Month: April 2012

By Amy Calistri, globaldividends.com

People often ask me about my most profitable investment.

It was an investment I made back in October 1999. Today, it pays me a yield equivalent to 26%, and it has forever changed how I look for income opportunities.

In 1999, I was speaking at an economic conference in New York. During one of the breaks, I struck up a conversation with two gentlemen who both happened to work in the oil and gas business. At the time, I was doing some consulting work for a lawsuit involving a number of large oil companies and had been knee-deep in oil price and production data.

Oil and natural gas prices had been on a steady 20-year decline following the “oil shock” of 1979. By the time 1999 rolled around, analysts had universally soured on the sector. Prices were going lower, they said. In March 1999, The Economist devoted a whole issue to the glut of world oil.

Discussing the future price for oil, The Economist said, “$10 [per barrel] might actually be too optimistic. We may be heading for $5.”

In October 1999, I didn’t agree with the analysts or the common view that oil prices were going to sink lower. As it turns out, neither did my newfound friends at the conference. Over the course of the meeting we exchanged information and data to back up our thesis.

Immediately following that conference, I made an investment in Burlington Resources, and oil and gas company that was later bought by ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP).

You can see what has happened to oil prices since then…

So why did my investment forever change how I looked for income opportunities?

I still hold a small position in COP. My cost basis is roughly $10 per share. With the shares trading at $73 today, I’ve seen a gain of more than 700%.

And while ConocoPhillips pays an annual dividend of $2.64 per share, for a yield of 3.6% today, my yield on cost is north of 26%.

That’s because ConocoPhillips is one of the most relentless dividend payers on earth. In 1999, when I first bought my stake in Burlington Northern (which then turned into my stake in Conoco), the stock paid a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share. Today that dividend is $0.66 per share — a 288% increase.

That’s what has changed about my search for income.

Many income investors won’t look twice at a stock yielding 3%. They want to own stocks that pay the highest yields right now. I don’t blame them. I want the same thing.

But ConocoPhillips is proof that when it comes to income, making big and lasting returns is not only about locking-in outsized yields. Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper to see how much potential a “low-yielding” stock like COP actually holds.

 Always searching for your next paycheck,

Amy Calistri
Chief Investment Strategist — The Daily Paycheck

P.S. — If you haven’t done so, you can learn more about my income investing advisory, The Daily Paycheck. In the past year, I’ve collected more than $16,000 in dividends. Learn more about how you can do the same thing by visiting this link.

Disclosure:  Amy Calistri owns shares of COP. StreetAuthority owns COP as part of Scarcity and Real Wealth and Energy and Income’s $100,000 “real money” portfolios. In accordance with company policies, StreetAuthority always provides readers with at least 48 hours advance notice before buying or selling any securities in any “real money” model portfolio. Members of our staff are restricted from buying or selling any securities for two weeks after being featured in our advisories or on our website, as monitored by our compliance officer.

Video courtesy of ForexCT – A leading Australian forex broker, liscensed by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, offers the MetaTrader4 and PROfit Platform to retail traders. Other services include Segregated Accounts, Trading workshops, Tutorials, and Commodities trading.

Source: ForexYard

The euro extended its bearish trend against virtually all of its main currency rivals during yesterday’s trading session, as investor fears regarding Spanish debt led to risk aversion in the marketplace. Turning to today, traders will want to pay attention to a batch of news out of both the US and euro-zone. Specifically, the German ZEW Economic Sentiment and US Building Permits figures, scheduled for 9:00 and 12:30 GMT respectively, are expected to generate volatility. Positive German news may help the euro recoup some of its recent losses.

Economic News

USD – Dollar Continues to Fall against Safe-Haven Currencies

The US dollar fell vs. its safe-haven currency rivals yesterday, including the Japanese yen, as investors continued to flee riskier assets amid poor international news. Better than expected US Retail Sales and Core Retail Sales reports did little to help the USD/JPY, which hit a seven-week low at 80.28 during afternoon trading. The greenback had better luck against higher yielding currencies, like the AUD and EUR, during the morning session. That being said, those gains were eventually erased toward the end of European trading.

Turning to today, USD traders will want to focus on today’s US building permits figure, scheduled to be released at 12:30 GMT. Analysts are forecasting the figure to come in at 0.71M, which if true, would signal additional growth in the US economy. The dollar could receive a boost against the yen following the news, assuming that it comes in at or above expectations. At the same time, analysts are warning that should the news come in below expectations, the USD/JPY could continue to fall.

