The Greek government will try to pass the austerity measures neccesary for further financial aid from the EU and IMF this week. The outcome is extremely important for the financial markets says senior strategist Ib Fredslund Madsen.
Video courtesy of en.jyskebank.tv
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.
Debt concerns have taken center stage in the euro zone, with higher yielding assets like the GBP and EUR positioned to lose significant value if authorities fail to address the ominous drift to caution and reluctance among regional investors.
The US dollar was seen in ascent against several currency rivals this morning as the hesitation among global traders pushed much of the day’s volume into safety. The EUR/USD was among the hardest hit by the concerns, with the pair dropping towards 1.4115. Forex traders have witnessed significantly softer data than was forecast six months ago.
Reports released at the start of the year were expecting a moderate bounce-back by mid-2011. The inability of consumer sentiment to weather the storm of sovereign debt woes in Europe, and what is deemed an inappropriate growth policy by the Fed among domestic consumers, has worn on economic growth across the globe. Investors are pricing in a downturn for the second quarter and the ripple effect generated has been a move away from higher yielding assets and into safe havens.
With the United States being the only economy publishing significant news today, most investor sentiment will be derived later in the week. Today, forex market participants should be on the watch for any shift towards economic softness similar to that of recent weeks. The US reports on personal spending and income will only serve to underscore the data derived earlier in the month and not likely have much of an impact today.
The euro has been experiencing moderate swings following last week’s series of mixed economic reports. Traders appear to have growing concerns with the potential Greece implosion as it erupts in more unrest from imposed austerity. The Greek government won a victory last week in its vote of confidence which saw parliamentarians voting along party lines, but so far little has been done to address the shift in risk sentiment towards safety.
Debt concerns have taken center stage in the euro zone, with higher yielding assets like the GBP and EUR positioned to lose significant value if authorities fail to address the ominous drift to caution and reluctance among regional investors.
As for Monday, the euro looks to be anticipating mixed results against the other major currencies with mild bias to the downside. The euro zone will be absent from today’s economic calendar with the US publishing the only news of the day. Tuesday’s data releases will focus more on Great Britain alongside a German report on consumer sentiment at 7:00 GMT. Trading volume will pick up as the week progresses, but today may see minor swings as investors await more in-depth data.
The New Zealand dollar (NZD) was seen trading significantly lower this morning as last night’s trade balance data revealed a sharp decline in the island economy’s trade surplus. The report marks a significant turning point in the nation’s trade balance. New Zealand has witnessed steady increases to its surplus, topping last month at NZ$ 1.14B.
Expectations were for a mild decline from this recent peak to a level just near NZ$ 1.0B. The actual report unveiled a stark decline, however, to just over NZ$ 600M. The wide short-fall generated much concern that New Zealand may be witnessing a downturn from the soaring value of its currency, known colloquially as the Kiwi. Concern that this downturn may threaten the nation’s rebuilding efforts after the devastating earthquake in Christchurch appears to also be pushing down heavily on the Kiwi’s value, which saw its third day of bearishness this morning.
Crude Oil’s value entered a price slide this morning with the $90 price level approaching at a faster pace than last week. Data releases out of the US today are driving many investors away from physical assets in expectations of a decline in growth among the world’s largest economy. Manufacturing sluggishness is driving more than a few investors into a state of bearishness on the black gold as demand outlook appears to be slowing.
The value of the US dollar versus the euro in recent trading has also risen towards a six-day high of 1.4115, which has helped push oil prices lower. With today’s steady downward movement, traders appear likely to see oil rebounding mildly over the next twenty-four hours as technical traders test the current price level, but little seems to be in the way of further decline this week.
Momentum has now turned lower as falling stochastics appear on the monthly, weekly, and daily charts. Initial support comes in at the June low of 1.4075 and the May low of 1.3970. A break here and technical traders will target the 200-day moving average at 1.3860. While the 8 cent decline from the May high is a sharp drop, traders should keep in mind that the correction the pair is currently undergoing is just that, a correction. Buyers may be lurking at the rising trend line from the June 2010 low. Resistance comes in at the recent high of 1.4440 where the 50-day and 20-day moving averages are floating.
