The Pound Good Run Continues

31, March 2010

A very good morning for Sterling this morning as the pound hits a one month high against the euro to 1.1268 and it is also up to 1.5150 against the USD.

The reason for the move higher has been attributed to the upward revision in 2009 Q4 GDP to 0.4% from 0.3%. However I feel there is a certain amount of profit taking after the dumping of sterling in the last few weeks. The FT highlighted that hedge funds were shorting sterling and we are now probably seeing profit taking from this leading to a squeeze higher.

The gains in Sterling come despite the fact that consumer confidence for the UK in March fell by one point to -15 after two consecutive months of improvement. The dip in confidence has been blamed on intense media focus on the state of the UK’s finances and the increasing likelihood of a minority government.

Sterling will also have edged higher against the euro following data showing that Eurozone unemployment hit 10% in February. This is the highest since data started! More doom and gloom for the euro which is struggling to get above 1.35 and could face more downside pressure.

Nothing hugely relevant for the rest of the day. We have the Tankan survey on economic conditions in Japan released overnight. If the news is not positive from Japan we could see more selling pressure on the Yen which has started to unwind against most major currencies.

Report by Phil McHugh

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

Contact Currencies Direct for Corporate or Private Transactions. Open an account today and save money.

Currencies Direct is a leading commercial foreign exchange company with offices in the UK, Australia and Spain and has offices across 5 continents. Currencies Direct’s head office and global trading centre is based in the City of London.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

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IMF Helps Euro In The Short Term

29, March 2010

Last week the big news was the agreement of a Franco-German proposal involving the IMF to assist Greece has lifted the euro in the short term, but is unlikely to be good news for the currency in the longer term.

Although the bailout was welcomed by the financial markets, the news of the IMF’s involvement was not good for the euro. What we are seeing at the moment is a relief rally, with the euro being bought on the fact that a proposal has finally been agreed, rather than on the specific details it contains.

The financial aid proposed is limited by the need for unanimous decisions by euro member states, on the basis of assessments carried out by the European commission and the European Central Bank. This means the financial markets will remain cautious about the euro’s prospects until they see evidence of the system working in practice.

For the UK we have seen mortgage lending numbers come in better than expected at 2.1bln against the forecast of 1.8bln. This has helped the pound nudge higher against the US dollar towards 1.50 again. The rate is also pushing higher on the back of improved market sentiment following the EU summit. The FT has reported that various hedge funds have profited heavily on selling sterling recently. This could leave the door open for some profit taking on the upside to re-test 1.52. This week we have revised GDP from Q4 2009 and consumer confidence data and PMI numbers for the UK in a 4 day week.

Elsewhere there has been further hawkish comments from down under as RBA chief Glenn Stevens discusses the pressure for further tightening…this will raise the prospect of a rise in rates next week and is in relation to rising house prices. We could see further gains in the AUD against the major currencies on the back of these comments and if we see a rate hike next week.

Report by Phil McHugh

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

Contact Currencies Direct for Corporate or Private Transactions. Open an account today and save money.

Currencies Direct is a leading commercial foreign exchange company with offices in the UK, Australia and Spain and has offices across 5 continents. Currencies Direct’s head office and global trading centre is based in the City of London.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

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Latest Forex Robot News – Steal Pips

You have probably already heard the rumors about a game-changing forex robot being
developed by Matt Delen and his team of underground programmers, “black hat” geeks
that are experts at creating “bots” that clean up online poker and blackjack rooms.

They tell me itt took them a while, but after months of blood, sweat, and tears, the StealPips System was perfected to a devastatingly accurate precision and yet is so elusive that brokers can’t detect it and are running for their money.

Everything is laid wide open and the StealPips System is no longer the “hush-hush,” “under the wraps,” or “secret” trading system.

This weekend there are also some “priceless” goodies that are giving out.

I have been around the forex markets for a while now, and have seen systems come and go like day and night, so nothing really surprises me. I have seen that, been there…BUT, forget shocking and stirring up the rest of the forex market, this system is well worth adding to your forex arsenal.

The proprietary technology behind StealPips coined Automated Price Action Recognition (A.P.A.R) and Trend & U turn Points Detector (T.U.P.D). is unheard of and is taking the forex market and the brokers for that matter by surprise.

These three video testimonials from beta-testers who have been trying out the StealPips System for the past several weeks are impressive.

- $1,000 to $1,631.81 in SIXTEEN Days

- $5,000 to $8,542.24 in TWENTY-SEVEN Days
- $10,000 to $23,045.79 in HUNDRED-TWELVE Days

I’m sure thousands of traders will be accessing these video testimonies so if they don’t load right away, just be patient and they will!

