Month: March 2014

2014.03.04 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 1.66886 price level and right on top of the daily pivot point, according to data at 6:30 AM ET. The GBPUSD high for the day has been 1.67154 while the low of day has reached to 1.66392. The pair earlier today opened the Asian trading session below the daily pivot and has trended higher over the course of the day with resistance being found around the 1.6700 area.

Daily Pivot Point: 1.66888
— S1 – 1.66278
— S2 – 1.65907
— S3 – 1.65297
— R1 – 1.67259
— R2 – 1.67869
— R3 – 1.68240

Weekly Pivot Points: GBPUSD

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

Weekly Pivot Point: 1.66967
— S1 – 1.66257
— S2 – 1.65111
— S3 – 1.64401
— R1 – 1.68113
— R2 – 1.68823
— R3 – 1.69969

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.

The mountain town of Breckenridge is an easy sell to winter activity enthusiasts. Now that the eagerly awaited Peak 6 has opened, this ever-popular ski resort and former mining town can lay claim to having some of the best trails for every type of skier or snowboarder. Recently, AskMen caught up with Alyssa Hetze of the Breckenridge Ski Resort to find out why the storybook mountain resort is a great year-round destination. Turns out skiing is just the tip of the iceberg in Breckenridge. If you’re not inclined to hurl yourself down a snowy mountain with little more than some poles and planks of wood strapped to you, have no fear, you can still get a winter rush by dogsledding, ice skating, tubing, or snowmobiling. The town also hosts dozens of events from the infamous Dew Tour to one of the greatest ice sculpting competitions you’ll ever see. And when all the snow melts, that prime wilderness opens up for a litany of adrenalin-pumping summer activities which include hiking, zip-lining and mountain biking. Breckenridge’s night scene also begs to be explored with over 75 bars and restaurants that can cater to a couple looking for a fancy night or a bachelor party looking for a the legal trouble they can find. Remember, this is Colorado! One thing’s for sure, if you’re hoping to book an outdoorsy vacation for yourself or your family, you owe it to yourself to experience Breckenridge at least once.

When he releases his budget proposal on Tuesday, President Barack Obama will be able to celebrate the smallest deficit since he took office in 2009. He also will be able to enjoy a cease-fire in the fiscal battles that have paralyzed Washington for the past three years. But a troublesome fact lurks behind the good news: Obama and his Republican adversaries still have done little to improve the United States’ long-term fiscal outlook. Though tight spending caps have already shrunk spending by the Pentagon and other government agencies to their lowest levels in 50 years, they will do nothing to slow the steady growth of government health and retirement costs as the nation’s millions of Baby Boomers age.

The average tax refund this year is $3,200. Where’s the most likely place that money will end up? MarketWatch’s Jonnelle Marte joins MoneyBeat.

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Large Speculator bullish bets decline to $13.77 billion on February 25th

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 decreased their bullish position of the US dollar for a third consecutive week and to the lowest level since November 2013.

Non-commercial large futures traders, including hedge funds and large International Monetary Market speculators, had an overall US dollar long position totaling $13.77 billion as of Tuesday February 25th, according to data from Reuters. This was a weekly change of -$2.51 billion from the $16.28 billion total bullish position that was registered on February 18th, 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 position is now at its lowest level since November 5th when the overall position totaled $7.02 billion.

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 euro, British pound sterling, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar and the Mexican peso while there were weekly declines for just the Japanese yen. 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.

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Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Report

Large Speculators bearish positions decline for 2nd straight week

10 Year Treasuries: Large futures market traders cut back on their overall bearish positions in the 10-year treasury note futures last week to the lowest level since July 2013, 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 -12,967 contracts in the data reported for February 25th. This was a change of +44,177 contracts from the previous week’s total of -57,144 net contracts that was registered on February 18th.

This latest data brings bearish contracts of the 10-year note to the lowest level since July 30th when contracts were on the bullish side at +11,903 positions.

Over the same reporting time-frame, from Tuesday February 18th to Tuesday February 25th, the yield on the 10-Year treasury note edged lower from 2.71 to a yield of 2.70, 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).

