As I was sitting here looking at the calendar, I noticed that next week brings us to the end of March…and then it dawned on me that we’re already staring at the end of the first quarter. Simply amazing, where does the time go? It was a fairly uneventful day as there wasn’t much in the way of data to interpret or any market moving events, so most assets remained in a relatively tight range. I guess I should quit stalling and jump right in.
[Read more...]Dollar Declines as Investors Move Out of Safe Havens
March 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Currency investors started to move back out of their ‘safe havens’ yesterday with most of the currencies moving higher versus the US dollar. The Japanese yen (JPY) was the biggest mover, setting a post-World War II high as money was repatriated back into the country. The biggest losers were the other side of the carry trades, the New Zealand dollar (NZD) and Australian dollar (AUD). The kiwi was down over 1%, and the Aussie dollar was down just .2% versus the US dollar. Things are still a bit dicey in Japan, and it looks as if at least one of the damaged reactors is going to meltdown. The Japanese are doing everything they can to cool the reactor complex, but radiation levels continue to hamper their efforts.
[Read more...]What to Expect from Second Quarter GDP
August 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The currencies are trading in the same clothes as yesterday. It's almost like the movie Groundhog Day, for the euro (EUR) has performed the say way as the previous sessions… For instance, the euro rose up to 1.2765 yesterday, only to fall back to just above 1.27, and then overnight, like the previous night, the euro rose to 1.2740, only to see it fall back again.
[Read more...]Forget “Stressâ€? Tests – Three Reasons the Euro’s Rise Is Only Temporary
July 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Who would have thought that the euro would have come this far, this fast? After falling to a 4-year low of $1.19 against the US dollar, the European currency has made a sharp recovery – trading today at around $1.30.
But don't think for a moment that the euro is a safe bet again. The fact is, the euro is floating higher because of three simple factors that could disappear at any time. And its surge has nothing to do with the European Central Bank's “stress tests� or even Europe's fundamentals.
[Read more...]Consumer Confidence Data Affects the Euro
July 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Yesterday morning I told you that the euro (EUR) had broken above 1.30, and I would check it to see how long it remained there… Well, this time it was more than 10 minutes, and the euro rose to 1.3040… But then the rug was pulled from under the single unit, and back below 1.30 it went… In fact, it fell to just above 1.29, before turning around once again and heading higher, eventually ending the day at 1.30.
[Read more...]US Budget Deficit Forecast Increases
July 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Did you hear on Friday that the Federal Budget Office has updated their forecast for the budget deficit this year? What was originally a forecasted deficit of $1.6 trillion has been improved to $1.47 trillion… While that might be considered an improvement it would still be worse than last year's $1.4 trillion deficit, and looking further out, the forecasts get darker and darker.
[Read more...]European Data Show Further Strength
July 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Another busy day here at EverBank yesterday, but today promises to be a bit of a break. All of our visitors left late yesterday afternoon, and the systems which I have been testing are down for the next few days. The weather also looks like it has finally calmed down a bit after thunderstorms rolled through again yesterday afternoon. The markets probably won't calm down, as we have a plethora of data releases today, along with further testimony from Bernanke and the release of the European stress tests.
[Read more...]Will the Euro Rally Last?
July 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Front and center this morning, the euro (EUR) is rising once again, and now this recovery is beginning to smell like it's gone too far, too fast for me… Yesterday I told you the euro had gone through the 1.27 handle quickly… Well, 1.28 didn't last one day either, and now the euro is poking through the clouds to sniff 1.30 again. The single unit is trading right now, as I write, at 1.2975… I've seen it a bit higher when I first turn on the screens, but talk about a rise! Actually, that's a 5.5% rise in the euro in the past month…
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Expect Volatility in the Silver Price to Persist
It was a mixed day here in St. Louis as the clouds and rain finally gave way to sunshine as I left the office last night. The same can be said about the markets, with currencies rising on the day while commodities traded lower. All of the currencies, except for the pound sterling (GBP), ended the day in the positive column, but gold and silver just couldn’t shake the fog. The up and down trading Chuck talked about yesterday stayed with us, but silver had the most volatility.
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