Have a Good Weekend,

Tom

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

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Greek Crisis Update

26, March 2010

Finally we have an official deal as a rescue package agreed for Greece eases the pain. So surely we have seen a surge of confidence in the markets and a rally in the euro…err, well. not quite.

The package will be for about 30 billion euro with about 1/3rd coming from the IMF and the rest in the form of bilateral loans from the other 15 Euro zone members. Although the euro has bounced higher it has so far been a deflated bounce up against the USD from 1.3270 last night to 1.3385.

The agreement was welcomed after weeks of debate and wrangling, however news of IMF involvement was not considered good news for the euro especially after ECB President Trichet commented that IMF involvement would be “very, very bad”. Greece will be aided on a fall back basis in the event that Greece cannot get suitable financing from the markets.

However for assistance to be ratified it will require a unanimous decision from EU members after strong conditions have been met. Thus we still have the potential for red tape and dispute when Greece would need direct assistance. This uncertainty could yet serve to undermine the euro further.

Sterling is looking flat again after a nice bounce in the aftermath of yesterdays retail sales data. The news that Conservatives and Labour were running neck and neck in the latest polls and press reports of a 4 day national rail strike next month put the skids under the pound in the Far East and leaves it vulnerable to further downside on any euro profit taking.

The US dollar, meanwhile, remains the beneficiary of the uncertainty although there does appear to be a move up in risk appetite.

Have a good weekend and remember the clocks go forward

Report by Phil McHugh

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

Contact Currencies Direct for Corporate or Private Transactions. Open an account today and save money.

Currencies Direct is a leading commercial foreign exchange company with offices in the UK, Australia and Spain and has offices across 5 continents. Currencies Direct’s head office and global trading centre is based in the City of London.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

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Darling Alistair Darling, Oh Dear

25, March 2010

A largely political budget failed to rattle the financial markets and the pound was unmoved on the back of the budget although it did slip against the USD due to other factors. It was announced that there would be a reduction in the government borrowing requirements but it was not enough to shift sterling especially as no clarity was divulged on how exactly the deficit would be reduced.

Sterling did slip against the USD following jittery trading on the downgrade of Portugal and the ongoing back and forth with Greece and the EU which led to USD buying. This morning the pound has staged a recovery following much better than expected retail sales data from the UK at +2.1% month on month; currently we sit at 1.4950 on the USD and 1.12 against the euro.

The euro was the big mover in the currency markets yesterday, on the downside. There is hope of an agreement for Greece in the next couple of days from the EU summit but until this is definitive the euro will be under pressure. Interestingly the PBOC (public Bank of China) have commented that the Greece debt crisis is just the beginning for the Euro zone. This is not good news for the euro and this could encourage longer term holders of the single currency to start dumping it and thus forcing it lower still.

Interestingly there is news of Chinese tightening through the sale of three month bills with 30 billlion RMB more than last weeks auction. This follows reports of further accelerating pace of growth and lending which the Chinese will want to temper. The Chinese have led the global recovery drive so far and the more they look to tighten and slow their rapid pace of growth then the greater effect on those reliant on China’s growth- i.e most major economies.

Report by Phil McHugh

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

Contact Currencies Direct for Corporate or Private Transactions. Open an account today and save money.

Currencies Direct is a leading commercial foreign exchange company with offices in the UK, Australia and Spain and has offices across 5 continents. Currencies Direct’s head office and global trading centre is based in the City of London.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

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UK Budget Looms as CHF Gains

24, March 2010

Yes, today is the UK pre-election budget which Alistair Darling will unveil to the House of Commons this afternoon. So what can we expect from Mr Darling today? Will he be specific and open about how the government plan to reduce the deficit by half within 4 years? Very unlikely…today is the last chance saloon for Labour to dance around the realities and focus upon trying to get re-elected.

Expect to see bashing of financial institutions and for Darling to drum home the point that early cuts or the Conservative policy could spin the economy back into recession. One item that would help this argument and sterling is the expectation of the announcement that the government borrowing forecasts are expected to be revised down from 178 billion. Depending on how much it is revised down will be key for sterling. I would expect to see the budget on this basis to be slightly sterling positive as the financial markets do not expect clear plans on reducing the deficit. The post election budget will be much more relevant for this regard.

