Thursday, October 27, 2011

FOREXYARD: Forex News Blog

FOREXYARD: Forex News Blog

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Q3 US GDP Could Outperform but Data may be Overlooked

Posted: 26 Oct 2011 08:35 AM PDT

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Typically US GDP is a high impact event in the foreign exchange market though tomorrow's data may be overlooked given the tensions in Europe and the continued talk of QE3 by the Fed.

Today US core durable goods orders for the month of September climbed 1.7%, handily beating consensus forecasts of 0.5%. The better than expected result combined with this past month's surprisingly positive NFP jobs report may help to shift investor expectations higher regarding tomorrow's Q3 GDP report. Consensus forecasts are for 2.4% growth but perhaps the US economy is growing at a faster pace than forecasted?

Unfortunately, this data may be overshadowed by growing expectations for QE3 regardless of the growth data as unemployment levels remain elevated. This could keep pressure on the USD despite the tensions in Europe and today's USD gains. A better than expected US GDP would also be positive for the "risk on" trade.

At print time the recent trend line rising from the October low remains intact with the EUR/USD failing to make a decisive break. A move below this line could find a bid at 1.3650 from where the October 18th low and the 20-day moving average converge.

Cable is down more than one cent today but yesterday's current account numbers speak well for the UK economy. GBP/USD failed to move above its 100-day moving average which is just above the 50% Fibonacci retracement from the April to October decline but the pair has support at 1.5850 from the top of last week's consolidation pattern. A deeper move could have sterling bulls lurking at 1.5780 from the rising support line off the October 12th low.

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US Durable Goods Orders Reported with Mixed Results

Posted: 26 Oct 2011 07:44 AM PDT

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The publication of the durable goods orders reports from the United States earlier this afternoon revealed a mixed sentiment regarding the manufacturing sector of the world's largest economy. The nominal figure came in with a reading slightly below forecasts with a 0.8% contraction. The core reading, however, beat forecasts with optimistic growth.

The core reading measures the same level of orders as the nominal reading, but excludes transportation items due to their heightened level of volatility. The core reading revealed a 1.7% increase in durable goods orders for October. This reading, which tends to have greater impact, gave several traders reason to be optimistic, but the downturn in transportation orders sends mixed signals about the direction of American manufacturing.

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Australian Core CPI Sluggish in October

Posted: 26 Oct 2011 07:27 AM PDT

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Consumer inflation, as reported by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) this morning, seems to have held steady at 0.6% in October. But the Trimmed Mean CPI, which is similar to the Core CPI reading of other countries since it excludes the most volatile items, revealed sluggishness with only 0.3% growth despite forecasts for a higher reading.

The consumer price index (CPI) measures the change in price paid by consumers and represents one measure of economic growth. If prices are increasing, it can be due to any one or a combination of several factors including higher demand, rising energy costs, rising manufacturing costs, lower supply, longer transportation times (i.e. higher transportation costs) due to increased traffic during the holidays, etc. The sluggish reading suggests that the core of Australia's inflationary growth is being held lower which may affect the Aussie's (AUD) value over time.

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New Zealand NBNZ Confidence Report Halved

Posted: 26 Oct 2011 07:23 AM PDT

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The early morning's publication by the National Bank of New Zealand (NBNZ) regarding consumer confidence in October presented a rather ominous reading on consumer outlook in the Pacific island economy. The reading from September was published at a diffusion index reading at 30.3. This month saw the reading get more than halved with a release at 13.2.

The New Zealand dollar (NZD) has been trending sideways for several days and this morning's publication did appear to place pressure atop the Kiwi. Should tonight's rate statements by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) come out dovish, we could see a wide sell-off in the NZD.

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EU Economic Summit is Today’s Highlight Event

Posted: 26 Oct 2011 03:54 AM PDT

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The economic calendar is full today with data from the US and the Monetary Policy Report from the BoC but traders will be squarely focused on news coming from the EU economic summit.

Expectations are for an agreement to be hammered home today regarding new capital injections into the European banking system but up until now the parties (in particular Germany) have been unable to agree to the respective haircut on Greek debt and just how the EFSF will be leveraged. One thing is for certain that Germany is dead fast against continued ECB involvement in EFSF. These decisions will likely be delayed until the next G-20 meeting on November 3-4 or the Ecofin meeting on the 7th. Today's announcement coming from the EU economic summit is expected around 17:00 GMT.

Currently the EUR remains in a tight trading range though a positive press release from today's meeting could change all that. The big round number of 1.4000 is only a stone’s throw away and the 50% Fibonacci retracement from the May high to the October low coming in at 1.4040. Should the market be disappointed by today's events the downside may offer 1.3820 as initial support followed by 1.3650 where the 20-day moving average lies.