The pair has broken a significant technical barrier at the neckline from a head and shoulders pattern which measures a target at 1.5370. Monthly and weekly stochastics are turning lower so traders may expect further declines. Support is located at the March low at 1.5935 followed by the late January low at 1.5750. To the upside the neckline from the head and shoulders pattern at 1.6120 could offer traders a level to enter short as many times in a head and shoulders chart pattern the pair will revert back to the neckline only to head lower from there.
Yen bears are making a stand at the 80 level. A previously broken trend line from the April high comes in at this level and will also support the bears. However, once this last bastion of support is broken the fallout could be similar the price action in March. Should the move higher continue, resistance is found at 81 and 81.75.
The previous resistance at 0.8550 held and the all-time low at 0.8325 is continually being pressured so a break here may be in the works. An absence of supports or trend lines below this level makes it difficult to predict how low the pair could go.
Crude oil prices are succumbing to pressure after falling below the support from the late January highs at $93. Forex traders should be targeting the mid-February low near $84, a level that coincides with a 61.8% Fibonacci retracement from the May 2010 to May 2011 move.
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 Forex Mansion
Online trading platforms are typically software that is downloaded and provides various trading tools via the internet. It is through the software that you can monitor the market and trade. You can expect to find the following features in a forex trading platform:
• Currency rates
• Trading
• Open Positions – Position Closing
• Entry Orders
• Hedging
• Account
• Account history
Features and Tools to Look For – Does Your Online Broker Offer These?
The basic feature any trading platform has to offer is a window displaying the current currency rates. Typically, they will display the various currency pairs via sell price and buy price, and they will also display the day’s high and low. The best programs have a live feed that actively charts the value according to the latest market data. Additionally, you have the options of how to view the charts (Bar, Line, or Candlestick). Many programs install indicator calculators that automatically provide common indicators important to trend forecasting.
The next basic feature is the trade feature. This will typically be a window in which you sell (bid for) or buy (ask for) a currency. The trades take place by lots. A lot is the minimum amount of currency that can be bought or sold in a given trade.
The net total of all holdings of a given currency are called a position. Most platforms will automatically calculate all your holdings in order to give you your position for each currency. This may be called an open positions window. It is called open because it refers to all the currency that has been bought and has not yet been sold. Position closing therefore means to sell current holdings. Many platforms allow you to preprogram a price at which you would like your position to automatically close.
More Important Functions to Make Sure Your Online Broker Offers:
An entry orders function is a function offered by many platforms that allows you to preset an amount (of lots) and a rate (or price) of a given currency to be bought in the future. An entry limit means that the program will purchase when the price goes down or sell when the price goes up (i.e. that there is a limit on what is to be paid). Entry stop means the opposite (i.e. to stop or liquidate if the price drops).
Hedging is a financial step taken to counteract risk. Some platforms will allow you to perform trades automatically calculated to counteract risk incurred by an existing position.
Another basic feature provided by trading platforms is an up-to-date display of your account. This typically includes the account balance, equity (calculation of the balance together with open positions), usable and used margin (the amount of available equity or equity in open positions), and also the net gain or less in all open positions.
Many platforms offer a detailed account history including reports of all positions that have been opened and closed since the start of the trading. These reports are helpful for looking back and examining which steps were most successful and which were not. The reports typically will also include current open positions as well as future orders.
Online trading platforms are the ultimate way to conquer the forex market. They provide all the tools necessary for successful trading. Many platforms offer the option of opening a demo account that will let you experience using the program by trading without actually investing any real money. (The trades respond to real market trends but the money is not real). In the modern world of online forex trading, an online trading platform is your best friend.