Sterling softened a little yesterday on the news that inflation eased a touch. This indicates that inflation pressure is lessening and thus reduces the call for monetary policy tightening. It also validates for now that a weaker pound is not leading to inflationary pressure, thus there is scope for it to be pushed further.

Today we have seen the euro trip through to an May 2009 low at 1.3340 against the USD. The catalyst was again uncertainty with Greece coupled with news that Fitch has downgraded Portugal’s long term default rating from AA to AA-.The outlook is negative. The Swiss Franc has hit new all time highs against the euro and currently sits in the low 1.42’s

With imminent intervention not likely we could see further Swiss Franc gains.

Report by Phil McHugh

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

Contact Currencies Direct for Corporate or Private Transactions. Open an account today and save money.

Currencies Direct is a leading commercial foreign exchange company with offices in the UK, Australia and Spain and has offices across 5 continents. Currencies Direct’s head office and global trading centre is based in the City of London.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

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UK Budget To Leave Investors Wary

22, March 2010

Wednesday’s UK budget statement from Alistair Darling is very much the centre of attention this week. It is very likely to be his last even if the Labour government are somehow returned to power. The press is full of helpful advice for the Chancellor, mostly telling him what NOT to do, and there is so much of this that the statement itself might well set a record for brevity.

He is assumed to have the ‘good news’ to tell of a reduction in estimates for the UK’s borrowing requirement for this year and the next few years to come and will probably upgrade his growth estimates on the back of last quarter’s GDP figure and the predicted estimate for this quarter’s number. Could be Sterling positive in the short spell on or around delivery but the cloudy outlook for the whole political situation at present is more likely to leave investors wary and hence leave the currency vulnerable.

Today sees the opening of the 4 day meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, primarily to discuss the Greek economy, the effect the current crisis is having upon the wider Eurozone region and possible solutions to solve said problems. This might very well include further discussions on the establishing of an IMF-like European Monetary Fund.

It all sounds very positive but already this morning, Chancellor Angela Merkel has cemented the German opposition to Eurozone originated financial assistance for the Greeks by stating that investors should not expect this week’s EU summit to agree on any aid package for Greece. She added that EU leaders must not create “illusions” for markets by building expectations for Greek aid.

Looks like being another tough week for Euro bulls…the Euro is currently testing the downside at 1.35 against the USD.

Sterling has started the week on a bearish note and will hope to get back above the 1.50 level against the USD and hold above 1.10 against the euro. Mervyn King is speaking today and this normally equates to a weaker pound. We also have Trichet speaking for the ECB and Lockhart from the US Fed.

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

Contact Currencies Direct for Corporate or Private Transactions. Open an account today and save money.

Currencies Direct is a leading commercial foreign exchange company with offices in the UK, Australia and Spain and has offices across 5 continents. Currencies Direct’s head office and global trading centre is based in the City of London.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

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Euro News From Greece

18, March 2010

There is some euro news from Greece. Apparently someone may have been doing some rough calculations as to how much German taxpayers will end up in hock for if an EU rescue package for Greece is forthcoming…and the politicians didn’t like the outcome. This provoked comment from Chancellor Merkel that mirrored those of her Finance Minister earlier in the week which in effect dismissed chances of a monetary rescue package from within the Community, instead directing the Greeks to the IMF.

The Greek Prime Minister took up the challenge, complaining about the delay in any progress and apparently resolved to the fact that Eurozone cash was not on the table. He told the European Parliament that his country was running out of patience and that in fact Greece was already subject to a ‘full IMF austerity regime’ but without benefiting from any of the IMF related advantages i.e. reduced cost of funding.

He said that savings that they were achieving through the strict cost cutting measures, rather than going to reduce their budget deficit, were finding their way into the pockets of bond-holders through spiralling interest rate costs.

As if to back up his argument, Greek 10-year bond yields yesterday spiked again, up by 17 basis points to 6.26%. This as opposed to the 3.15% yield currently seen in the German equivalent. On the back of the wrangling, the Euro dropped by a couple of cents against the Dollar. Personally, it looks as though the Euro still has further to go with the attempts to project unity amongst the Euro zone members dissipating by the day. Next week’s EU summit meeting is assuming evermore importance given that the immediate future for the Euro itself could depend upon what emerges. Expect markets to be very dubious heading into the Thursday start.

Yesterday, Sterling had a good day, making gains across the board. As before, the reasons touted for this move appear tenuous at best and as before, Sterling making headway against the Euro was greeted by a member of the BoE/MPC putting a cautious bent on the UK’s economic revival and short term prospects. It was Andrew Sentence’s turn yesterday and he, like Kate Barker, commented on the prospects of a ‘double-dip recession’ in the UK and also mentioned that the depreciation of the Pound has been ‘significant’.

