As we said last week: "Rate cut or not, what happens after will not be as expected or intended." Expect volatility to increase in all markets.

With positive (albeit slower) employment growth, it’s hard to believe that a recession began in July, even taking into consideration the fact that the Sahm rule indicator has breached the 0.50 threshold (at 0.50 ppts).

Investors may turn their attention to gold amid heightened market volatility with Friday’s jobs report showing the US labor force cooled while the unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, its highest peak since 2021.

The US job numbers for July no longer support a claim that the economy remains robust and the need for any monetary relief is still not evident. 

Gold price reversed its course and tumbled almost 1% after hitting a two-week high of $2477 following weaker-than-expected data from the United States.

The scarcest resource in most organizations is the leader’s time. Every CEO, division head or even first-level manager has a to-do list longer than feasible.

Cocoa futures in New York fell as much as 6% to $6,574 a ton, hitting their lowest level since early March following the dismal earnings report from Hershey.