EUR – Spanish Debt Worries Send EUR to New Lows

The euro fell to a two-month low vs. the US dollar and a one and a half year low against the British pound during trading yesterday, as investors continue to flee riskier assets due to debt concerns out of Spain. The EUR/USD briefly dropped below the psychologically significant 1.3000 level during mid-day trading before staging a slight recovery during the afternoon session. By the end of the day, the pair was stable at around the 1.3050 level. The EUR/GBP dropped as low as 0.8208 yesterday before staging a reversal. At the end of the European session, the pair was trading at the 0.8240 level.

Today, traders will want to note the results of the German ZEW Economic Sentiment, scheduled to be released at 9:00 GMT. As the biggest euro-zone economy, German indicators tend to have a significant impact on the euro. At the moment, analysts are predicting today’s news to come in at 19.7, which if true, would signal optimism in the German economy and may help the euro bounce back from its current trend.

Later in the week, traders will want to pay attention to Thursday’s Spanish bond auction. With concerns regarding the Spanish debt situation dominating market sentiment, significant volatility is expected following Thursday’s news.

JPY – Yen Sees Major Gains vs. EUR, USD

The yen saw significant gains against its main currency rivals yesterday, as investors continued to shun riskier assets amid Spanish debt worries. The EUR/JPY dropped well over 100 pips, reaching as low as 104.61 before staging a slight upward correction during afternoon trading. The pair eventually found stability around the 105.00 level. The USD/JPY fell to a seven-week low at 80.28 before staging a minor correction to stabilize at 80.40.

Turning to today, traders will want to pay attention to news out of both the euro-zone and US. While analysts are predicting market sentiment to remain bullish toward the yen for foreseeable future, positive news today may help the euro and USD recoup some of their recent losses.

Crude Oil – Oil Continues to Fall amid Risk Aversion in the Markets

Crude oil saw another bearish day in the marketplace, as an increase in risk aversion due to the Spanish debt crisis drove investors away from the commodity. Furthermore, a gradual reduction in tensions between Iran and the West has lessened supply side fears among traders. Crude reached as high as $103.82 a barrel during afternoon trading, before tumbling to $102.25 toward the end of European trading.

Today, oil traders will want to pay attention to the German ZEW Economic Sentiment. Should the figure come in at or above analyst forecasts, investors may decide to return to higher yielding assets, which could boost the price of oil. That being said, with market sentiment still bearish toward the euro, any gains oil makes could be short lived.

Technical News

EUR/USD

The daily chart’s Williams Percent Range has entered the oversold zone, indicating that an upward correction may occur in the near future. That being said, most other technical indicators show this pair range trading. Taking a wait and see approach may be the wise choice until a clearer picture presents itself.

GBP/USD

Technical indicators on the weekly chart show this pair range-trading, meaning that no defined long term trend can be determined at this time. The Williams Percent Range on the daily chart points to possible bullish movement in the near future. Traders may want to go long in their positions for time being, but beware of any sudden downward corrections.

USD/JPY

A bearish cross appears to be forming on the weekly chart’s MACD/OsMA, meaning that downward movement could occur in the coming days. Opening short positions may be a wise long term strategy, but traders will want to watch out for any minor upward corrections.

USD/CHF

A narrowing of the Bollinger Bands on the weekly chart indicates that this pair could see a price shift in the coming days. Traders will also want to note that a bearish cross appears to be forming on the same chart’s MACD/OsMA. Should the cross form, it may be a sign of an impending downward correction.

The Wild Card

Hang Seng Index

A bearish cross on the daily chart appears to be forming at this time, indicating that a downward correction may occur in the near future. Furthermore, the Williams Percent Range on the same chart is moving into the overbought zone. Forex traders will want to watch both of these technical indicators, as they may be a sign of an impending bearish correction.

Forex Market Analysis provided by ForexYard.

© 2006 by FxYard Ltd

Disclaimer: Trading Foreign Exchange carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. There is a possibility that you could sustain a loss of all of your investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with Foreign Exchange trading.

