Well… I turned on the currency screens this morning to see if what I was watching last night had followed through, and it had! I’m talking about a currency rally that began late yesterday afternoon, carried through to this morning, and that makes sense, given the poor shape of the US economy once again… Oh! You didn’t hear? Well, since the revision of first quarter GDP was supposed to show a nice increase that I said I didn’t believe, and then didn’t, I’m sure your fave cable news station conveniently forgot to mention it!
[Read more...]Will the Japanese Yen See a Repeat of 1995?
March 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
As Chris told you in Friday’s essay “G-7 Coordinates Intervention to Push the Yen Lower”, the big story was the G7 stepping into the currency market and selling yen on a coordinated basis. As you would expect, it was the worst performing currency of the day by ending up with a loss of about 2.25%. The yen (JPY) fell all the way to 81.99 on Friday morning, but barely climbed back into the 80 handle by the time I left for the weekend on Friday afternoon. All of the excitement in the currency market really took place in the Asian and European trading sessions, so it was actually a fairly quiet day for US traders. In fact, most currencies ended the day higher in US trading, including the yen.
[Read more...]Volatility Continues to Dominate the Markets
March 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The Japanese crisis continues to dominate the news stories, as 4 of the 6 reactors at the Fukushima power plant remain unstable. Radiation level increases have been reported as far south as Tokyo, but Japanese officials say the levels outside the nuclear facility are not dangerous. The unstable conditions at the Japanese nuclear plant, combined with more violence in the Middle East increased volatility in the markets. Currencies, metals, and most commodities had an incredibly volatile day with many investors shifting back into the “safe haven” of US treasuries.
[Read more...]Eurozone Confidence Rises
July 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Front and center this morning, I have to tell you that we've had a HUGE currency rally overnight, and the rally still has legs through the European session, for I saw the euro (EUR) inch higher as I booted up my computer! What's got the currencies, led by the Big Dog euro, so wound up this morning? Ahhh grasshopper… Come, sit, and let me tell you the story of an ancient warrior, no wait, let me tell you about the rally!
[Read more...]Canadian Rate Hike and Oil Price Boost the Loonie
July 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
We had some pretty unsettled weather come through the area, yesterday, with the lightening and thunder producing quite a show. The currency markets, on the other hand, were quite stable. The biggest gainer was the yen (JPY), and the largest loser was the euro; but neither moved more than 0.65% versus the US dollar… Tight ranges across the board for the currency markets.
[Read more...]Dollar Gets Sold On Bad Data Prints
July 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The currencies traded yesterday, but in very tight ranges, as the US was on holiday. This morning, the bias is to sell dollars, much like it was on Friday before the liquidity of Europe went to the pubs… Let's go back now, and revisit Friday's action…
Well… There was more proof on Friday that the double dip is coming…
[Read more...]Currencies Take a Ride on the Sell the Euro Bus Tour
May 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Its getting quite ugly out there in the investing world. Yesterday I tried to draw a line of comparison from the near collapse of Bear Stearns to the problems of the Eurozone… That line became quite a bit clearer yesterday and in the overnight markets… Lets go to the tape!
Well… It was another day of selling the euro (EUR) and dragging other currencies along for the ride… This time, gold and Brazilian real (BRL) could no longer resist the pull/drag of the euro selling. It has actually become a rout on the single unit, as now, were not only dealing with the sovereign debt risk of Greece (which I still contend is not that big in the whole scheme of the Eurozone) but now, the euro is sailing into technical trading rough waters…
[Read more...]
Eurozone Finance Chiefs Deep-Six the Euro!
The currency mini-rebound did well yesterday, all day… But then came the European session this morning, and more problems with the Greek bailout, and the bickering going on back and forth between the Eurozone Finance Chiefs… All this has deep-sixed the euro (EUR) this morning. The single unit is down 125 cents! So, when I left the office yesterday, the euro was 1.4445… this morning, it’s 1.4315, and looking like it wants to visit the 1.42 handle soon.
[Read more...]