To know more about Global Forex Trading and Stocks Day Trading from the best forex brokers, visit http://www.forexmansion.com.
Don’t start global forex trading if you’re not using a quality online trading platform.. This article will explain what an online trading platform provides and the important role it plays for the modern forex trader.
By Dezan Shira
More and more small and medium-sized Thai and Indian businesses are looking for investment opportunities in Vietnam.
There are many reasons why Vietnam is attractive for foreign investors. According to Tharabodee Serng-Adichaiwit, general manager of Bangkok Bank in Vietnam, in comparison to Thailand’s other bordering countries like Laos and Cambodia, Vietnam has a large market, skilled workers and a good investment environment while still maintaining lower production costs due to lower wages then in India or Thailand.
Some 1,000 clients of Bangkok Bank want to invest in Vietnam, but on the last assembly of Thai firms with Becamex IDC Corp. the bank chose to bring not more then 37. Tharabodee assume that at least 10 percent of the companies are going to invest in Vietnam and more businesses are expected to follow this year. Five companies signed already a contract to lease land at Becamex IDC’s industrial park this year. All in all, Thai companies invested more than US$5.8 billion in 244 projects in Vietnam.
Indian companies are also planning to invest more and more money into Vietnam in the future. Two weeks ago, 62 Indian companies visited Vietnam to look for investment opportunities. One additional reason why Indian firms are getting more interested in Vietnam is the India- ASEAN (Association of Southeastern Asian Nations) Free Trade Agreement, decided on August 13, 2009 in Bangkok and effective from January 1, 2010.
The Vietnam-India bilateral trade relationship was worth US$2.75 billion last year. In January and February 2011 the bilateral trade value stood at US$643 million and it seems to be rising.
Vietnam’s economy in 2010 suffered major inflationary and currency devaluation problems. Consumer prices increased 13.89 percent in March of this year from the previous year, with expected increase in 2011 averaging 14.3 percent, compared to 9 percent in 2010. The rapid inflation is due to both higher prices of international commodities and downward pressure on the Vietnamese dong. The Economist Intelligence Unit estimates world crude oil prices to rise by 13 percent and food by 27 percent in 2011. Vietnamese policymakers have already increased electricity, petrol, and diesel prices by 15 percent, 17 percent, and 24 percent, respectively, in the first three months of this year.
A lack of confidence in the dong is also creating a national run on banks’ foreign reserves as the U.S. dollar makes up roughly 20 percent of the money used in transactions within the nation. The dong to dollar exchange is expected to depreciate from VND19,127:US$1 to VND23,873:US$1 by 2015. In October of last year, the International Monetary Fund estimated Vietnam’s foreign currency reserves at US$14.1 billion, which amounted to less than two months of imports. With such little in reserve and a continued trade deficit, the government is hard-pressed to find an easy resolution.
This article was written for the Vietnam business news site, Vietnam-Briefing.com. The site is published by the Asia business guide publishers Asia Briefing, who also publish the Guide to doing business in China.
Data from this past week’s CFTC Commitment of Trader’s Report (COT) shows leveraged money traders have an overall short position in the Canadian dollar for the first time in a year.
Data from this past week’s CFTC Commitment of Trader’s Report shows leveraged money traders have an overall short position in the market for the Canadian dollars for the first time in a year.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Commitments of Traders (COT) report shows long positions in the Canadian dollar have been exhausted and the market is now positioned short on the CAD. Net Noncommercial Positions on the IMM stand on the short side of the CAD by 9011 contracts versus last week’s bullish positioning of 10429. The last time the COT showed the market was positioned against the CAD was in August of 2010 when the USD/CAD traded as high as 1.6050. This Friday the pair closed at 0.9869.
An analysis of the open interest also displays some interesting points. We can see that the open interest has fallen dramatically to 87905, the lowest level of contracts open since early July. This tells us that the recent rise in the price of the USD/CAD may be due to shorts covering their positions and is a bearish indicator (for the Canadian dollar).