By Central Bank News

The Reserve Bank of India [RBI] cut its repo rate by 50 basis points to 8.00% from 8.50% previously, and reverse repo rate to 7.00%, Bank Rate to 9.00% and kept the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 4.75%.  The RBI said: “Though inflation has moderated in recent months, it remains sticky and above the tolerance level, even as growth has slowed. These trends are occurring in a situation in which concerns over the fiscal deficit, the current account deficit and deteriorating asset quality loom large. The challenge for monetary policy will thus be to maintain its vigil on controlling inflation while being sensitive to risks to growth and other vulnerabilities.”

By MoneyMorning.com.au

April the 4^th 2012 was an important day in Australia’s history.

This was the day 200 US marines arrived in Darwin from Hawaii.

Australia is now officially a pawn in a dangerous geopolitical chess game between the US and China.

This game is moving fast. It was just November when Obama gave his speech to the Australian government, and said:

‘So let there be no doubt: in the Asia-Pacific in the 21st century, the United States of America is all in…’

A few awkward and public tender moments between Obama and Gillard later, Australia had blindly signed up to being America’s Pacific lapdog. And I mean ‘Pacific’ as in ‘Pacific Ocean’; not in the sense ‘peace loving’ – unfortunately.

For years the Pentagon’s mandate had been to fight counter-insurgency in the wake of 9/11. This is changing. With limited, and shrinking, financial resources the Pentagon’s new mandate is to respond to the growth in China’s military strength and domination of the Pacific region.

The Pentagon has got its work cut out. China’s military budget could double in four years.

People often make the comment that China’s budget is peanuts compared to the US military budget. But America’s is forecast to fall at the same time that China’s is rising.

So although China’s budget is just 15% the size of America’s NOW, in four years time it will have grown to be about 40% the size of America’s. That gap is closing. Fast.

And bear in mind, Chinese military pay is a fraction of US military pay. A US$240 billion budget pays for a much bigger Chinese force than an American force.

China’s military might is surging. The US is ‘all in … in the Asia-Pacific of the 21^st century’. And Australia is in the middle of the two like a punter in a bar fight.

We have effectively aligned ourselves with our biggest customer’s biggest adversary.

Nice one, Prime Minister.

So Where Does This Leave You?

Last year the Chinese state-run newspaper, The Global Times, spelt it out:

‘The US is carrying out smart power diplomacy that takes China as its target in Asia. Stopping it is not realistic, but it is equally unrealistic to expect China to stand idly by and indulge Asian countries as they join the US alliance to guard against China one by one. Confronted with such frictions, which has the most resources and means at its disposal? Is an all-out confrontation possible?

These should be the real concerns….China has more resources to oppose the US ambition of dominating the region than US has to fulfil it…As long as China is patient, there will no room for those who choose to depend economically on China while looking to the US to guarantee their security…Any country which chooses to be a pawn in the US chess game will lose the opportunity to benefit from China’s economy…This will surely make US protection less attractive.’

To be clear, Aussie policy makers must work out some way of keeping good with China and the US at the same time. This delicate diplomatic task may be beyond the current government.

Former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, made a diplomatic suggestion. As Peter Leahy wrote in the Australian recently…

‘Kissinger notes the importance of not seeking to confront or contain China. He does not see China’s military build-up as an exceptional problem and emphasises China’s internal troubles. He argues that the challenge for the two nations is to move to a genuine effort at co-operation rather than an assumption of confrontation.’

Kissinger has a knack of nailing the point. This was the same guy who once said ‘He could never trust European politics until there was just one phone number to call.’

But let’s back up a second. The reality is the Chinese are not our only customers.

True, they are the biggest buyer of Australian commodities, but still only take 22% of the value. China is important to our country’s prosperity, but not the be-all-and-end-all.

Take Japan. It buys 16% of our exports. This is eternally overlooked, but provides a stable base line of demand. (Japan has its own problems of course, but that’s another story.)

The rapid rise in exports to India never gets much airplay, but is a story to watch. Indian commodity demand has climbed from 1% to 7% of our business in the last decade. India is plotting a similar path to China’s, and is an international relationship to foster.

The other point is China doesn’t have many options for finding large amounts of commodities such as iron ore and coal elsewhere at short notice. The Chinese need Australia. But even if they could cut us out, we have other potential buyers. In short, we are in a better position than we often realise.

China and Its Neighbours

The rising might of China’s military has another angle to it for resource investors.

