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EuroCrisis: Why Greece Became a Disaster

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:40:19 +0000

Moodys said on April 13 that it would begin downgrading banks, including BNP Paribas, Frances biggest lender, Germanys Deutsche Bank and New York-based JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, by early May. Yesterday, Moodys spokeswoman Kirsten Knight said the firms schedule for concluding bank rating reviews hadnt changed.

Moodys expects to conclude the reviews by the end of June, she said in an emailed statement. Moodys declined to elaborate beyond the statement or comment on when the first downgrade would occur.

Its the second time Moodys has delayed publishing details of the downgrades in a month. Any ratings cuts could push up bank funding costs, heaping further misery on the industry as the boost that followed the European Central Banks cash injections in December and February wears off and policymakers struggle to extinguish the sovereign-debt crisis.

Using Fundamental And Technical Analysis In Trading

Maya Kiddle — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:19:21 +0000

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. My long standing illness has been getting me down recently. Anyway I have two guest posts that you may find useful. The first one is entitled Using Fundamental And Technical Analysis In Trading and is featured below, whilst the second one will be posted tomorrow. I hope you find them useful.

Fundamental analysis remains an essential part of formulating trading strategies for the majority of traders, regardless of whether its stocks, shares or commodities. The subject of fundamental analysis is incredibly broad with a wealth of information available to the novice and expert trader alike.

Generally speaking fundamental analysis will be used for trading stocks and shares, but where short-term trading strategies are prominent, such as FX trading, technical analysis will often be favoured. Of course, using a hybrid of both fundamental and technical analysis will ensure both bases are being covered and can often be the best approach for trading.

Greek Election Mess Sends EUR Back to 1.30

Maya Kiddle — Wed, 09 May 2012 05:02:57 +0000

Allowing Greece to leave the Eurozone will be painful but its like cutting off an arm with gangrene – it just needs to be done to save the euro. In the short term, it will be painful and packed with uncertainty but in the long run, it will make the euro a healthier and more attractive currency. However in the meantime, we still have to keep a close eye on the developments to see how everything will play out. Samaras was unable to form a new government and now its Tsiparas’ turn. Most likely Tsiparas will fail as well in which case PASOK may give it a shot. At the end of day, a second general election will probably need be called in June. Between now and then, loan disbursements and austerity program implementation will suffer and the EUR/USD will remain under pressure. Read more…

Politics Weigh in Risk FX

Alica McCall — Mon, 07 May 2012 11:26:29 +0000

Risk FX was under pressure in listless event free European trade as uncertainties surrounding both Greek and French election results weighed on investor sentiment pushing euro, cable and Aussie lower as the day progressed. With Greece seemingly unable to form a working coalition chances are increasing that the country may have to face another round of Parliamentary elections after the two major parties took the worst drubbing in more than 40 years in yesterday’s Parliamentary results.

Meanwhile the German government of Angela Merkel rebuffed any notion of becoming more fiscally liberal in order to stimulate the EZ economy. France’s newly elected President Francois Hollande ran on a platform of ending the “all-austerity” approach which would in essence modify the current fiscal compact in the union. However, Ms. Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said: “It is not possible to renegotiate the budgetary pact which has already been signed by 25 out of 27 EU countries,” effectively cutting off any debate on possible fiscal stimulus.

Wit

How Healthy is Your Workspace?

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:26:34 +0000

How healthy is your workspace?

We don’t know about you, but we spend a lot of time in our offices—working, surfing, playing Words with Friends and yes, staring out the window. (We know you do, too.) Whether you go into an office or work from home, you’ve got to be comfortable, physically and psychologically. And with comfort comes health.

It’s been our experience that over-stretched small business owners can tend to overlook comfort and health or think they’ll get to it…But whatever or wherever you call ‘office, sweet office,’ you’ve got to make your space work for you. For starters, we found a great article that touches on everything from plants to clutter. Take a look:

But there’s lots more to the healthy workspace. And like everything else, the science behind what works is always evolving.

To sit—or not—and on what?

