In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 60.09 points, or 1.1 percent, to 5,282.04 while Germany's DAX fell 65.34 points, or 1.1 percent, to 5,722.27. The CAC-40 in France was 34.10 points, or 0.9 percent, lower at 3,794.08.Losses in Europe more than doubled after Wall Street opened sharply lower. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 121.15 points, or 1.2 percent, at 10,305.16 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 16.03 points, or 1.4 percent, at 1,093.77.Stock markets have rallied strongly since March's lows as investors reined in their economic doomsday expectations to factor in a swifter than anticipated global economic rebound, but recent disappointing U.S. housing figures and mixed earnings from some of the country's leading retailers have dented the optimism. Many investors think stock valuations are now pricing in too rapid an economic recovery."Negative outlooks from the U.S. software sector and unexpectedly disappointing home stats brought worries about the pace of recovery back to the table," said Richard Griffiths, senior equity trader at Spreadex.The state of household spending in the U.S. is key for recovery _ it accounts for around 70 percent of the nation's economy. A second consecutive quarterly loss from Sears Holdings Inc. did little to ease concerns that the upcoming Christmas trading period may not be as strong as many in the markets have been predicting.Further insights will be looked for in results later from Gap Inc.The markets brushed aside the latest more rosy economic forecasts from the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, even though it more than doubled its estimate for 2010 growth in its 30 member countries _ which include the U.S., Japan and Germany _ to 1.9 percent and raised its 2011 forecast to 2.5 percent."Neither of these figures is exceptional which underpins the delicate nature of the present economic recovery," said Jane Foley, research director at Forex.com.
Earlier, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average lost 127.33 points, or 1.3 percent, to 9,549.47 _ its seventh straight day of decline as investors succumbed to jitters about a possible glut of new bank shares after Mitsubishi UFJ announced plans to raise capital. The bank's shares fell 3.7 percent.Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 197.17 points, or 0.9 percent, to 22,643.16, while Taiwan's benchmark shed 0.1 percent and Indonesia's market was 0.6 percent lower.
Other markets fared better: South Korea's Kospi added 1 percent to lead the region and China's Shanghai index rose 0.5 percent. In Singapore, shares were up 0.6 percent after the city-state reported a second straight quarter of growth as manufacturing and service sectors helped it surface from a deep recession. The economy was seen expanding between 3 percent and 5 percent next year, the government said.Oil prices hovered above $79 a barrel, with benchmark crude for December delivery down 11 cents to $79.47 a barrel.Gold prices eased after a strong run saw it top $1,150 per ounce for the first time ever _ they were down 90 cents an ounce, or 0.1 percent, to $1,140.30.Meanwhile, the dollar fell 0.7 percent to 88.70 but was up against the euro, which was trading 0.7 percent lower at $1.4859.
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
World stock markets slide amid valuation concerns
Euro choppy after middling US retail sales data

With the morning's U.S. economic reports out of the way, attention will shift to the 12:15 p.m. EST speech of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in New York for clues as to any changes in monetary policy or the state of the U.S. economy.In early New York trading, the euro was at $1.4967 from $1.4920 late Friday, according to EBS via CQG. The dollar was at Y89.44 from Y89.65, while the euro was at Y133.87 from Y133.79. The U.K. pound was at $1.6731 from $1.6690. The dollar was at CHF1.0084 from CHF1.0119.The Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six currencies, was at 74.996 from 75.229.
The U.S. retail sales data were "decent, but not enough to really get excited about and provoke a new leg higher in risk assets," said Brian Dolan, chief currency strategist at Forex.com in Bedminster, N.J.Also limiting the euro's gains was the Monday morning release of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Empire Manufacturing Survey, showing its general business conditions index fell by 11 points to 23.51 from 34.57 in October, but remained in positive territory. The index for new orders and shipments also slipped, showing a slower rate of improvement.The euro sputtered last week, failing to make a sustained break over the psychologically key $1.50 mark. This week's full calendar of economic data could give the common currency and other risk-positive assets fodder to rally, as long as the data continue to flow positively, but currency analysts will be looking for the euro to close above $1.5064, its yearly high, to cement its upward trend."We need to close above that to see the rally extend," Dolan said.Also limiting the euro's gains was the Monday morning release of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Empire Manufacturing Survey, showing its general business conditions index fell by 11 points to 23.51 from 34.57 in October. The index for new orders and shipments also slipped. However, the figures remained in positive territory, indicating a slower rate of improvement.U.S. retail sales increased 1.4%, above the 0.9% increase projected by Wall Street. But September sales were revised down, to a 2.3% decrease from a previously estimated 1.5% tumble.Aside from automobiles in October, other sales rose just 0.2%. It was the third increase in a row, yet smaller than the 0.4% climb predicted.The U.S. stock market is expected to follow other global bourses and open higher. If stocks rally, the euro and other higher-yielding currencies could track higher, continuing their recent trading patterns.
Overnight, Japan's government said the nation's gross domestic product grew a price-adjusted 1.2% in July-September from the prior quarter, or a 4.8% increase on an annualized basis. The result beat the 0.6% on-quarter growth and 2.2% annualized rise expected by economists polled by Dow Jones Meanwhile, the heads of the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum governments wrapped up their weekend meeting Sunday--failing to agree on currency movements, a major headache for Asian Asia's export-dependent economies are suffering from the decline of the dollar and of the Chinese currency, which Beijing informally links to the greenback.A draft of the APEC leaders' statement said they would move toward "market-oriented exchange rates," mirroring the phrase that the APEC finance ministers used in their statement Thursday, said a person in the leaders' meeting. But the final communique dropped any reference to currencies."They wanted at least a small reference in the communique, but they were cut off by the Chinese, who didn't want to discuss it," a top adviser to an APEC head of government told Dow Jones Newswires. "This summit was a disappointment."Separately, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn reiterated Monday that the U.S. dollar will remain the most important global currency, even though other currencies--such as the euro, the Japanese yen and perhaps the yuan--may challenge it.The dollar's role won't change much, given that the U.S. will still be the biggest economy, Strauss-Kahn said, speaking at a forum at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
The Canadian dollar was higher Monday morning after the U.S. dollar retreated broadly in currency markets in response to a more favorable attitude towards risk among investors.
The U.S. dollar is at C$1.0446 from C$1.0515 late Friday. It dipped to a low at C$1.0440 in earlier trading before rebounding modestly.Statistics Canada reported Monday morning that manufacturing shipments rose 1.4% in September, slightly below the 1.6% forecast by economists but substantially stronger than the 1.8% decline in the previous month.
A report from TD Securities said it remains bullish on the Canadian currency and expects the currency to benefit from better relative economic fundamentals, rising commodity prices and general disenchantment with the U.S. dollar.
Dollar slides, sending gold to record high

