Recent Blogs Posts

The markets are somewhat tame on the day before the FOMC meeting.

Biggest % gainers: USD/ZAR up 0.51%, USD/SGD, USD/TRY as the USD strengthens vs. the exotics.

Biggest % losers: EUR/CHF down 0.72%, EUR/JPY, EUR/CAD on mild EUR weakness.

GBP In the U.K's Annual Budget meeting we found out that, U.K's Prime Minister Osborne is putting levies on banks and raising the sales tax. He expects to raise 2 billion pounds from the bank levies. The VAT (value-added tax) will go from 17.5% up to 20%.

Australian & Canadian dollars are finding their way into central bank reserves more as the euro continues to tank overall: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-0...e-gaining.html ...

Biggest % gainers: AUD/JPY up 1%, AUD/USD, CHF/JPY, CAD/JPY, NZD/JPY, NZD/USD on commodity dollar strength and yen weakness. (The riskier currencies perked up after Bernanke's speech last night; yen tumbled). http://www.dailyfx.com/forex/fundame...ecline_as.html

Biggest % losers: GBP/AUD down 1.38%, GBP/CHF down 1.20% ...GBP taking a pretty good hit this morning! Fitch comments weigh on the Pound: http://www.dailyfx.com/forex/fundame..._by_Fitch.html

Gold $1,241 (but got as high as $1,251.68 this morning, which is a new all time high!)
Oil $71.82 ...

Biggest % gainers: CAD/JPY up 0.70% (go CAD/JPY!)...AUD/JPY, NZD/JPY on JPY weakness.

Biggest % losers: USD/CAD down 0.62%, EUR/CAD on CAD strength. (exotics: USD/ZAR and USD/TRY also among the biggest intraday losers).

Euro Sales Accelerate as UBS Sees $1.20, Morgan Stanley Ponders `Breakup'. Investors are abandoning the euro at a rate not seen since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. as Europe’s worsening fiscal crisis threatens to splinter the 16-nation currency union.

GBP Nationwide Home Price Index (HPI) m/m better than expected at 1.0% vs. 0.4% expected. Last time revised higher to 1.0% vs. 0.7% formerly.

USD Unemployment Claims basically in line at 448k vs. 442k ...

Biggest % gainers: USD/JPY up 1.56%, USD/CHF up 1.24%, GBP/JPY, AUD/JPY on huge USD strength and mild JPY weakness.

Biggest % losers: EUR/USD down 0.89% ...down into the 1.33's now. AUD/USD, GBP/USD, NZD/USD on USD strength.

Portugal got downgraded by Fitch today to AA-. That killed the euro today.

Rumor of another bank reserve requirement hike in China over the weekend. We'll see.

EUR German IFO Business Climate better at 98.1 vs. 95.8 expected but nobody cared since the Portugal downgrade trumped the good IFO news.

USD Core Durable Goods orders m/m better at 0.9% vs. 0.6% expected.

USD New Home Sales come out at 10am EST today. 318k is expected. ...