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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

FOREXYARD: Forex News Blog

FOREXYARD: Forex News Blog

Link to Forex Trading Education : Forex Trading Blog by FOREXYARD

Gold Surges Following Bear Trap

Posted: 25 Oct 2011 08:36 AM PDT

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The price of spot gold has received a bit of a bump the last three trading days with the commodity rising 1.6% today. Tensions in Europe could be the usual suspect for today's price increase though perhaps it is the prospect of additional monetary policy easing in the US that is driving the gains.

The WSJ's front page article describes the potential collapse of the Italian government but gold prices may be moving higher on additional QE3 expectations. On Friday comments from Fed Governor Janet Yellen made no bones about the Fed's willingness to go back to the tool chest should risks to growth or price stability emerge. 'Helicopter' Ben Bernanke is well known for his position when tackling the threat of deflation in the US economy. Perhaps the events in Europe have been clouding the landscape and only now market players are turning their attention to a more strategic play in gold for an additional round of US policy easing.

Gold prices recently performed a 'bear trap' when the price of spot gold fell below its rising support line from the September 28th low only to pull higher the same day and continue to advance higher to test the $1,695 level. Should the price continue to move higher there are retracement targets located at $1,725 and $1,771. Support comes in at the October low of $1,603.

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UK Mortgage Approvals Sluggish in October

Posted: 25 Oct 2011 07:10 AM PDT

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An early report on housing loans in the UK was released this morning, revealing a mild sluggishness in the number of loans approved for home purchases. The data has been mulling about in mildly bullish territory for the past two months, making this month's dip a decent counter to the increase in consumer spending which we are seeing ahead of the holidays.

The Mortgage Approval figure does tend to carry a significant impact on housing, moreover. The number of loans approved for home purchases indicates the level of house price increases and demand for housing across Great Britain which ties into the strength of capital markets.

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GfK German Consumer Climate Beats Forecasts

Posted: 25 Oct 2011 07:03 AM PDT

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Released this morning was a report on the state of the German economy according to consumers. The survey, conducted by GfK, revealed a surprising uptick in consumer optimism, beating forecasts for a minor decline of 0.1.

The indicator tends to have less impact than other reports due to its distance from economic valuation. Consumers have one part of the picture, but in the case of Germany it doesn't seem to have as much of an impact as the ZEW or Ifo readings, which get released prior to the GfK report.

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Canadian Retail Sales Bullish in October

Posted: 25 Oct 2011 06:53 AM PDT

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Holiday shopping appears to be boosting retail sales in most countries which celebrate the end-of-year holidays such as Christmas. Indicators appear to be suggesting that consumer spending is on the rise in most Western countries and Canadian retail sales supports this notion for the northern giant.

The Canadian dollar (CAD) was seen holding steady after these publications due to the release of the Bank of Canada's (BOC) interest rate announcement shortly after. The value of the Loonie will likely depend on how the market reacts to the interest rate statement later in the day.

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Canadian Interest Rate Decision

Posted: 25 Oct 2011 04:17 AM PDT

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Today the BoC will release its interest rate decision and its accompanying statement. Canadian retail sales are also on the economic calendar though markets will be squarely focused on the BoC. The CAD has recovered nicely with the USD/CAD looking to move back below parity today.

Inflation is beginning to pick up in the developed economies of the world (US core 2.0% and UK 3.3%) and Canada is no exception to this phenomenon. Last week Statistics Canada reported a larger than expected jump in core Canadian inflation rising 0.5% m/m and 2.2% y/y. The BoC had previously forecasted inflation to be 1.9% y/y. The increased inflationary pressures will likely complicate matters for the BoC given the headwinds in the global economy with a slowing Chinese economy and a cloudy horizon in Europe which has been driving factor in the FX markets over the second half of the year.

The BoC is not expected to change its 1.00% interest rate nor should it adjust its neutral policy stance. Tomorrow the BoC will be releasing the central bank's Monetary Policy Report and is could show a downgrade in Canadian growth expectations which would leave the BoC in a predicament; high inflation and sagging growth.

External factors to keep an eye on have been the price of crude oil which is beginning to show some strength in-line with other risky assets such as US equities and the AUD. Spot crude prices have risen to $93.60 and have retraced almost 50% of its 2011 decline. Crude oil strength could continue given improving market sentiment surrounding developments in Europe. USD debasing has also resurfaced with recent Fed comments hinting at the possibility of additional US monetary policy easing.

Speculators have built a nicely sized position against the CAD according to the latest CFTC COT report (see chart below). Though the amount of the bearish CAD position has been slightly reduced over the past week there is still room for significant short covering as CAD shorts may already have begun to feel the squeeze.

The USD/CAD move lower appears to be accelerating with the pair falling below parity for the first time since September 21st. The 55-day moving average contained yesterday's price action though today the pair has moved through this support level. One level to keep an eye on is 0.9890 where the previously broken downtrend line from the 2010 high is located. Many times a previously broken trend line can act as a support/resistance level. The 61% retracement of the July to October move also comes in at this level. Just below here also rests the 100 and 200-day moving averages. The October 18th high of 1.0260 should serve as initial resistance followed by the Q3 high of 1.0660.

CADIMM

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