Given the flip in market positioning of leveraged traders to being short the CAD as well as a subsequent drop-off in open interest, I’m skeptical of the long term trend downtrend resuming in the near term.
Read more forex trading news on our forex blog.
By Forex Mansion
In the world of forex you can’t go it alone. Currency is traded in pairs, and if you want to buy, you need a seller, and if you want to sell, you need a buyer. An online trading company is your broker to bring you to the market. In the modern world of forex trading, the internet is the market place where everyone gathers. However, before opening an account with an online firm, it is strongly recommended to look into a number of websites before making a choice.
The first step in picking an online trading company is to know what type of online trader you plan to be. The various websites offer terms and conditions that are best suited to different types of traders. A very active day trader will never pick a website that has high per-trade commission fees but will never worry about an account inactivity fee. On the flip side, a casual trader wouldn’t mind a pre-trade fee, but should be wary of an account inactivity fee. Therefore, before looking into various websites, look inward and decide what type of trader you’d like to be.
Never Pay Unnecessary Fees!
As previously mentioned, there can be various fees associated with online trading. At the end of the day, the trading company is providing a service, and it stands to reason that the service should be paid for. Nonetheless, one should make sure they are not signing up for a service in which they will be paying unnecessarily. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully read the website’s terms and conditions in order to properly understand the method of payment. Here are some of the fees you should look out for and be aware of:
• Account opening fee
• Account transfer fee
• Per-trade commission
• Paper statements fee
• Minimum account size fee
• Inactivity fee
• Personal assistance fee
• Account closing fee
Some websites will allow you to open an account with any amount of money. Others, however, will only let you open an account with a certain minimum investment. As a rule of thumb, the more money you invest the nicer the trading company will be to you. Some brokerages will even give you free money in exchange for starting an account with a large opening investment.
Don’t Miss Out on Important Freebies!
Another important thing to look out for is free goodies. Many trading websites offer a number of free incentives such as online tutorials, various educational financial literature, real-time quotes from various markets, market histories including analyses, and even free software. These free goodies are actually very important. Many companies might advertise them as extras, but nowadays with the dissemination of forex trading, you should have no trouble finding multiple websites that offer all of these services for free. Many of these tools and services can be the difference between profiting and loosing money.
Only Trade Where It’s Safe and Secure – What to Look Out For
The most important facet of the website to check is security. You need to make sure that it is a legitimate trading company. Read the security policy and relevant literature on the website. Make sure they have proper encoding and that no third parties have access to your account information. Many internet browsers have indicators that will let you know if a website has proper encoding or not.
Now that you’ve checked the websites, learning forex trading is worthwhile if your mentors are the best forex brokers that suits your style and suits your standards. With this, you’re ready to open an account and event star forex trading. Good luck!
Looking for the best place to trade forex online? This article will provide important factors to consider when choosing on online trading company with which to open a forex trading account.
Contributor Article:
By Vivian Ni
A recent trend has emerged as an increasing number of international luxury brands are deciding to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, proving the recent Hong Kong IPO fever has been contagious – from resource giants like Glencore to other businesses in other sectors that also find accessing the China market a crucial part of their search for future profits.
A relatively small offering by Hong Kong’s second-hand luxury handbag retailer Milan Station has just set a new initial public offering (IPO) record on the Hong Kong exchange, giving a kick to the market which had been sluggish since April. Planning to only raise HK$200 million, Milan Station’s IPO was oversubscribed 2,180 times, smashing a previous over-subscription record of 1,072 times set by Tianjin Port Development in 2006. Its shares surged by 77 percent at one point on its first day of trading on May 23, and closed with a gain of 65.8 percent.
Started in 2001, Milan Station’s business model was initiated by its founder Byron Yiu Kwan-tat’s personal used handbag collection from local celebrities. Pursuing the belief that rich Hong Kong women’s endless pursuit of new luxury items would not end any time soon, Milan Station was always able to find piles of second-hand purses with big fashion names.
