Background
Daniel O'Brien covers daily markets and macro commentary for Broker Tested Reviews. He holds a BA in Economics from the London School of Economics (2018, specialization monetary policy) and the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism (2019). Before joining BTR in early 2026, Daniel spent four years as a markets reporter at Bloomberg covering the New York FX and bonds desk, then two years at the Financial Times as Asia markets correspondent based in Hong Kong covering the China rates and offshore-yuan beats.
Daniel is not a tester. He writes commentary on the news events that move the trading day - central-bank decisions, CPI prints, employment numbers, geopolitical shocks, and the cross-asset reactions to each. His pieces frame moves in their historical context ("the last time the DXY broke 110 was...") and contextualize price action against positioning data (CFTC COT, large-trader reports) and central-bank dot plots. He is explicit about uncertainty - his pieces flag when a move could be a positioning unwind rather than a fundamental shift.
Daniel does not give investment advice. He is not licensed to do so. His pieces are commentary, framed as such, and they consistently note when a trader should consult a licensed adviser before acting on his interpretation of a market event.
Credentials
- BA Economics (LSE) — London School of Economics, 2018. Specialization: monetary policy.
- NCTJ Diploma in Journalism — National Council for the Training of Journalists, 2019.
- Four years markets reporter — Bloomberg, New York FX + bonds desk (2019-2023).
- Two years Asia markets correspondent — Financial Times, Hong Kong - China rates + offshore-yuan beats (2023-2026).
- No financial-services license — Daniel covers markets editorially. His pieces are commentary, not investment advice.
Reporting approach
Daniel's reporting process has three stages. First, the primary-source pass: every piece starts with the actual document - the central-bank statement, the exchange disclosure, the regulatory filing - read in full before any wire summary is consulted. Second, the cross-reference: at least two competing outlets' coverage is read against the primary source before quoting either, to surface where wires diverge.
Third, the positioning + context pass: every move is framed with date-stamped price levels, positioning data (CFTC Commitments of Traders, large-trader reports), and a historical anchor ("the last time the DXY broke 110 was...") before the piece publishes. Daniel never quotes a price level without naming the date he saw it.
Because Daniel writes commentary, not advice, his pieces explicitly mark the boundary - "the data shows..." rather than "you should...". The Testing Methodology page covers how editorial commentary fits into the rest of our review pipeline.
Editorial role
As markets reporter, Daniel is the named author on every daily-markets commentary piece, every central-bank decision write-up, and every macro context piece on this site. His pieces are bylined as commentary, not recommendations, and they are reviewed before publication by Priya Natarajan, our risk + compliance analyst, to ensure no investment advice is given in language that crosses the line from commentary to recommendation.
Areas of focus
Daniel's strongest topical coverage areas are:
- Daily market news — FX, rates, and crypto market moves with date-stamped levels.
- Central-bank commentary — Fed, ECB, BoE, BoJ, RBA, SNB, PBoC statements and dot plots.
- Macro context — Cycles, regime changes, positioning unwinds.
- Crypto market commentary — BTC + ETH price action contextualized against broader macro.
- Cross-asset reactions — How an FX move propagates to rates, equities, and credit.
Daniel does not test trading bots (Marcus Chen owns algorithmic-strategy review and Alex Rivera owns broker reviews). He does not model risk or verify regulatory claims (Priya Natarajan owns risk + compliance). He does not give investment advice in any of his pieces - he is not licensed to do so, and his pieces are framed as commentary throughout.
Conflicts of interest
Daniel does not hold positions in any single name he covers in commentary. His US 401(k) is held in broad-market index funds only. He receives no compensation from any platform reviewed on this site beyond the firm-level affiliate partnerships disclosed in our Editorial Policy.
How to contact Daniel
For factual corrections, story tips, or methodology questions, email contact@brokertestedreviews.com. We do not publish Daniel's personal contact channels — this is intentional and consistent with how most independent finance publications operate.