Online Forex King- Currency Trading.

Market listens as Big Ben Chimes

larry — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 08:33:39 +0000

Forex markets remained pretty subdued last week and frankly seem to offer little going forward at this stage.
The early part of the week was dominated by a slow slide in Equities but this was reversed sharply following comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Despite conceding recovery will only be at a modest pace he stated the Fed would do all it can to ensure the recovery and stands ready for further easing . These comments more than offset bad economic data and helped the Dow Jones recover almost 2%.
The biggest moves were provided by the USD/Yen which bounced from a 15 year low of 83.60 once again on speculation that there will be intervention any time soon. Prime Minister Kan continued to talk the talk on intervention and bold measures but it remains to be seen if any action is forthcoming.
I continue to believe the equity markets will hold the key to forex moves and with the jury still out on double dips we may need to see how the next months economic data pans out.

Narrowly mixed forex markets still await real trend

larry — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:19:50 +0000

Markets remained pretty mixed last week. The US dollar once again benefitted from falls in equities later in the week as employment data spooked the markets once again. In Europe slightly dovish comments from ECB member Weber helped the Euro slip a wee bit. Elsewhere the Swiss Franc remained flavor of the week on the back of record trade surplus figures and continued belief the Swiss National Bank is on vacation at the moment as far as intervention goes. Sterling continued to hold up against the Euro and the Ausie dollar suffered as markets come to terms with the latest hung parliament country.
All in all though I would suggest that unless you are great trading narrow ranges that you keep your powder dry for a real trend move. The equity markets continue to edge lower but without too much conviction. Opinion on economic recovery double dips etc remains very divided and it may be some time before we see some clear trends for shares.
On a personal note thanks BHP. Mergers and Acquisitions seem to be on the up certainly size wise so some people believe that its a good opportunity to go shopping for cheap companies.

Dollar recovers sharply on weaker equity markets as Euro suffers most

larry — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 10:05:33 +0000

It is business as usual in forex markets as an about turn in equity markets sparked a well earned rebound for the US Currency. The Dow fell over 3 % during the week as a combination of Fed announcements in Quantative Easing and economic outlook set the ball rolling together with a batch of weak data. Certainly equity markets seem to have had a reality check and technically look vulnerable at this point.
The Euro suffered most not just because of its long rally but also the release of 2nd Quarter GDP figures. These figures at plus 1 % overall were overshadowed by the individual breakdown. Germany had an amazing +2.2 % quarterlery growth compared to predictions of around 1.3 % while at the other end of the scale Greece -1.5% ,Spain +0.2 % and Italy 0.4% demonstrated the fragility of their economies.
This gap is something that will add to tensions within the Euro group and frankly what we know will continue.This could indeed be the prelude to a period of larger diversification of growth as austerity measures continue to dog the weaker countries. Last week I mentioned the bogey man waiting to appear in Europe and this could be the beginning. Another bout of credit market nerves could again be brewing and should be watched carefully.
Elsewhere the Yen hit a new 15 year low against the dollar and despite a late bounce on intervention fears the Japanese look to be in between a rock and a hard place as far as their currency is concerned.Intervention if it does occur will need to be concerted and this looks unlikely at this time.Concern amongst Japanese companies will possible exert more pressure on the Government and Bank of Japan.
in the UK improved 2nd quarter growth of 1.1% was considered to be influence by technical reasons and the Bank of England´s quarterly report downgraded growth and inflation targets.

Going forward I think we can expect more of the same with currency markets continuing in possibly well defined ranges as equity markets do likewise. Economic recovery remains pretty anemic in many areas with differences no better demonstrated than the Euro zone.

Aint no cure as summertime blues continue for US Dollar

larry — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 19:30:52 +0000

The US dollar continued its poor run.Indeed the US Dollar index posted its 9th straight weekly decline to a low just above the physiological 80 level.
All in all though there was nothing too exciting for the forex markets to get its teeth into. Equity markets which benefited from positive data early in the week shrugged off Fridays Non Farm payroll figures which were worse than expected at -131 thousand and also saw last months revised to -221 from 125 thousand.
The Euro also benefited from ECB comments pointing to better than expected growth levels in the Euro zone which added to the anti dollar sentiment.
Difficult to get too excited about some volatility next week and if equity markets continue to edge higher then the dollar may continue to suffer.However, I continue to believe that out there somewhere lives another Euro bogey man waiting to give the markets some jitters. Maybe when the Greeks add up the summer takings it kicks off again.

More Serene than Stress

larry — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 10:42:24 +0000

Risk appetite generally improved again last week and there was little sign of nervousness ahead of the EU bank stress test announced late on Friday.
There was little late reaction participants appearing to await the digestion of the results over the weekend. The majority of subsequent comment seems to indicate that the test was too soft. Just 7 out of 91 banks failed the test but left many questions unanswered. Importantly Sovereign debt default was not included and the measure of reduced growth levels was far less dramatic than many would have liked to have seen.
It remains to be seen next week if the markets take the view that this was indeed to soft a test or that as the test is over and done with it is no longer an event risk for the market.I would favor the former but equity markets shrugged off any bad news last week preferring to focus on strong company data . This rather than comments from Fed Chairman Bernanke which indicates the Federal reserves ongoing concern about the strength of recovery in many areas. In Europe economic news tended to better than expected. German IFO numbers and in the UK more buoyant retail sales and 2nd Quarter GDP which was much better than the market anticipated.The technical picture improved for US equities and commodity currencies faired well.
All this leaves the forex market without too much to get its teeth into and few commentators with any real solid views as to any major trend moves. For the time being it seems more likely that the USD/ EUR will gravitate around these levels until either a real move higher in equities or another big sell off. The US currency has lost its appeal recently and as I have mentioned before while it may be temporary the Euro area problems are at least for the time being on a back burner.
Another week of similar trading would probably see a general sell off in volatility and narrowly mixed Forex markets for more of the summer.