Running 11 outlets in Hong Kong and one in Macau, Milan Station has started to see business opportunities brought by the increasing number of wealthy women in Mainland China. Although only seeing revenue of HK$2.5 million from mainland consumers during 2008, the year when it expanded to Beijing, Milan Station’s income surged by 17.4 times two years later to approximately HK$46 million.
Milan Station’s success reinforced its own belief in Hong Kong and Mainland China’s consumption power, and its outstanding IPO performance has confirmed that luxury brand names should and will continue to target the emerging Asian market for future profits.
A recent report on Beijing Daily (Beijing Chenbao) says Milan Station will place even more focus on the mainland market in the future. It plans to use 70 percent of the HK$200 million-capital its IPO raised to open an additional 24 outlets across distinct mainland cities in the next three years.
While Milan Station’s recent strong performance has inspired many luxury brands, it was in fact the French cosmetics and skin care brand L’Occitaine Internationale that kick-started this emerging trend. In its IPO in May of last year, the company raised around US$840 million and has seen its stock price rise 277 percent since then.
The major Italian luxury fashion label Prada is also busy pre-marketing for its June 24 Hong Kong IPO, which aims to raise between US$2 billion and US$2.5 billion. When announcing its Hong Kong plan in March, the company’s chief executive officer Patrizio Bertelli pointed out that by listing closer to its fastest-growing market, the company will seize the best opportunities offered by the international capital markets. Statistics show some 40 percent of Prada’s US$2.8 billion-global sales were generated in Asia.
Another company that has enjoyed the similar “Asian contribution” to its annual earnings last year is the U.S.-based luggage specialist Samsonite International. The company, primarily known for its hard-side suitcases, wants to act more swiftly than Prada and kicked off the institutional marketing for an IPO of up to US$1.5 billion on May 30. Aiming to start trading on June 15, the company will offer 671.2 million shares, with 47.7 percent of its share capital available for public investors at the time of listing. It will also be selling 40 percent of its two major shareholders’ holdings as the company experienced a financial restructuring less than two years ago and is currently owned by private equity arms looking to successfully cash out.
Other big names have also joined the Hong Kong IPO waiting line. British shoe brand Jimmy Choo intends to launch an IPO of US$1 billion according to a report on the Financial Times last month, and Coach, the largest U.S. handbag maker, is also looking forward to a secondary listing in Hong Kong in the form of depositary receipts by the end of the year. Coach’s chairman and chief executive Lew Franfort said on May 10 that the Hong Kong listing is to “raise awareness of the Coach brand among investors and consumers in the China market as well as throughout Asia.”
In addition to the potential revenue offered by China’s emerging consumer market, the Hong Kong stock market itself boasts some attractive features – not only its geographical proximity to Mainland China, but also its depth, liquidity, as well as an active retail investor base that currently shows much passion for upscale consumer product stocks.
The unique “cornerstone investor” system in Hong Kong – which New York does not have – allows investment banks to strike deals with billionaire investors to buy stocks before marketing the IPO to the public. The system sets out that those investors have to hold shares for six months after purchasing at the offering price. The participation of big-name investors for at least half a year can easily affect retail investors, making them more enthusiastic about investing in certain stocks and bringing a more optimistic prospect to companies that are going public.
This article about investment in Hong Kong by Vivian Ni was written for 2point6billion.com.
The site is contributed to by Dezan Shira & Associates, who help foreign companies do business in China and maintain accountants in Hong Kong.
EUR/USD
Momentum has now turned lower as falling stochastics appear on the monthly, weekly, and daily charts. Initial support comes in at the June low of 1.4075 and the May low of 1.3970. A break here and technical traders will target the 200-day moving average at 1.3860. While the 8 cent decline from the May high is a sharp drop, traders should keep in mind that the correction the pair is currently undergoing is just that, a correction. Buyers may be lurking at the rising trend line from the June 2010 low. Resistance comes in at the recent high of 1.4440 where the 50-day and 20-day moving averages are floating.
