a familiar caveat www.nytimes.com/1981/06/18/w...

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Meanwhile in Japan, bad things are also happening in government bond markets... via xcancel.com/HannoLustig

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Gregor Stuart Hunter @gregorhunter.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

And you may see graphics like this from The Economist and conclude that the New Taiwan Dollar is seriously undervalued, and wonder whether the central bank's monetary policy is deliberately designed to weaken the currency to benefit exporters.