Summer ……and the shorts are taken out.

larry — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 17:14:32 +0000

On the one hand there was the usual forex market reaction to Risk aversion sales, on the other there was the stellar performance of the Euro. Yes one would assume that many Euro Shorts self included felt the pain last week. Despite weaker equity markets the Euro /USD powered over 1.30 at one point and closed around 1.2930. As commodities and gold took a hit not surprisingly the Canadian dollar faired worst losing almost 5 % against the Yen and a little less against the Euro.
Equity markets and the dollar focused on slightly weak data rather than Corporate earnings and the Euro further benefitted from better than expected bond auctions in Greece and Spain.Data from Germany remains solid and this has helped keep a more positive Euro mood.
However, I do believe that it will only be a matter of time before lagging growth and other strains on the weaker Euro members reemerges to the detriment of the Euro. Next weeks banking stress tests could also prove a stumbling block.
All in all the picture for growth remains cloudy with signs also of a slowing in China. Thus we continue to see equity markets having good and bad weeks with the US dollar and Yen reacting accordingly in the main.
Technically the US dollar still has further to fall before perhaps events turn things positive again which might be a few weeks off yet.

Easy-Forex Upgrades its Forex App to be Compatible with iPhone 4 with iOS4

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:19:29 +0000

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Equity market recovery points the way and in World Cup will the Dutch effort go to pot.

larry — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 09:53:37 +0000

The forex markets continued to follow the improvement in risk sentiment in the recent time honored fashion.
The US dollar and Japanese Yen were weaker and the commodity currencies especially the Ausie Dollar enjoyed a good week.
The US dollar Euro touched levels just over 1.27 as equity markets surged with the US markets enjoying their best week for the whole year. Notable absentee at the party was Sterling which failed to make headway against a weaker dollar and lost over 5% against the rampant Ausie.
So where to next and can stock markets continue to lead the process.Well the pessimists will point to a low volume rally in oversold stocks and still talk of the double dip. In truth for equities the answer may lie in 2nd quarter Corporate numbers which will begin to be announced.. This will undoubtedly hold the key to forex moves for the dollar and Yen.
Technically the Euro/USD has good resistance over 1.27 and one feels that risk sentiment would need another good leg up to provoke such a rally and perhaps a test of 1.30 and higher. On balance I favor a scenario of another leg down for both.
Statistics next week do not offer too much scope for any major surprises but we will see.As we move into the holiday season European problems are not in focus but undoubtedly will return at some stage.
Finally we have the World Cup final tonight where at least Europe has once gain dominated.Odds favor a Spanish victory prompted from Barcelona but without a flag in sight or a firecracker heard in Cataluña.

Gloom and Doom as equity markets fall and Germany makes the Semis

larry — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 06:24:22 +0000

Stock markets around the world once again called the shots for the forex market.
New 2010 lows for many equity markets caused the largely usual knee jerks in currency markets. The Yen and Swiss Franc were the biggest winners particularly at the expense of the commodity currencies(AUS and CAN Dollars) some 5% plus gains.
Where things did turn out a little different was the EURO and GBP which made up ground against the US Dollar the Euro closing the week at close to 1.2550. Already commentators are talking the decoupling of the Euro US dollar relationship visa vi general risk aversion. On balance though that seems a little to early to call on one weeks price action. Gold also faired unexpectedly badly closing down at just over 1200 .
All the statistics were pretty much market negative and it is difficult to see any real change next week.
It seems as if something will need to rescue the stock markets for things to stop getting worse.Technically the picture seems to be getting slowly more adverse for equity markets and while Forex markets can decouple from this it looks unlikely. The end result could see a reemergence of US Dollar strength against the Euro.
As for the World Cup , Holland Spain would be nice but would you really bet against the Germans

A Sterling performance by GBP but more of a YEN for the YEN

larry — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 07:06:25 +0000

There was a mixed bag of performances in forex markets last week.
Equity markets failed to sustain any sort of rally and indeed lost ground on the week.This prompted the best performance from the Japanese Yen hitting a low of 89.20 against the US Dollar
Elsewhere the usual market scenario on Risk Aversion did not quite play out as usual.The US Dollar was generally weaker over the week with the exception of commodity currencies. Sterling which I tipped last week did perform exceptionally well considering the equity markets. It did indeed manage a break eventually through 1.50 closing at 1.5065 GBP/USD and reaching levels above 1.22 against the EURO.The UK budget was well received by markets and commentators as the UK seems to be making big efforts to address its deficit problems.
Early in the week things had looked a little better as the Peoples Bank of China pointed to more flexibility on the Chinese Currency. However, reactions to this soon evaporated and it appears little more than a peace offering ahead of the G20 meeting.
I suspect it will again be all eyes on equity markets this week. Technically it looks a decidedly dodgy for markets so we can expect generally the usual currency plays. That said the US Dollar as I mentioned was somewhat detached from the norm last week so this needs to be watched.
There is a wealth of statistics out next week all capable of generating some reaction. Far to many to go into when I am sunning myself on a beach anyway.
On balance though I do remain concerned about the equity markets in the short term and we could at least see another 4 or 5 % off markets if this weeks figures prove negative with the customary knee jerk for forex markets
As for the world cup surely the markets are pointing to an English victory over the Germans……….please……..and does anyone know who trades the Ghana Cedi .But my tip for the week is Chile, have you seen their stock markets performance…watch out Brazil