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Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Report

VIX Futures Contracts: Large traders and speculators slightly added to their bearish bets 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 futures contracts, reflecting large speculator and hedge fund positions, totaled a net position of -16,038 contracts in the data reported for February 25th. This was a change of just -1,115 contracts from the previous week’s total of -14,923 net contracts that was registered on February 18th.

Net non-commercials, on February 18th, reached their lowest level since July 2nd when contracts equaled -14,760 net positions.

The VIX index, meanwhile, declined for the third straight week from 13.87 on Tuesday February 18th to a 13.67 reading on Tuesday February 25th, according to the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index.

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).

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Last Week’s Recap & Notable Data Points:

Last week, the market continued to see the US dollar decline against most of the other major currencies. A softer US GDP number for the 4th quarter (+2.4%), lower consumer confidence and lower durable goods orders as well as a better than expected CPI number from the Eurozone helped to sink the dollar (particularly against the European currencies) later in the week. Overall, the dollar fell against the euro, British pound sterling, Japanese yen, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar and the New Zealand dollar while gaining some ground against the Australian dollar.

Here are the major economic results from last week:

• Eurozone CPI rose 0.8% year-over-year in January / core CPI rose 1.0%
• US consumer confidence fell to 78.1 in February from 79.4 in January
• United Kingdom GDP rose 2.7% year-over-year in the fourth quarter
• Switzerland GDP rose 1.7% year-over-year in the fourth quarter
• German employment fell by 14,000 workers in February
• US durable goods orders fell 1.0% in January
• Japan national CPI rose 1.4% year-over-year in January
• Canada GDP rose 2.9% year-over-year in fourth quarter
• US GDP revised to 2.4% annualized fourth quarter from 3.2% previous
• Chinese manufacturing PMI fell to 50.2 from 50.5 in February

This Week’s Outlook: GDP Reports, Interest Rate Decisions, US Non-Farm Payroll Report

This week we have a very busy schedule of economic releases with GDP reports, the central bank interest rate decisions and the US job report all on the docket. Early in the week, we will see the US ISM manufacturing report as well as the Chinese non-manufacturing PMI report, both due out on Monday.

Tuesday, the economic calendar is highlighted by the Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate decision with expectations of the interest rate remaining unchanged at 2.5%. The bank’s commentary will be closely watched for any comments on the Aussie’s current trading level. Wednesday we will see the Australian GDP report, the Eurozone GDP report, the Bank of Canada’s interest rate decision as well as the US ISM non-manufacturing data point. Thursday will see two interest rate decisions, one from the Bank of England and the other from the European central bank.

Friday will be the employment reports out of the US and from Canada. The US report will be especially important for direction of the US economy (following two disappointing jobs report) with market expectations of 150,000 workers to be added for February.

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s major economic highlights:

Monday, March 3
United States — ISM manufacturing

Tuesday, March 4
Australia — interest rate decision

Wednesday, March 5
Australia — GDP report
Eurozone — GDP report
Canada — interest rate decision
United States — ISM nonmanufacturing report

Thursday, March 6
United Kingdom — interest rate decision
Eurozone — interest rate decision

Friday, March 7
United States — non-farm payrolls jobs report
United States — unemployment rate
Canada — unemployment rate/employment change

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

By CountingPips.com – Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Report

Gold Comex Futures Contracts: Large traders and speculators added to their bullish bets in the gold futures market last week to the highest level since April 2013, according to the latest data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released on Friday.

The gold non-commercial Comex futures contracts totaled a net position of 109,464 contracts in the data reported for February 25th. This was a change of +24,833 contracts from the previous week’s total of 84,631 net contracts that was registered on February 18th.

Net non-commercials are at their highest level since April 16th 2013 when net contracts equaled 128,882 as bullish net positions have increased for three straight weeks.

Gold prices rose through February 25th to $1,342.70 from a price of $1,324.40 on Tuesday February 18th, according to the Comex Gold Price.

Last 6 Weeks of Large Traders: Non-Commercial Net 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).

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