This is becoming a regular occurrence and whilst it is possible that every time is just a co-incidence, I feel that we are becoming aware of where the BoE would like to see Sterling until an export-led recovery at least begins to take shape. Today, further talk of Exxon of the States sniffing around the UK based BG Group could underpin Sterling against the Dollar
but with the lack of any data other than Canadian CPI, The day looks likely to be finished before it even begins.

Global equities had mixed fortunes on Thursday with, as expected, European stocks closing mostly down as the ongoing Greece debt crisis weighed on sentiment once again. In the US however, the Dow saw its eighth straight day of gains closing at its 17-month high with blue-chip stocks in the US boosted by some robust corporate results and benign inflation figures.

Slipping commodity prices however, saw energy stocks drag the S&P 500 down 0.03%. Asian stocks this morning took their lead from the Dow rather than the S&P and European indices are expected to follow suit. Without further spats within Europe, activity in stock markets is the only hope for moves in currencies today.

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

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Currencies Direct is a leading commercial foreign exchange company with offices in the UK, Australia and Spain and has offices across 5 continents. Currencies Direct’s head office and global trading centre is based in the City of London.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

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More Good News For the Pound As Sterling Holds Onto Gains

18, March 2010

The pound has so far held onto yesterdays gains following the unexpected fall in the unemployment claimant count. The market welcomed the data along with the unanimous decision from the Bank of England to hold on QE.

If you look at the employment numbers more closely the headline figure shrouds weak underlying trends in the labour market. However this was ignored for now by the markets and the news provided a rare opportunity to buy the pound. Already today we have seen the dreaded Public sector net borrowing data come and go without any nasty surprises. The data was actually better than expected with PSNB at 12.361 bln against the forecasted rise to 14.75 bln for February.

In other data mortgage approvals for the UK sunk to 48k identifying further sluggish lending in the housing sector. The pound seems nicely consolidated above 1.52 and 1.11, however it is unlikely to see further big moves now until next weeks budget.

Equities have continued their good run with the Dow hitting a 17 month high and its seventh daily gain. The feedback from the Fed minutes reflecting that interest rates will remain low for a prolonged period has boosted the equity markets. Although confidence in equities is robust, there is still ongoing wranglings concerning Greece which is causing a few jitters.

The Greek PM said that he may turn to the IMF for loan guarantees in order to lower its cost of borrowing in the credit markets. The difference between German and Greek rates is 300 basis points and this is hitting Greece hard, the argument is that intensive austerity measures are being swallowed by interest payments. The euro has lost a cent against the USD from yesterday.

In other news the Canadian dollar is still on its drive to parity against the USD and is currently within one cent of achieving this. The Canadian government are playing down the strength of the CAD for now but there must be a real concern for Canadian companies who rely on exporting. Although the Bank of Canada have repeatedly expressed concern in the past on the strength of the CAD the recent improvement in economic sentiment is unlikely to lead to any firm action or comments on the currency for now.

Report by Phil McHugh

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

Contact Currencies Direct for Corporate or Private Transactions. Open an account today and save money.

Currencies Direct is a leading commercial foreign exchange company with offices in the UK, Australia and Spain and has offices across 5 continents. Currencies Direct’s head office and global trading centre is based in the City of London.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

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Any Good News For The Pound

17, March 2010

At last there is some good news for the pound and it came in the form of the unemployment numbers. The number of Britons claiming unemployment benefits fell unexpectedly by 32,300 in Feb against the expectation for a rise of 8,000. January’s reported rise of 23,500 was also slashed to 5,300. This fall is the biggest monthly fall since November 1997 and the claimant count rate eased to 4.9% – the lowest since August 2009.

This is timely feedback on the job sector for the Labour government as we draw nearer to election day. Although the data is certainly encouraging we should not get carried away as there is still a significant risk of a stuttering recovery. The labour market is still adjusting to fragile market conditions and this will lead to schisms in employment data. Looking forward we still have the threat of sharp public sector cuts which will lead to a rise in unemployment going forward.

The pound has welcomed the news by rallying sharply gaining over 1% against the USD and 0.8% against the euro.

This is a welcome relief rally for the pound which has been on the ropes especially since the beginning of March.The pound was also lifted by the MPC minutes which showed a vote of 9-0 to hold interest rates and QE. The unanimous decision has helped ease fears of further QE and division within the MPC.