If China and the US don’t find a diplomatic answer to their shared quest for dominance of the Asia-Pacific, then countries around the South China Sea, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam, may become higher risk to invest in.

These all cluster around the South China Sea, which is known as Asia’s most important flashpoint. For good reason.

The area of the sea is the same size as Western Australia, and more than two billion people live in the countries that surround it. The busiest shipping lanes in the world run through it. It is host to some huge oil and gas fields as well as valuable fisheries. The problem is that China in the north claims most of the sea as its own, drawing its lines well inside areas that its neighbours also claim.

China has a third of its fleet close to the Spratley islands, which contain some of the region’s best oil and gas fields. But Vietnam also claims them. China’s military strength is growing rapidly, and there is a risk that at some point Vietnam will have to watch impotently as China starts drilling.

After China, the most powerful navies in the South China Sea belong to Singapore and Vietnam.

But even if they combined forces against China to try and reclaim the land, it would be suicide.

Don’t Forget Gold

The South China Sea region is gold rich as well. Some of the biggest gold deposits in the world are in the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, PNG, Solomon Islands, as well as New Zealand and Fiji. The reason for this is that this region makes up a key part of a geological structure with a great name – The Rim of Fire.

This Rim of Fire was born out of volcanic activity that tore plates apart to form the Pacific Ocean. This process continues today and there are around 400 volcanoes still active along it.

This volcanic activity on the Rim of Fire is the reason Indonesia hosts the immense Porgera gold mine, containing at least 22 million ounces of gold. Or why the Tampakan deposit in the Philippines is host to 19 million ounces of gold. The Rim of Fire is also why Lihir Island off the coast of Papua New Guinea is home to the monster deposit containing 49 million ounces of gold.

In yesterday’s Money Morning you saw China wants to grow its gold reserves. And it is cheaper to do this by acquiring gold mines than buying gold on the market.

So, the risk is that as Chinese military power grows, it abuses its dominance of the South China Sea to take control of the valuable gold assets lying at its doorstep – on the Rim of Fire.

The messages coming out of the Chinese military are quite belligerent. I’m not sure that China will go as far as starting conflicts to gain control. But I do think that as the big bully, China is likely to intimidate its less powerful neighbours into selling stakes of key gold mines at prices that screw existing investors.

Every aspiring empire before it has used military dominance to wrestle control of key commodities.

It’s hard to imagine China won’t now do the same.

Dr. Alex Cowie
Editor, Diggers & Drillers

The Conference of the Year “After America” DVD

Why You MUST Speculate

Disruptive Technology Stocks For Smart Small-Cap Investors

Australia – The Pacific Pawn in USA Versus China

By MoneyMorning.com.au

I didn’t want to write too much about central bankers today. As tempting as it is to discuss liquidity-driven markets and poor economic fundamentals in Europe, I’m starting to sound like a broken record.

What I really wanted to discuss was long-term wealth creation. There are always problems and risks in the market. Our job is to manage those risks. But our whole aim is wealth creation.

Unfortunately, as an Aussie (or Kiwi) investor, you’re on the back foot in this quest. That’s because our market has a lamentable number of options to buy quality, well-run companies. The Aussie share market has very few world-class companies. I’m talking about companies that have enduring competitive advantages…companies that generate high rates of return and compound those returns through reinvesting earnings.

Limited Options to Invest

A big reason for this is that the market is largely made up of resources and financials. Neither are great sectors to be in during a long bear market in credit.

Resources are great during a boom but they’re not the stocks you can just buy and forget about. They are capital intensive and subject to sharp moves in commodity prices.

And many industrial companies feed off the larger resource companies. Australia has many small engineering and contracting firms that are subject to the same vicious cycle as the resource companies.

Banks are inherently risky. For many, a 5 per cent fall in the value of their assets would wipe them out. With the Aussie residential property market finally starting to crack, I think asset values will come under pressure and bank share prices will fall. Bank of Queensland (it announced a write down and capital raising a couple of weeks back) is like the canary in the coal mine for the banking sector…so expect more write downs and capital raisings for our larger banks in the year ahead.

Whether the two-dimensional nature of the market is to blame or not, competition in Australia is not particularly robust. That’s why many companies fail when trying to expand offshore. Australia’s cosy duopolies don’t condition companies well for offshore expansion. And the local market is not large enough to provide years of unending growth for domestically focused companies.

