The currencies are still in rut versus the dollar this morning. They haven’t lost more ground, just stuck in a rut. The euro (EUR) should have gained on the news that Spain was able to auction bonds this morning and meet their target, while France sold bonds and saw their yields drop. These two auction results should have eased the minds of those fearing the eurozone countries will struggle to finance their borrowings — at least for now.
[Read more...]QE3 Still an Option
April 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Good day, and welcome to the last Thursday in April. As Chuck mentioned, I’ll be steering the ship today while he travels to Florida for some conferences, so the call to the bullpen has been made. All in all, it was a fairly quiet day, and if I had to make a call one way or the other, I would have to say Wednesday turned out to be a risk-on type of day. While the U.S. earnings season has definitely fueled the risk on campers, it was touch-and-go for a while.
[Read more...]Debt Sinks Currency Rally
April 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The currency rally was stopped in its tracks last night. After watching the euro (EUR) rally to 1.3175 yesterday, I was prepared to come in and tell you all about how the Spanish debt auction results had given the euro the wind in its sails it needed. And that was the case, that is until the overnight markets pushed the single unit back down below 1.31. And when that happens, the rest of the currencies search for a bid — but find just a few crumbs of bids out there.
[Read more...]EU Finance Ministers to Double Bailout Fund
March 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Good day. The dollar traded in a fairly tight range most of the day, holding on to earlier gains. But just after lunch, sentiment shifted and the dollar started to drop, closing U.S. trading below the level it opened. And the fall accelerated as Asian traders entered the markets, pushing the euro (EUR) back above $1.335 and Aussie (AUD) over $1.04.
[Read more...]Fed Meeting Spillover Aids US Dollar Strength
March 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Good day and welcome to another Thursday. We saw another summer-like day here in the Midwest that lends itself to throwing the winter coat toward the back of the closet and forgetting about it until next winter. While it’s still way too early to take such drastic action, investors have seemingly thrown the debt problems and other fundamental concerns about the U.S. economy to the back of the closet, hidden under that shirt you got as a birthday gift years ago that was never returned.
[Read more...]The Greek Parliament Bails Out the Markets
February 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The Greek Parliament approved the austerity measures yesterday, giving traders the confidence to head back into the markets. We will have a fairly big week of economic data releases here in the U.S., which should help keep things interesting. Lots to cover, so I better get going if I am going to get this delivered on time!
[Read more...]Currencies Rally on Eurozone Agreement
January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The currency rally that stalled yesterday was back on last night… I have to tell you that I was up most of the night on Sunday and after getting poked and stuck at the doctor’s office yesterday, I went home, straight to my recliner and slept for the next five hours! Then I woke up, went to my computer and checked the overnight markets, and I saw the currencies had turned around, along with gold. So naturally, I began to scour the news to see what was going on.
[Read more...]
Central Banks Get Weaker Currencies
The currencies are still in rut versus the dollar this morning. They haven’t lost more ground, just stuck in a rut. The euro (EUR) should have gained on the news that Spain was able to auction bonds this morning and meet their target, while France sold bonds and saw their yields drop. These two auction results should have eased the minds of those fearing the eurozone countries will struggle to finance their borrowings — at least for now.
[Read more...]