The euro has held its neck above 1.37 today after testing over 1.38. The Aussie dollar has lost some of its shine after the Reserve Bank of Australia confirmed a more gradual approach to future tightening. The market had priced in a rate rise in April which now looks likely to roll to May.

Report by Phil McHugh

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

Contact Currencies Direct for Corporate or Private Transactions. Open an account today and save money.

Currencies Direct is a leading commercial foreign exchange company with offices in the UK, Australia and Spain and has offices across 5 continents. Currencies Direct’s head office and global trading centre is based in the City of London.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

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Selling Sterling Short

Currency Market News on the UK’s Bulging Deficit, German ZEW Survey and the FOMC Minutes

16, March 2010

Following over two weeks of selling pressure the market seems to be running out of new reasons to sell the pound. Sterling selling is running out of steam. We have already heard lots about a hung parliament, the deficit, weak growth prospects, QE and negative M&A flows. The pound has undoubtedly struggled but it seems to have found a bottom for now at 1.50 against the USD and 1.10 on the euro.

Recent news that hit the pound was that the European Commission is concerned about the UK’s bulging deficit and the UK needs to dramatically enforce it’s fiscal programme. This did lead the pound lower but it has bounced back and this to me signals that we may have limited downside potential unless we see anything new to attack sterling. The key level against the USD is for a move back over 1.52.

Today we had the German ZEW survey which came in slightly better than expected but lower than last months reading. Therefore this shows a six month consecutive decline in the ZEW survey reinforcing the weak sentiment for Germany. However the euro has held firm and is at the moment above 1.37 against the USD.

Later we have the FOMC minutes and once again the language from the Fed will be all important. Basically if the Fed turn more hawkish then this will allow the USD to rally….the language in recent statements has maintained the “extended period” for keeping interest rates at low levels. With better recent economic sentiment it will be interesting to see if this is reflective in the FOMC.

Report by Phil McHugh

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

Contact Currencies Direct for Corporate or Private Transactions. Open an account today and save money.

Currencies Direct is a leading commercial foreign exchange company with offices in the UK, Australia and Spain and has offices across 5 continents. Currencies Direct’s head office and global trading centre is based in the City of London.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

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GBP/USD Early Trading

Currency Market News on Sterling vs Dollar, BoE, FMOC and The Bank of Australia

15, March 2010

Sterling has started the week badly falling against the USD and the EUR. On Friday the pound managed to move over 1.52 against the USD following news that an opinion poll indicated an outright Conservative majority. If Sterling could vote it would vote conservative!

However the weekend polls have again pointed towards a hung parliament helping to soften the pound. In addition we had UK Right move house price data which did not paint a good picture for the housing market. In addition the ratings agency Moody’s affirmed that the UK’s fiscal position has been subject to “extreme deterioration”, which was negative for the pound.

However they did affirm that the UK is still a long way from anything that would prompt a ratings outlook change. They also commented that the post election budget will be of much greater importance than the March 24th budget. Although the pound remains for now over 1.50 against the USD, the fact that it could not sustain a move over 1.52 maintains the bearish trend.

For the week ahead we have various feedback from central banks with minutes from the BoE, FOMC and the Reserve Bank of Australia. In addition for the UK we have the recently famed Public Sector Net borrowing, mortgage approvals, jobless claims and unemployment. It is difficult to foresee any positives in the upcoming data for sterling, hopefully the data will be a case of damage limitation.

Report by Phil McHugh

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

Contact Currencies Direct for Corporate or Private Transactions. Open an account today and save money.

Currencies Direct is a leading commercial foreign exchange company with offices in the UK, Australia and Spain and has offices across 5 continents. Currencies Direct’s head office and global trading centre is based in the City of London.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

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Currency: Dollar versus Euro

Currency Market News on Dollar vs Euro, Watching Sterling, the Weather, Greek Problem Solving and the Yen

12, March 2010

The Euro fights back against the USD as it has gained over a cent. (EUR/USD) Economic data certainly helped the move with Euro zone Industrial Production coming out much better than expected at +1.7% month on month and +1.4% year on year, the expectation was for +0.7% and -1.9%.

The positive industrial production data can be held in stark contrast to the dire figures from the UK earlier in the week. The weather in the UK was blamed for the downturn in the UK…mmm they had bad weather in Europe too. Another (and more plausible) reason for euro strength could be attributed to a US investment bank’s recommendation to go long on EUR/USD with a target of 1.45…could be a good position.