In addition to all this, many companies are poorly managed from a capital management point of view. They raise capital (sell shares) at a low price and buy back shares at a high price. They listen to investment bankers, not shareholders.

This combination of factors makes it very difficult to construct a portfolio you don’t have to worry about. One where you don’t have to constantly monitor and stress about the effectiveness of the companies’ business models.

I’m talking about investing your capital in a collection of businesses – if bought at the right price – that will compound your wealth year after year. And if bought at the right price (that is, cheaply) you’ll stand a much better chance of beating the average market return over the next 5–10 years.

As I pointed out recently to subscribers of Sound Money. Sound Investments, I expect general equities to produce a long-term return of not much more than 5 per cent per annum over the 5–10 years.

However, a large exposure to precious metals could boost returns to around 7 per cent per annum.

Generating a 7 per cent per annum compound return means you could double your capital over the next 10 years.

How?

Let me tell you about the ‘Rule of 72‘

Investing Using The Rule of 72

Pick a number (let’s say 7) and divide 72 by that number. 72 divided by 7 = 10.3. That means if you can earn a compound return of 7 per cent per year, you will double your capital in 10.3 years.

Divide 72 by any number. The result will tell you how many years it will take for your investment to double.

I’m confident that by remaining patient, you will be able to achieve these returns over a longer time frame. I consider investment a marathon, not a sprint. Over time, the tortoise (you) will beat the hare (the index).

When you think about it, the formula for the tortoise to beat the hare is easy. The index represents the average performance of listed companies. There are a lot of poor companies in the index. If you have the patience and conviction to buy above average companies at a price that reflects an adequate risk/reward trade-off, over the long term you should do better than the average.

What companies do I consider ‘better than average’?  Companies with attributes like competitive strength, quality of management and profitability. Unfortunately, very few of these companies meet the most important definition of a good investment – good value. But that can change. In fact it will change. It always does.

Greg Canavan

Editor, Sound Money. Sound Investments.

From the Archives…

The Deep Ocean Frontier For Mining Profits
2012-04-013 – Dr. Alex Cowie

The Turkish Economy: Knocking At The Door
2012-04-12 – Karim Rahemtulla

Inflation and Sovereign Debt – Why The Best Is Yet To Come
2012-04-11 – Nick Hubble

How to Make the Most Out of Small Cap Investing
2012-04-10 – Kris Sayce

Why You MUST Speculate
2012-04-09 – Kris Sayce

How to Invest Using the Rule of 72

By MoneyMorning.com.au

Investors have been in love with the China story and Chinese stocks for more than a decade.

And, there’s a lot to like if you know what you’re doing and where to look. But there’s an even greater opportunity when you look in the places no one else is looking…except for the Chinese.

China faces a labour crisis. It’s not what you think.

They have lots of workers. Some are very skilled, others highly educated. But the ones working in the factories by the millions possess little but what they can do with their hands.

Their wages are not enough to buy the very purses they sew or bicycles they assemble. That is changing, slowly. The change is becoming painful for Chinese factories.

You see, China does not have factories that have huge margins for profit.

The country has succeeded by being the lowest-cost producer in the world, selling its wares at razor-thin margins to quash any competition.

The resulting success has made China a global powerhouse…but it has also resulted in an unintended consequence: inflation.

China is one of the few emerging countries that I have been to where the government offers few subsidies. Take gasoline, for example. It costs over US$5 per gallon for gas today in China.

That’s more than the U.S., and it’s a lot more than India, which subsidizes fuel.

The price for everything is going up for the local population, so now they’re demanding higher wages.

And they’re getting higher wages, which means even lower profits for factories already stressed by a global economic contraction that has end customers unwilling to pay more.

There is a fix. And that fix is going to make you money. It’s where the Chinese are putting their money — lots of it.

Vietnam -The Opportunity Behind a Massive Disconnect

Between 1991 and 1999, the value of Chinese investments in Vietnam, its neighbour to the south, was about US$120 million.

By 2010, that number had ballooned to more than US$3 billion. And if you add the amount pumped in through Hong Kong, the amount more than quadruples to close to $15 billion in projects.

The influx of cash in the early mid-2000s sent Vietnamese stocks soaring.

