Equilon FX
EQUILON FX / FINANCIAL MEDIAMACRO · CURRENCIES · MARKET STRUCTURE

Beyond
the headline.

The forces behind foreign exchange.
Ideas, mechanisms and context for a more informed view of the market.

Explore the journal Discover Equilon ↗
THE MACRO TRANSMISSIONOPEN A CONNECTION ↓
01Economic data

Definitions and revisions shape the evidence. A headline becomes useful when its units and comparison window are clear.

Read the data desk ↗
Changes the policy conversation ↓
02Rate expectations

Participants compare new information with a prior view of the policy path. The same decision can convey different news.

Explore the expectation gap ↗
Interacts with positioning & flows ↓
03Currency markets

Each currency has a counterpart. Relative outlooks, funding and liquidity interact; no single arrow predicts the next move.

Explore the currency atlas ↗
A map of mechanisms. Open a node to follow the reasoning.
A publication for curious market minds.Start exploring ↓
BEGIN WITH A QUESTION

What are you
trying to understand?

Start with the institution’s framework. Then separate the decision from what was already expected.

Open the central-bank observatory ↗
THE CURRENCY ATLAS

A world of connections.

Explore all eight currencies ↗
United StatesUSD

US dollar

Policy, funding & global use

FEDEuro areaEUR

Euro

A shared currency, varied economies

ECBUnited KingdomGBP

Pound sterling

Pay, prices & domestic demand

BOEJapanJPY

Japanese yen

Policy expectations & funding

BOJ
CHF Swiss franc ↗CAD Canadian dollar ↗AUD Australian dollar ↗NZD New Zealand dollar ↗
The journal / Selected explainers

Read between the moves.

All insights ↗
Inflation & policy

PCE and CPI: two gauges, different questions.

Why the inflation measure in the policy target and the one dominating the headlines are not always the same.

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Benchmarks

The London fix: why a benchmark matters.

The purpose of a common reference rate, and why a particular moment in the trading day deserves context.

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Liquidity

There is more to a quote than the price.

An introduction to liquidity providers, market depth and the questions a visible quote leaves unanswered.

Read the explainer
Our field of view

One market.
Several perspectives.

Follow a subject from the first principle to the detail that changes your understanding.

01 / MACRO & POLICY

The economic backdrop

Inflation, interest rates and central-bank communication.

02 / MARKET MECHANICS

Behind the quoted price

Liquidity, benchmarks, execution and portfolio flows.

03 / READING THE MARKET

From information to insight

Data releases, comparisons and the questions worth asking.

The market lab / Interactive learning

Move a variable.
See the mechanism.

Why can inflation fall while prices keep rising? How does a portfolio drift away from its target? Explore the arithmetic yourself.

Enter the market lab
Simplified examples. No live market data.
EXPERIMENT 01PORTFOLIO DRIFT ↗
Starting allocation60 / 40
60%40%
After equities rise 20%
and bonds stay flat64.3 / 35.7
64.3%35.7%

No allocation decision was made.
The weights changed anyway.

Build your understanding

A place to begin.
A reason to go deeper.

All learning paths ↗
01

Read a currency pair

Base, quote, direction. Start with what the number actually says.

Explore 02

Read an economic release

The series, the comparison and the revisions behind a headline.

Explore 03

Find the right word

A concise glossary of the terms used across the publication.

Explore
About Equilon

Currency markets.
A wider perspective.

Equilon FX is a financial-media project exploring the connections between the economy and the way currency markets work.

Our website brings together explainers, learning material and interactive examples. Telegram is the companion publication for shorter notes and reading ideas.

Get to know the publication ↗
Keep reading / @equilonfx

The next idea
is a conversation away.

Explore the Equilon FX channel.
Market concepts, notes and reading material.

Open Telegram Inside the channel ↗

Read the institution.
Question the number.

THE OBSERVATORY

Eight central banks.

Frameworks, communication and a side-by-side institutional mirror.

THE DATA DESK

Eight economic indicators.

Definitions, revisions and worked examples behind the headline.

THE READING DESK

Keep your own thread.

A private reading list and notes you can take with you.

The historical casebook

Go from a principle
to an episode.

Open the casebook ↗
CASE 012015POLICY REGIMES
The Swiss franc / January 2015

When the policy rule
changed.

The end of the EUR/CHF minimum rate is a case in distinguishing a policy commitment, a quotation convention and an executable price.

Read the case
CASE 022016MARKET MICROSTRUCTURE
Sterling / October 2016

One sharp move.
Several mechanisms.

The sterling flash event shows why the sequence, trading conditions and mechanism matter more than finding a single convenient cause.

Read the case
CASE 032022LIQUIDITY & FINANCIAL STABILITY
The UK gilt market / 2022

When time to pay
became the problem.

A study in collateral, forced selling and why an asset purchase for financial stability is not the same statement as a change in the policy-rate outlook.

Read the case
THE INTERACTIVE EDITION

Do more than
read the explanation.

Reverse the quote. Change the expectation. Challenge the first story.

Discover twenty ways to explore

Follow a question.

Open the complete library ↗