Speculation that authorities will help tackle Greece at the EU summit on Thursday and news that ECB president Jean Claude Trichet will leave Sydney early to attend a gathering of EU leaders is helping confidence in the euro. Although the euro has weakened since December the downturn, recently it has consolidated well and market confidence could easily return to buying the euro if the EU handle the Greece problem effectively.

Sterling has also ridden higher against the USD back over 1.51. The spike in confidence and the euro gains against the USD have driven this move higher. It still needs to hold above 1.52 to encourage the markets to buy sterling further. With the budget in the pipeline I think the markets will be nervous to buy into sterling next week.

In other news Japanese PM Hatoyama has stated that steps need to be taken against the recent strength of the Yen. We have seen some Yen weakness in the markets with EUR and GBP gains in particular. The economic conditions do not reflect the strength of the currency and the Yen has been favoured as a safe haven in uncertain market conditions. If the Japanese authorities continue to complain on the strong Yen and global economic sentiment improves the Yen could be in for a big sell off with levels of USD/JPY to 105 and GBP/JPY up to 150…one to watch…

Report by Phil McHugh

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

Contact Currencies Direct for Corporate or Private Transactions. Open an account today and save money.

Currencies Direct is a leading commercial foreign exchange company with offices in the UK, Australia and Spain and has offices across 5 continents. Currencies Direct’s head office and global trading centre is based in the City of London.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

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Market Pounds Sterling

Currency Market News on Sterling, Sterling and Not Much Else

10, March 2010

Monday’s comment was that Sterling started the week above 1.51 against the USD and over 1.10 against the euro as it looked to continue consolidating after suffering heavy losses last week.

Tuesday’s comment was that the consolidation period for Sterling did not last too long and overnight in Asian trading and so far this morning it has been under selling pressure again.

Today we have in the foreign currency news that the hits that keep coming…

…that is for sterling and the UK economy as Industrial production for January and manufacturing output came out much weaker than expected. Industrial output was -0.4% month on month and manufacturing output was -0.9%. Thus we have more negative feedback on top of yesterdays negatives to further reinforce the selling pressure on sterling. Gordon Brown was also speaking this morning on the UK economy; he affirmed that the recovery is in the early stages and remains fragile. There will be a budget in 2 weeks time which will set out more detail on deficit reduction. It certainly needs to. As we have discussed sterling needs some clarity and so do the credit rating agencies.

Sterling is still under the 1.50 level against the USD and has dropped under the 1.10 level against the EUR and is entrenched in a bearish trend.

Virtually nothing in respect of economic data ahead for today, however we will have comments from Central Bank members from the ECB & US. Tomorrow we have US jobless claims and Friday EU Industrial Production.

Report by Phil McHugh

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

Contact Currencies Direct for Corporate or Private Transactions. Open an account today and save money.

Currencies Direct is a leading commercial foreign exchange company with offices in the UK, Australia and Spain and has offices across 5 continents. Currencies Direct’s head office and global trading centre is based in the City of London.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

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Is Forex Rising…

Is Forex Rising? Yes. While the markets are falling, Forex is rising

6, March, 2010

The global economic crisis has hit economies worldwide and made the financial
markets unstable. Recently, the crisis has deepened once more due to negative investor sentiment. In these critical conditions many investors are pulling their money out of
failing stock markets and looking elsewhere for more rewarding investments.

The Forex market offers a safe-haven for investors worldwide. Unlike other financial assets, the Forex market allows investors to benefit from all market directions. Because currencies always trade in pairs, when one weakens the other strengthens.Whether a currency pair is going up or down, the Forex market presents endless trends and trading opportunities which successful investors can profit from.

Recently, for example, while stocks have been crashing investors have fled to the US dollar causing it to rise, while causing counter currencies, such as the euro and the pound to drop in value.

However, volatility in the markets offers excellent trading opportunities in Forex. Since the start of the current economic crisis volatility has increased across all the financial markets. Despite what many people think, Forex traders can actually benefit from the sharp movements which this creates. Actually, the sharper the movements, the more opportunity Forex traders have to make rewarding trades.

eToro’s trading tools are easy to use and help maximize opportunity while minimizing your risk. The Stop/Loss orders will allow you to predetermine the amount you are willing to risk on each trade, protecting your investments while allowing your profits to rise. By using our unique trading system you can fully control your positions even during volatile hours.

For example, on a $100 investment a trader can control trades with a value of up to $40,000 and receive the full profit from these positions, while limiting their risk to a very small amount which they decide themselves by the use of a Stop/Loss order. This allows traders to protect their account from sharp unpredictable market movements,
while allowing them to take full advantage of the market’s volatility.