The pound was at 1.6619 dollars (1.6503).
US Dollar to Face Lower Volumes
Gold hits record high $1,174

UPDATE:Asian Shares Mixed; Resource Cos Provide Some Support

WORLD FOREX: Euro Falls Vs Yen, Dollar On Weak Asian Shares

Monday, November 23, 2009
Dollar eases in thin trade in Asia

European Economics Preview

European Central Bank
"Amidst a holiday-shortened Thanksgiving week, markets may continue to take risk off the table in the absence of strong positive cues from equities, leaving the majors vulnerable to further retracements," Emmanuel Ng, an economist in Singapore at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., wrote in a research note today. Futures traders decreased bets the euro will strengthen against the dollar, figures from the Washington-based Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed on Nov. 20. The difference in the number of wagers by hedge funds and other large speculators on an advance in the euro compared with those on a drop -- so-called net longs -- was 11,956 on Nov. 17, compared with net longs of 25,173 a week earlier.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Canada Afternoon: C$ Ends Lower Amid Subdued Risk Sentiment

USD/CAD 1.0700 1.0712 1.0633
EUR/CAD 1.5910 1.5864 1.5865
CAD/JPY 83.16 83.08 83.78
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Rates in Australia will keep rising,but slower

Forex Trading-Understanding Forex Charts

Line charts are particularly suitable for giving a broad overview of price movements. They are normally plotted to show the closing price at each chosen time interval and they are easy to read and clearly define patterns in price movements.Although not quite as easy to read, bar charts provide far more information. The length of each bar is used to indicate the price spread for a given period, with long bars indicating a large variation between high and low prices. Opening prices will be shown on the left tab of a bar and closing prices on the right tab so that you can see at a glance whether the price has risen or fallen and just what the variation in price was. When printed out bar charts can be difficult to read but most software charts will have a zoom function which makes reading closely spaced bars much easier.
Candlestick charts, which were invented by the Japanese to analyze rice contracts, are similar to bar charts but are easier to read as they are color-coded. Green candlesticks are used to show rising prices and red candlesticks to show falling prices.When reading candlestick charts the candlestick shapes viewed in relation to one another form various patterns according to the price spread and the proximity are opening to closing prices. Many of these patterns have been given names such as ‘Morning Star’ and ‘Dark Cloud Cover’ and once you become familiar with these patterns it is easy to pick them out on a chart and to identify trends in the market.To supplement the information provided by charts a number of technical indicators are also used. These include trend indicators, strength indicators, volatility indicators and cycle indicators and all of these are used to anticipate movements in the market and market volume.The most commonly used Forex technical indicators include:Average Directional Movement (ADX). ADX is used to determine whether or not a market is entering an upward or downward trend and just how strong the trend is.
Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD). MACD shows the momentum of a market and the relationship between two moving averages. When, for example, the MACD line crossings of the signal line it indicates a strong market.Stochastic Oscillator. The stochastic oscillator indicates the strength or weakness of a market by comparing a closing price to a price range over a period of time. A high stochastic indicates a currency that is overbought while a low stochastic points to a currency which is oversold.Relative Strength Indicator (RSI). RSI is a scale from 0 to 100 which indicates the highest and lowest prices over a given time. When prices rise above 70 the currency is considered to be overbought while a price below 30 would indicate a currency which is oversold.Moving Average. Moving average is the average price for a given time when compared to other prices during similar time periods. For example, the closing prices over a 7 day time period would have a moving average equal to the sum of the 7 closing prices divided by 7.
Bollinger Bands. Bollinger bands are bands that contain the majority of a currency’s price. Each band consists of three lines - the upper and lower lines indicate the price movement with the middle line showing the average price. In conditions of high volatility the gap between the upper and lower bands will widen. If a bar or candlestick touches one of the bands then it will indicate either an overbought or an oversold condition.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
The Bearish pressure on the Swissie continues

