The European leaders were battling a pretty major storm that the ratings agencies helped create late last week when S&P cut the ratings on 9 euro-region countries. The most dramatic move was the loss of France’s AAA rating, leaving Germany as the sole AAA rated country in the currency union. Austria also lost its AAA rating while Italy and Spain fell by two notches and Portugal’s debt was cut to junk status. The ratings of Malta, Cyprus, Slovakia, and Slovenia were also lowered.
[Read more...]Eurozone Plan Spurs Currency Rally
October 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Front and center this morning, G-20 Finance Ministers are meeting in Paris, and it looks like the early leaks of what’s going on is responsible for the currency and metals rally this morning. A plan to deal with Europe’s debt problems has been hatched. The outline of the plan has deeper losses on Greek bonds, higher bank capital levels and increased firepower for bailouts, and the IMF. And it sounds like Eurozone leaders will meet next week to iron out the devil in the details, and put this to bed.
[Read more...]Euro Strength Hinges on Eurozone Emergency Fund Vote
September 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Well… Yesterday, I told you how the rumors were flying around about how the markets believed the Eurozone leaders were nearing a deal to contain the contagion debt problem in the Eurozone peripheral countries. The currencies basked in sunlight all day, that they hadn’t seen in a couple of weeks, with the euro (EUR) climbing back over 1.36, and the Aussie dollar (AUD) pushing back toward parity…
[Read more...]The Fed Chooses Operation Twist
September 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Well… It looks as though that perfect storm I talked about two weeks ago, has hit the shoreline… The Fed is out on the dance floor twisting the night away, and home prices continue to decline… But… The dollar is rallying this morning, folks… Strange but true!
Yes, the perfect storm that was brewing for a dollar rally, and short term period of dollar strength, hit the shoreline last night… And the dollar is in the driver’s seat this morning… I guess, the overnight markets believe that the Fed’s latest, greatest, move to stimulate the US economy will work, and everyone will want to own dollars going forward… Hmmm… I’m not buying that… But apparently someone is, because the currencies have a look about them this morning that they haven’t been seen with in some time!
[Read more...]The Fed Chooses Operation Twist
September 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Well… It looks as though that perfect storm I talked about two weeks ago, has hit the shoreline… The Fed is out on the dance floor twisting the night away, and home prices continue to decline… But… The dollar is rallying this morning, folks… Strange but true!
Yes, the perfect storm that was brewing for a dollar rally, and short term period of dollar strength, hit the shoreline last night… And the dollar is in the driver’s seat this morning… I guess, the overnight markets believe that the Fed’s latest, greatest, move to stimulate the US economy will work, and everyone will want to own dollars going forward… Hmmm… I’m not buying that… But apparently someone is, because the currencies have a look about them this morning that they haven’t been seen with in some time!
[Read more...]Currencies Take Their Turn Beating on the US Dollar
August 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Front and center today, gold and silver are seeing some profit taking, after gold climbed as high as $1,897!!! ($1,910 in futures!) I told the boys and girls on the desk yesterday that I truly believed that once gold moved past $1,900, that it wouldn’t take long for it to get to $2,000, because of all the momentum behind it, and the idea that so many analysts have called for $2,000 gold… Of course, I don’t know anything “inside” that would make me think that… It’s simply my opinion, and I could be wrong!
[Read more...]A Greek Resolution…For Now
June 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Front and center this morning… There was a story that hit the newswires in the European session that claimed the bailout of 150 billion euros was close to being agreed on by all parties… The euro (EUR) shot up on this news, and is back to 1.42, after spending most of yesterday with a 1.40 handle, and looking very much in need of some medicine… Well, that medicine came in the form of an unsubstantiated newswire story… I say that because there is no proof that this is the case. So… Don’t get too comfy, cozy, with the 1.42 handle in euros… The rug could be pulled on that rally in a New York Minute…
[Read more...]DXY Shows the US Dollar Was Best Performer in May
June 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I want to start off this morning by wishing Chuck good luck with the ‘procedure’ he will be going through today. Chuck is constantly having to go in to get poked and prodded by his doctors and I am impressed at how positive he remains through all of these doctor’s visits. He told me this wasn’t a ‘big’ deal and everything should be fine, but after the past few years I think Chuck has a slightly different view than the rest of us on what a ‘big’ deal is. So we should all say a quick prayer for Chuck and his doctors.
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Currency Rally Fades in Overnight Trading
The currency/risk on rally was quite strong yesterday, all day long! However, in the overnight markets, we’ve seen some profit taking, and reassessing of what they were doing, like pushing the euro to above 1.30. I say that because there’s still no agreement with Greece and the private creditors… I keep hearing and reading analysts, talking about how the Greece problem is unsolvable… OK… maybe it is… but if that’s true, then what about Illinois? Or California?
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