The chair is BIG: Whatever you have to do / spend to get a good one, it’s so worth it. Your back/neck/butt will s

Mid-Day Report: Dollar Recovers Mildly after Weak Durables, Sterling Drops on GDP Revision

Alica McCall — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 15:14:22 +0000

Dollar is trying to rebound as risk sentiments are hurt by disappointing US durables and UK GDP. Headline durables in US rose 2.2% in February, below expectation of 2.9%. Meanwhile, ex-transport orders also rose less than expected by 1.6% versus consensus of 2.0%. European major indices failed to sustain earlier gains and dipped mildly while US futures point to slightly lower open. Most major currencies are mildly lower against dollar as risk appetite recedes in quarter end trading. Though, Sterling and Aussie are particularly weak.

Sterling dropped sharply today as UK GDP was unexpectedly revised lower to -0.3% qoq in Q4. Annual rate was also lowered to 0.5%. More worryingly, household real disposable income dropped -0.2% qoq, -1.2% yoy, the largest annual decline since 1977. Savings ratio also dropped from 7.9% to 7.7%. The data showed than consumers had less to spend and needed to dig into their savings to maintain their living. Recent economic data suggested that UK will return to growth in Q1 and was affirmed by recent comments of Chancellor of Exchequer Osborne.

Asian Markets to Open Higher, China, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, ASX

admin — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:20:01 +0000

Apple is in China taking control of Supplier Issues

Asian Markets will rally today after better than expected news from China, as we suggested in February, a poor monthly result was only due to the Chinese New Year, today we were proven correct the Purchasing Managers’ Index (CPMINDX) rose to a one-year high of 53.1 in March, China’s logistics federation and the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday. The gauge has a pattern of rising each March. In contrast, a PMI from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics showed manufacturing contracting and export orders falling.

Gross domestic product probably expanded 8.4 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier according to our estimates.

Premier Wen Jiabao has pledged to “fine-tune” economic policies as needed as weakness in export demand and a cooling housing market restrain an economy that probably grew at the slowest pace in almost three years in the first quarter. Analyst

Rand Advances Ahead of European Ministers’ Meeting

Maya Kiddle — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 05:02:47 +0000

The South African rand advanced against the US dollar today after three day of losses as the euro gained versus the greenback on hopes that European lawmakers would approve an increase of the bailout fund.

European finance ministers meet in Copenhagen today to discuss whether to boost the rescue fund. The euro gained against the dollar, helping the rand in the process. Additionally, the European Union is one of the major trading partners of South Africa, therefore its economic health affects the rand strongly. Earlier, a report showed that borrowing of South African consumers grew 7.9 percent in February, following the increase by 7.3 percent in January.

USD/ZAR fell from 7.7110 to 7.6600 as of 10:31 GMT today.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the South African Rand, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

Weekly Trading Update – 03-07 October 2011

Maya Kiddle — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 14:09:44 +0000

Its been a very quiet week this week because I only managed to find one decent trading opportunity overall. There were no trades according to my 4 hour trading system (see right for more details) because the price generally moved against the trend on the FTSE and the GBP/USD and EUR/USD pairs. The only trade I did find was a breakout trade on Tuesday morning.

The overnight trading range (between 00.00 and 08.00 UK time) for the GBP/USD pair was just 44 points so when the price finally broke below this range at around 08.55, I went short at 1.5401.

I then closed the position for 20 points profit a short while after. The S1 level, which is often a good exit point was a little too far away for my liking (around 50 points below my entry point), but as it turned out the price did actually hit this target.

Not to worry though. A 20 point profit for the week is better than no profit at all, and certainly better than losing money. Plus the stock market rally has meant that a lot of my long term holdings have gone up nicely, and I even banked a 150 point profit going long on Vedanta earlier in the week.

So it wasnt a bad week at all.

EURUSD Daily Forecast: March 30

Alica McCall — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 18:34:14 +0000

EURUSD Forecast The EURUSD had another indecisive movement yesterday. Price attempted to push lower but found a good support around the lower line of the bullish channel as you can see on my h4 chart below, keep the bullish phase since bounced from 1.3000 remains intact with nearest bullish target around 1.3400. A clear break and daily close above that area could trigger further bullish scenario at least testing 1.3480 – 1.3500 region. On the downside, only a clear break below the bullish channel and 1.3240 could stop the bullish phase testing 1.3130 – 1.3000 support area.