Month: February 2014

2014.02.11 13:30 6:30AM ET | GBPUSD Currency Pair

Here are the Pivot Points Levels with Support (S) and Resistance (R) for the GBPUSD currency pair today. Price action is currently trading at the 1.64260 price level and above the daily pivot point, according to data at 6:30 AM ET. The GBPUSD high for the day has been 1.64394 while the low of day has been reached at 1.63910. The pair earlier today opened the Asian trading session just below the daily pivot and has trended higher over the course of the day to above the R1 resistance level.

Daily Pivot Point: 1.64030
— S1 – 1.63798
— S2 – 1.63589
— S3 – 1.63357
— R1 – 1.64239
— R2 – 1.64471
— R3 – 1.64680

Weekly Pivot Points: GBPUSD

Prices are currently trading over the weekly pivot point at time of writing. The GBPUSD has been on an overall bullish trend this week after opening the trading week above the weekly pivot.

Weekly Pivot Point: 1.63666
— S1 – 1.62936
— S2 – 1.61778
— S3 – 1.61048
— R1 – 1.64824
— R2 – 1.65554
— R3 – 1.66712

By CountingPips.com – Forex Trading Apps & Currency Trade Tools

Disclaimer: Foreign Currency trading and trading on margin carries a high level of risk and volatility and can result in loss of part or all of your investment. All information and opinions contained do not constitute investment advice and accuracy of prices, charts, calculations cannot be guaranteed.

2014.02.11 13:30 6:30AM ET | USDJPY Currency Pair

Here are the Pivot Points Levels with Support (S) and Resistance (R) for the USDJPY currency pair today. Price action is currently trading over the daily pivot point at the 102.372 price level, according to data at 6:30 AM ET. The USDJPY high for the day has been 102.462 while the low of day has reached to 102.068. The pair earlier today opened the Asian trading session slightly below the daily pivot and has trended modestly higher over the course of the day.

Daily Pivot Point: 102.289
— S1 – 101.944
— S2 – 101.638
— S3 – 101.293
— R1 – 102.595
— R2 – 102.940
— R3 – 103.246

Weekly Pivot Points: USDJPY

Prices are currently trading above the weekly pivot point at time of writing. The USDJPY has been on an overall slightly bearish to sideways trend this week after opening the trading week higher than the weekly pivot.

Weekly Pivot Point: 101.869
— S1 – 101.169
— S2 – 100.046
— S3 – 99.346
— R1 – 102.992
— R2 – 103.692
— R3 – 104.815

By CountingPips.com – Forex Trading Apps & Currency Trade Tools

Disclaimer: Foreign Currency trading and trading on margin carries a high level of risk and volatility and can result in loss of part or all of your investment. All information and opinions contained do not constitute investment advice and accuracy of prices, charts, calculations cannot be guaranteed.

A number of tax breaks are going away, and new tax brackets are being phased in, so it’s important for taxpayers to make sure they get everything they can out of their 2013 tax returns. Jonnelle Marte reports on MoneyBeat. Photo: Getty Images.

Comments from French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici on the future of the euro zone, including trends, problems and opportunities after the European Elections in May. NB EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: ROUGH CUT – NO REPORTER NARRATION.

Last week, we saw the US government jobs report disappoint the markets (for a second straight month) with just 113,000 jobs created in January compared to expectations of roughly 180,000 jobs to be created. Also out of the US, we saw ISM manufacturing data come in lower at a 51.3 reading compared to a forecast of 56.0 for the month of January.

• Australia’s interest rate decision and RBA statement that the bank was satisfied with the Australian dollar exchange rate helped boost the Aussie to new heights
• European Central Bank interest rate decision and statement disappointed market participants that were looking for policy action in response to low inflation (euro rallied)
• The Bank of England maintained their interest rate at 0.50% and left unchanged the quantitative easing schedule at 375 billion
• Canada’s employment in January surpassed the market expectations with a rise of 29.4K workers and the unemployment rate fell to 7.0%
• New Zealand’s unemployment rate fell to 6.0% for the fourth quarter and in line with expectations

This Week’s Outlook:

This week’s economic calendar for the Forex market is on the light side compared to last week’s full economic calendar. The top economic releases of the week could likely be speeches by the top central bank heads on their respective economies.