But as is often the case in emerging markets, when the spending bubble burst as a result of the accompanying high inflation, the market crashed to a tune of more than 70% from its highs to its lows reached early last year.

I was in Vietnam last year, on the ground, doing research in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and Hanoi. It was hopping! I was puzzled. This was an opportunity that could not be passed up.

There was a massive disconnect, and there still is, between what was happening on the ground and what was reflected in stock prices.

Coupled with the fact that China has no choice but to expand production using lower-cost Vietnamese workers, this was an unparalleled emerging market opportunity.

Vietnam is a vibrant country. The majority of the population is under age 45. They take pride in education and putting in a hard day’s work.

The norm there is to work all day and then go to school in the evening for technical courses. The people want to get ahead, and it shows in the buzz on the streets.

The Vietnamese market will recover. Already since my trip the market has performed better than most in the world, up over 20%. It has more to go — much more.

In my book Where in the World Should I Invest? An Insider’s Guide to Making Money Around the Globe, I talk much more about specific investments that all investors, regardless of location, can make in Vietnam.

Up-and-coming markets require a lot of research at the ground level. I’ve been doing that for the better part of 20 years now, and it’s not all rosy.

There are places I would not touch 20 years ago and still won’t invest in today.
Some markets will be emerging forever.

But, there’s a money migration afoot and that cash is heading to Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

In some countries growth is five times that of the U.S. or Europe. Growth like that will translate into profits for your portfolio if you know where to look!

Karim Rahemtulla
Contributing Editor, Money Morning

Publisher’s Note: This article originally appeared in Money Morning (USA)

From the Archives…

The Deep Ocean Frontier For Mining Profits
2012-04-013 – Dr. Alex Cowie

The Turkish Economy: Knocking At The Door
2012-04-12 – Karim Rahemtulla

Inflation and Sovereign Debt – Why The Best Is Yet To Come
2012-04-11 – Nick Hubble

How to Make the Most Out of Small Cap Investing
2012-04-10 – Kris Sayce

Why You MUST Speculate
2012-04-09 – Kris Sayce

Vietnam: The Economy Where China is Putting its Money

Source: ForexYard

Monday’s trading saw the 17-nation currency correct its losses as it traded up versus most of its Major currency counterparts including the U.S Dollar. However, new concerns over the economic stability of both Spain and Italy will continue to affect the movements of the single currency.

The single currency momentarily traded below $1.30 versus the U.S Dollar after Spanish government bond yields appreciated due to fresh concerns over the country’s future growth.The last time the Euro traded below the $1.30 level was back in February of this year.

Renewed pressure on Spanish Bonds pushed the 10-year yield above the 6 percent mark for the first time since the beginning of December.

Elsewhere, Italian 10-year bonds appreciated to 5.67 percent,nearing a two-month high.The fresh concerns over the financial stability of both Spain and Italy could have a negative affect on the 17-nation currency.

Tomorrow, Spain looks to sell 12- and 18- month bills, followed by Auctions on Thursday.

Forex Market Analysis provided by ForexYard.

© 2006 by FxYard Ltd

Disclaimer: Trading Foreign Exchange carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. There is a possibility that you could sustain a loss of all of your investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with Foreign Exchange trading.

By Central Bank News
Here's today's Central Bank News link list, click through if you missed the previous central bank news link list.  Remember, if you want to submit links for inclusion in the daily link list, just email them through to us or post them in the comments section below.

Source: ForexYard

Over the past few weeks Crude Oil has moved in different directions, showing no clear trend. Since early March, the commodity has dropped in value but has also rallied throughout.

The situation between Iran and the West has dominated the headlines and has played a major role in the direction of crude oil over the weeks.

There are a number of financial reports due for release this week that could affect the movements of crude oil including, the Bank of Canada’s Overnight Rate,U.S Jobless Claims Weekly Update,Philly Fed Manufacturing Index and U.S Natural Gas Storage Weekly Report.

To conclude, if the U.S-related reports provide positive data and indicate signs of growth, it could possibly push up crude oil prices.If some of the Major currency counterparts such as the Euro and the Australian dollar strengthen versus the greenback,there is also a possibility that crude prices will appreciate.

Forex Market Analysis provided by ForexYard.

© 2006 by FxYard Ltd

Disclaimer: Trading Foreign Exchange carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. There is a possibility that you could sustain a loss of all of your investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with Foreign Exchange trading.