Despite the excellent advantages which enable traders to monitor and control their trading portfolio, new traders are often hesitant when they start trading Forex. Due to eToro’s revolutionary trading platform, new traders can easily adjust to the world of currency trading. With a simplified and people-friendly visual interface, eToro is designed to help every trader master currency trading in no time at all.

eToro’s educational guides, tutorials and forums provides all type of traders with the knowledge they require to conquer Forex. eToro traders also have full access to trader chats, insight tools and up-to-date market news. New traders can also practice their trading strategies with live practice trading.

Open a real account today and start taking advantage of the Forex market for yourself.

All the best,
Good Trading,

Tom

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

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BoE Keep Interest Rates On Hold

Currency Market News on BOE Interest Rates, Germany and Greece and the US Non-Farm Payroll Data

5, March 2010

As the BoE keep interest rates on hold at 0.5%, the asset purchase programme was held at £200 billion. The stronger PMI data this week and the improvement in the revision of Q4 2009 GDP has helped the MPC to be comfortable in their current wait and see policy.

An article in the Telegraph interestingly pointed out that if it was not for QE the UK would still be in recession. That could well be the case. The fact that there was no expansion helped to keep sterling supported just over 1.50 against the USD and 1.10 the euro. We really need to see a move beyond 1.52 before we can start to relax a little.

Over to the ECB and as expected they also kept rates on hold at 1%. They announced that it will continue to scale back their special lending measures as expected and equally as expected Trichet dodged the difficult bullets concerning Greece and gave little away. Yesterday’s Greek bond issue was a real success and this gave the markets a boost backing up the recent austerity measures introduced. The market is aware that we are not out of the woods but this certainly helps. Expect further wranglings with Greece but nice to get some good news for a change.

Today the German and Greek heads are meeting. Should be a spicy meeting after yesterdays comment from the German Economics Minister who said that the German government has no intention of offering Greece “even one cent” and that each country has to take care of its own affairs…..would be nice to be a fly on the wall for this meeting.

Later today we have the big US non-farm payrolls number but even this has lost some of its importance with the appalling weather expected to have considerably distorted the numbers. In a way this could prove to be Dollar positive with the whole community expecting a weak number therefore reaction should only materialise from a surprisingly better result.

Report by Phil McHugh

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

Contact Currencies Direct for Corporate or Private Transactions. Open an account today and save money.

Currencies Direct is a leading commercial foreign exchange company with offices in the UK, Australia and Spain and has offices across 5 continents. Currencies Direct’s head office and global trading centre is based in the City of London.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

BlogCatalog – Finance

Pound On The Up

Currency Market News on The Pound, The Bank Of Canada and The AUD

3, March 2010

Not much movement overall yesterday on sterling as the markets paused on selling the pound. This morning we have news that the pound is on the up and has made some gains back. As we stand we are holding just above the key 1.10 level and 1.50 on GBP/USD.

The 1.50 level on GBP/USD is a crucial level to hold above and will help to steady the ship and prevent further selling pressure. This morning we have seen UK PMI data come in much stronger than expected rising to 58.40 compared to the 55 expected and giving the best reading for over 3 years. On top of this consumer confidence rose to 80 and a 2 year high as consumers look ahead to a brighter 2010 for the UK economy. The good data this morning was a huge breath of fresh air for sterling giving it a welcome break from the selling momentum.

GBP/USD has picked up this morning beyond 1.36 following the leaked news of an austerity package for Greece totaling 4.8 billion euros. There is still uncertainty on the level of support that Greece will receive from the EU and the Greek PM tactically said that the cabinet may turn to the IMF if the EU does not give support – nice move. If we get further clarity on the level of EU support then this should lift the euro further. In addition it will help lead to selling pressure on USD and the JPY and hopefully boost the pound as confidence improves.

The Bank of Canada yesterday did everything apart from actually raising rates, thus cementing their previous comment that they preferred to wait until the summer before actually tightening officially. The GBP strengthened on the accompanying bullish statement and with the AUD , looks set to be a star performer, certainly for the 1st half of 2010.

Report by Phil McHugh

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

Contact Currencies Direct for Corporate or Private Transactions. Open an account today and save money.

Currencies Direct is a leading commercial foreign exchange company with offices in the UK, Australia and Spain and has offices across 5 continents. Currencies Direct’s head office and global trading centre is based in the City of London.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

BlogCatalog – Finance

What’s With The Euro Dollar?