It is somewhat clear that only deterioration in the fundamental outlook for the Swiss economy could generate such depreciation in the Swiss Franc. The Swiss economy is strongly exposed to the Euro zone as the EU posses the largest export market for the Swiss economy. As the EU economy shrinks the demand for Swiss goods and services declines and evidently brings the Swiss trade balance under pressure. In addition the Swiss banking sector which is one of the most important service export and source of cash inflows for the Swiss economy has been hit painfully by the crisis. The Swiss banking system still relies on government support and its relative advantage stands in jeopardy.
The conclusion that the intelligent investor must draw from this is that until the looming problems in the Euro zone and the banking sector will not be solved the smart money will not be flowing to the Swiss Franc. The USD/CHF is in a prolonged bullish momentum with 1.2 as its first target.
Forex News Trader

Finding the right Forex Broker may be the difference in coming out ahead in the long run. FX brokers are your sole connection in this huge market and you have to put a lot of faith in them. We provide you with the top forex brokers and broker reviews to help you decide during this selection process. A new broker we want you to consider is eToro.com, which puts a whole new feel on the Forex Broker business.What are Forex Rebates? FX Rebates are a payout for the volume of trading you run through your Forex Broker. These rebates can add up to a significant amount capital if you are trading in the Forex Market. If you are going to trade, you might as well get paid to trade. You are going to pay a spread or commission either way you look at it, so it only makes sense to earn Forex Rebates as you continue your trading.Using the videos created by FXDD, we will try to provide you with weekly videos of future events as well as provide you with the daily events when necessary. This will give you, the trader more information to help you. Each video will represent a week or day depending on which is available. At least this way you can come back to one spot for all your Forex video needs.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Pakistan's post-9/11 economic boom

New forex controls By Argentina

Argentina peso hits new low

Allied Irish Bank's lost more than £500m

Average turnover on the world's forex

Tuesday, November 17, 2009
UK inflation rate rises

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) climbed to 1.5% in October, up from 1.1% in September.Meanwhile the Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation measure, which includes mortgage interest payments and housing costs, rose to -0.8% from -1.4%.Inflation accelerated mainly because fuel prices fell by a lot less than they did in the same period a year ago.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said fuel costs fell by just 0.7% between September and October, compared with a record 6.1% fall last year.That fall was caused by a dramatic slide in the price of oil.
Prices of second-hand cars, which rose at the fastest rate on record, also contributed to the inflation rise in October, the ONS said.It also said rising prices of recording devices, games and toys helped to push inflation up.Cuts in the cost of banking services, particularly overdraft charges and mortgage arrangement fees, helped to offset some of the price rises.The rise in the RPI - the biggest monthly rise since 1990 - was due in part to the fact that house prices are currently rising, but were falling last year.Analysts had expected the rate of inflation to rise, so the figures came as no surprise to the City."I don't think this is anything that will worry the Monetary Policy Committee [of the Bank of England] too much," said Amit Kara at UBS."The MPC has highlighted that inflation is going to be very volatile in the near term."The committee sets interest rates which are the main policy tool available to control inflation.The Bank of England has also said inflation will probably go up after the temporary reduction in VAT expires in January, although inflation is then expected to fall back again.However, October's rise in inflation did lead some analysts to question whether the Bank would pump more money into the economy beyond the £200bn it has already announced under its quantitative easing (QE) programme."While such a spike [in inflation] is expected to prove a temporary affair, it is hard to reconcile the Bank rolling out QE yet further in February hot on the heels of CPI potentially returning to letter-writing territory," said Richard McGuire at RBC.The government target for the CPI measure is 2%. The governor of the Bank of England has to write to the chancellor if the annual rate of CPI inflation is more than 3% or less than 1%.But while some questioned the wisdom of expanding QE, others urged the Bank to continue pumping money into the economy."Given the serious risks facing the UK economy and the dangers of a double-dip recession in 2010, it is important for the MPC to persevere with an aggressive QE programme, and to consider special measures aimed at boosting bank lending to businesses," said David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Billionaire Strikes Back