Janet Yellen will provide testimony before Congress this week in her first public comments on monetary policy which will likely feature extensive testimony on the tapering of the stimulus program and the latest jobs report. The inflation report by the Bank of England Governor Mark Carney on Wednesday will be important for the direction of the British pound sterling and will shed light on possible future policy and the UK economic strength.

In addition to the important testimony this week, we will see Chinese data in the form of new yuan loans on Monday, the trade balance numbers on Wednesday and the Chinese consumer price index on Friday. There will also be government employment data out of Australia on Thursday, the US retail sales data also on Thursday and the euro zone GDP report for the fourth quarter of 2013 is scheduled for release on Friday.

This week’s major economic highlights:

Monday, February 10
China — new yuan loans
Switzerland — unemployment rate data
Canada — housing starts
euro zone — investor confidence

Tuesday, February 11
United States — Janet Yellen policy report

Wednesday, February 12
China — trade balance
United Kingdom — bank of England inflation report
Switzerland — consumer price index

Thursday, February 13
Australia — employment data/unemployment rate
United States — advance retail sales
United States — weekly jobless claims

Friday, February 14
China — consumer price index
euro zone — euro zone GDP
euro zone — France GDP report
euro zone — Germany GDP report
United States — University of Michigan confidence survey

Please see our full calendar for a complete listing of economic events.

By CountingPips.com

Large Speculator bullish bets rose to $20.72 billion on February 4th

The latest data for the weekly Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday, showed that large traders and futures speculators increased their overall bullish position of the US dollar for the fourth time out of the last five weeks.

Non-commercial large futures traders, including hedge funds and large International Monetary Market speculators, had an overall US dollar long position totaling $20.72 billion as of Tuesday February 4th, according to data from Reuters. This was a weekly change of +$3.54 billion from the $17.18 billion total bullish position that was registered on January 28th, according to the calculations by Reuters that totals the US dollar contracts against the combined contracts of the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc.

The US dollar aggregate positions had fallen by $8.71 billion and to the lowest level since November on January 28th before the turnaround on February 4th. Helping to boost the US dollar bullish standings for the week was a large decline in Euro net positions that brought Euro positions from a bullish level to a bearish level at -13,610 net contracts.

Net Contract Standings for the week:

Individual Currencies – Large Speculator Weekly changes:

The non-commercial net positions for each of the individual currencies directly against the US dollar showed weekly gains for the Japanese yen, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, Mexican peso and the Swiss franc while there were weekly declines for the euro, British pound sterling and the New Zealand dollar. See charts & data below.

Individual Currency Charts: Large & Small Speculator Positions vs Spot Price

EuroFX:

Last Six Weeks data for EuroFX futures

British Pound Sterling:

Last Six Weeks data for Pound Sterling futures

Japanese Yen:

Last Six Weeks data for Yen Futures

Swiss Franc:

Last Six Weeks data for Franc futures

Canadian Dollar:

Last Six Weeks data for Canadian dollar futures

Australian Dollar:

Last Six Weeks data for Australian dollar futures

New Zealand Dollar:

Last Six Weeks data for New Zealand dollar futures

Mexican Peso:

Last Six Weeks data for Mexican Peso futures

*COT Report: The weekly commitment of traders report summarizes the total trader positions for open contracts in the futures trading markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators).

The Commitment of Traders report is published every Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and shows futures positions data that was reported as of the previous Tuesday (3 days behind).

Each currency contract is a quote for that currency directly against the U.S. dollar, a net short amount of contracts means that more speculators are betting that currency to fall against the dollar and a net long position expect that currency to rise versus the dollar.