The problems of Greece are the central focus of the Eurozone just now. The pound is taking a bashing all around and concerns in the US have been over the shaky greenback. Amidst all this activity the EUR/USD has been ignored a little of late. So what’s with the euro dollar relationship right now?

The new year started in the belief that the dollar would suffer at the hands of the euro but the reverse has proved to be true. The euro has turned out to be even weaker than the US dollar as it moved to levels not seen since May of 2009.

The PIGS of Europe (Portugal,Ireland,Greece and Spain) have all had a hand in this turn of events so what’s with the euro dollar relationship?

Was the conventional thinking wrong or did the market get it right? If you take a few minutes to take a look at this new video you can see that we may be at a tipping point where conventional thinking could well be wrong again.

Good Trading,

Tom

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

BlogCatalog – Finance

Can The Pound Pick Up?

Currency Market News on Sterling, a UK Hung Parliament and RBA Interest Rates

2, March 2010

After being sold aggressively across the markets yesterday, can the pound pick up? The markets have taken a breather and we now await the next move. First let us dissect why the drop in sterling which fell over 2% against the USD pushing it to a 10 month low.

Well the focus is political with the opinion polls over the weekend indicating that the chances of a hung parliament were much higher. So why does this cause a problem? A hung parliament may actually prove successful, however the markets do not like uncertainty and the consensus is that a coalition government will have less political clout to push through the decisive decisions especially in relation to tough fiscal planning which is inevitable.

The Conservatives have come out of the traps today stating that protecting the AAA status is central to their plans. However, some feel their proposed aggressive cuts will be detrimental to recovery. On the other hand Labour propose to wait and cut later but waiting too long could mean that the horse has already bolted and the AAA rating could be lost. So this uncertainty and division is leading to a weaker pound.

Yes this could be good for the UK economy and for recovery but there is a fine line between a weaker pound and the loss of confidence in Sterling and the UK economy. This would lead to a sharp rise in import prices and inflationary pressure especially if commodity prices remain high, which is not good. This would spill into a pressure on the UK gilt markets and inevitably the UK losing the AAA rating adding yet more pressure.

So you can see the problem that uncertainty is creating. The pound needs to get back above the psychological 1.50 level against the USD The Times summed up the weakness in the pound by empasizing its 7% drop since the beginning of February against the Zimbabwe Dollar!

Sterling also lost yesterday on the purchase by Prudential of AIG’s Asian business which led to further selling of GBP and buying of the USD in the light of this purchase.

In other news the RBA raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 4%- giving further strength to the Aussie dollar. the AUD still the darling of the currencies and expected to strengthen further against the major currencies going forward.

Report by Phil McHugh

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

Contact Currencies Direct for Corporate or Private Transactions. Open an account today and save money.

Currencies Direct is a leading commercial foreign exchange company with offices in the UK, Australia and Spain and has offices across 5 continents. Currencies Direct’s head office and global trading centre is based in the City of London.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

BlogCatalog – Finance

Pound Is Pummeled

Currency Market News on the Pummeled Pound, a Hung Parliament and Greece…of course

1, March 2010

Disastrous start as the pound is pummeled in the FX markets continuing the bearish trend witnessed last week. The pound has dropped to a near 3 month low against the euro, a 10 month low against the USD and a near year low against the Yen. The UK is under heavy selling pressure with unwanted attention and unease with the fiscal deficit combined with further indications that the general election will result in a hung parliament.

A hung parliament would severely limit the ability of a divided parliament to act decisively on the UK’s deficit spelling danger for sterling. In addition to this the potential purchase of the Asian life insurance unit of AIG from Prudential is causing large negative M&A flows out of sterling and into the USD. So all in all not a bright picture for the pound which is looking alarmingly fragile and dropping sharply.

Lots on the table this week for economic data with interest rate decisions in Australia, UK, Canada and Europe. The expectation is for another rise in Australia of 25 basis points. We will also have feedback from all major economies in relation to PMI data which will give a good gauge on the services and manufacturing sectors.

The Greece situation is still ongoing. A few rumblings of solutions have dissolved into nothing leaving the markets still uncertain and leaning to the safe havens of the USD, the Yen and the Aussie dollar performing well on the hint of another rate rise.

Report by Phil McHugh

Currency Market Updates by Tom Nadir

Contact Currencies Direct for Corporate or Private Transactions. Open an account today and save money.

Currencies Direct is a leading commercial foreign exchange company with offices in the UK, Australia and Spain and has offices across 5 continents. Currencies Direct’s head office and global trading centre is based in the City of London.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only.

BlogCatalog – Finance

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