This week’s labor data paints a complex picture of the US economy. On the surface, the job market appears healthy. Unemployment remains low, and initial jobless claims are stable.

NCB Financial Group (NCBFG), once regarded as a pillar of regional financial strength and innovation, is now facing an intensifying crisis of investor confidence. Central to the unfolding uncertainty is its proposed US$300M bond, a highly anticipated transaction announced, intended to refinance maturing obligations and bolster the group’s balance sheet.

In its latest US dollar analysis, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) highlighted something unusual. The dollar was weakening sharply, but not during US trading hours. The heaviest selling came during the Asian session, right as Treasuries were rallying.

At the same time, liquidity in the domestic bond market remains thin, with limited secondary trading, high barriers to retail participation, and legacy settlement systems that add friction and cost. Against this backdrop, a new technological lever is gaining traction globally, tokenization.

Despite rising concern about a new wave of tariff driven inflation, the latest numbers suggest the US economy is absorbing the impact of trade policy changes far better than expected. In 2025, the US government had sharply increased tariffs on a wide range of imports, generating record breaking revenue.

As the second half of 2025 kicks off, markets are adjusting to a landscape where macro calm on the surface may be masking powerful undercurrents below.

China’s economy is entering a new, uncomfortable equilibrium. Surging exports and record trade surpluses mask a far deeper tension, falling industrial profits, deflation, and eroding economic confidence at home.

The S&P 500 is hovering just above 6,090, positioned near critical gamma flip zones where market-maker hedging behavior can amplify volatility, yet this surface level calm belies a deeper buildup of stress across macro and structural channels

In his proposals, the finance minister laid out a broad reform agenda targeting transfer rationalization, foreign exchange transparency, and external competitiveness.

Despite tight high yield spreads and low default rates as of mid-2025, a historic test for credit markets is approaching. In 2026, over $500B in high yield bonds and leveraged loans must be refinanced, just as the two main funding engines,

The Federal Reserve held the target range for the federal funds rate at 4.25% to 4.50%. On the surface, it was a status quo move. But beneath that stillness lies a Fed walking a tightrope, balancing elevated inflation, a labor market gradually softening, a consumer engine beginning to stall, and a liquidity structure that may be masking deeper fragilities.

Agostini's Limited (AGL), one of Trinidad and Tobago's oldest and most diversified conglomerates, is seeking to acquire Prestige Holdings Limited (PHL), the island's premier quick service restaurant operator.

Capital One's $35B acquisition of Discover Financial Services in 2025 marks more than a merger; it is a structural shift in the US banking and payments landscape.

The US FED, Interest on Reserve Balances (IORB) may seem far removed from Caribbean economies, but any move to repeal or lower it could send shock waves through global dollar funding systems.

Our analysis suggests a base case 12 mth target of 6,500 for the S&P 500, underpinned by a transition into a late-cycle macro environment: slowing nominal growth, stable inflation near 2%, and a Federal Reserve that has paused quantitative tightening and stands ready to cut rates in 2026 possibly late 2025.

Treasury supply continues to surge and the Federal Reserve shifts the pace of its balance sheet reduction, many market participants (including seasoned fund managers) are misreading the Fed’s actions mistaking SOMA reinvestment for a stealth return to quantitative easing (QE).

At first glance, Medcorp Limited looks like a promising investment. With annual revenues north of TT$120M, a dominant market position in private healthcare, and profitability metrics that outshine local peers, the company enters public markets boasting impressive returns

he US House has revived discussions around a 3.5% remittance tax on outbound money transfers. While framed as a mechanism to fund domestic enforcement or reduce deficits, the implications abroad are far-reaching.

For the past 25 years, the CBO has consistently underestimated deficits, projecting optimistic baselines that rarely align with reality. Now, in 2025, the same office warns that the House passed Big Beautiful Bill will raise the deficit by $2.4 trillion over 10 years

PLIPDECO, the state controlled port and industrial landlord at the center of Trinidad’s most strategic petro-industrial zone, has been making headlines throughout 2024 and 2025, not for expansion or innovation, but for governance turmoil, tenant disputes, and mounting operational scrutiny.