GBP/USD
The GBP/USD has broken a significant technical barrier at the neckline from a head and shoulders pattern which measures a target at 1.5370. Monthly and weekly stochastics are turning lower so traders may expect further declines. Support is located at the March low at 1.5935 followed by the late January low at 1.5750. To the upside the neckline from the head and shoulders pattern at 1.6120 could offer traders a level to enter short as many times in a head and shoulders chart pattern the pair will revert back to the neckline only to head lower from there.
USD/JPY
Yen bears are making a stand at the 80 level. A previously broken trend line from the April high comes in at this level and will also support the bears. However, once this last bastion of support is broken the fallout could be similar the price action in March. Should the move higher continue, resistance is found at 81 and 81.75.
USD/CHF
The previous resistance at 0.8550 held and the all-time low at 0.8325 is continually being pressured so a break here may be in the works. An absence of supports or trend lines below this level makes it difficult to predict how low the pair could go.
Read more forex trading news on our forex blog.
By Forex Mansion
The US dollar index (USDX) is a critical tool for trade analysis. The USDX is a measure of the value of the US dollar (USD) against a group of six other currencies: the euro (EUR), the pound sterling (GBP), the Canadian dollar (CAD), the Swedish krona (SEK), the Swiss franc (CHF), and the Japanese yen (JPY). The statistical weight of each country against the dollar is not even; the euro comprises over 50% of the statistical weight, while the Swiss franc is less than 4%. In addition to being a measuring tool, the USDX can also be traded as a futures contract. A futures contract is an agreed contract between two financial parties to buy or sell a given standardized asset at a future point in time at a previously agreed-upon price. That means USDX can be traded like gold, oil, or other commodities. Nonetheless, most traders use the USDX as a tool to analyze the financial strength of the dollar relative to the major world currencies.
Due to the heavy statistical weight of the euro in the USDX, any trader will notice great similarity in the charted fluctuation of the USDX and the EUR/USD index, however, a keen-eye will discern that the USDX gives a more precise and more accurate picture of the positioning of the US dollar against most of the major, free-floating world currencies.
The USDX was started in 1973 shortly after the dissolving of the Bretton Woods system. (The Bretton Woods system was a system of monetary management active from the 1945 to 1973 that established rules between the major industrialized nations for finance and commerce). At its inception, the USDX was given a starting value of 100.000. Since then, it has traded at a value as high as 148.1244 (in Feb. 1985) and as low as 70.698 (in Mar. 2008). In the past month to the writing of this article, the USDX has been vacillating between 78.50 and 81.50. That means that the dollar is approximately 20% weaker than its starting value in 1973.
The USDX also serves as a useful tool for traders in the commodities market, as well as forex. For example, a weak USD index is often associated with high gold prices. Since the US economy is the strongest economy in the world, during periods of destabilization in other economies traders often seek refuge in the relative stability of the US dollar, which in turn kicks-up the value of the USDX.
As mentioned previously, the USDX serves both as a financial analysis tool and as a futures contract. One can also trade ETF’s (exchange-traded funds) that are based on the USDX. An exchange traded fund is an investment fund that holds assets and is traded much like stocks on the stock market. The majority of ETF’s track an index. There is the powershares Deutsche Bank USDX bullish (UUP), which in English is a family of ETF’s meant to replicate the performance of the USDX for a long term investment. Another option is the powershares Deutsche Bank USDX bearish (UDN), which is like UUP but for short futures contracts.
For the online forex in the US market the USDX is an essential tool for reading the market and knowing when to make the right move. Learn more Forex Trading and stocks day trading at http://www.forexmansion.com.
This article in http://www.forexinusa.com will give you helpful information about using the US dollar index (USDX) in forex trading in order to ensure more successful trading online.