(The graphs overlay the forex spot closing price of each Tuesday when COT trader positions are reported for each corresponding spot currency pair.)

See more information and explanation on the weekly COT report from the CFTC website.

Article by CountingPips.com – Forex Apps & News

By CountingPips.com

Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Report

Large Speculators are at most bearish level since December 31st

10 Year Treasuries: Large futures market traders increased their overall bearish positions in the 10-year treasury note futures for a third straight week last week, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.

The non-commercial futures contracts of the 10-year treasury notes, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of -135,301 contracts in the data reported for February 4th. This was a change of -17,542 contracts from the previous week’s total of -117,759 net contracts that was recorded on January 28th. The latest data brings the 10-Year large speculator positions to the most bearish level since December 31st when net positions equaled -173,674 contracts.

Over the same reporting time-frame, from Tuesday January 28th to Tuesday February 4th, the yield on the 10-Year treasury note fell from 2.77 to a yield of 2.64, according to data from the United States Treasury Department.

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Non-Commercial Positions

*COT Report: The weekly commitment of traders report summarizes the total trader positions for open contracts in the futures trading markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators). Find CFTC criteria here: (http://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/CommitmentsofTraders/ExplanatoryNotes/index.htm).

Article by CountingPips.com – Forex Trading Apps

By CountingPips.com

Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Report

VIX Futures Contracts: Large trader and speculator positions trimmed their bearish bets from the previous week in the VIX futures market last week, according to the latest data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released on Friday.

The VIX non-commercial contracts, primarily traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of -51,230 contracts in the data reported for February 4th. This was a change of +14,274 contracts from the previous week’s total of -65,504 net contracts that was recorded on January 28th.

The VIX index, meanwhile, rose to its highest level since October through the February 4th close. The VIX increased from 15.80 on Tuesday January 28th to a 19.11 reading on Tuesday February 4th, according to the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index. This was the highest VIX score October 8th when the VIX registered a 20.34 reading.

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

*COT Report: The weekly commitment of traders report summarizes the total trader positions for open contracts in the futures trading markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators). Find CFTC criteria here: (http://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/CommitmentsofTraders/ExplanatoryNotes/index.htm).

Article by CountingPips.com – Forex Apps & Analysis

The National Republican Congressional Committee has purchased hundreds of URLs and erected fake campaign websites for Democratic candidates.

2014.02.07 13:30 6:30AM ET | EURUSD Currency Pair

Here are the Pivot Points Levels with Support (S) and Resistance (R) for the EURUSD currency pair today. Price action is currently trading at the 1.35671 price level and just over the daily pivot point, according to data at 6:30 AM ET. The EURUSD high for the day has been 1.35942 while the low of day has reached to 1.35510. The pair earlier today opened the Asian trading session above the daily pivot and has trended lower today so far with more movements expected as the market-moving US nonfarm payroll jobs report is due later this morning.

Daily Pivot Point: 1.35630
— S1 – 1.35077
— S2 – 1.34265
— S3 – 1.33712
— R1 – 1.36442
— R2 – 1.36995
— R3 – 1.37807

Weekly Pivot Points: EURUSD

Prices are currently trading over the weekly pivot point on the last day of trading this week. The EURUSD has been on an overall bullish trend this week after opening the trading week below the weekly pivot.

Weekly Pivot Point: 1.35594
— S1 – 1.34029
— S2 – 1.33217
— S3 – 1.31652
— R1 – 1.36406
— R2 – 1.37971
— R3 – 1.38783

By CountingPips.com – Forex Trading Apps & Currency Trade Tools

Disclaimer: Foreign Currency trading and trading on margin carries a high level of risk and volatility and can result in loss of part or all of your investment. All information and opinions contained do not constitute investment advice and accuracy of prices, charts, calculations cannot be guaranteed.