COMMENTARY

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  Trading Psychology- Accepting the Risk
  Written by Bradley Gareiss
  Last updated 2/8/2010 8:49:38 PM ET
  Accepting the risk before placing a trade is one of the most important components of a winning trader's psychological makeup.
  1 comment
• Forex: Credit Default Spreads and EUR/USD
  Written by Kathy Lien
  Last updated 2/8/2010 4:38:34 PM ET
  It is an extremely quiet day in the foreign exchange markets with most of major currencies ending the NY trading session unchanged against the U.S. dollar. With no U.S. economic data on the calendar and little surprises from the G7 this weekend, we want to take this opportunity to explain credit default swap spreads – a term that is used often in the financial media these days.
  2 comments
• Short-Term NZD/JPY Buy Near 60.80
  Written by Roger Stojsic
  Last updated 2/8/2010 1:52:54 PM ET
  We have a potential short-term NZD/JPY buying opportunity at 60.83 based on an emerging 30min bullish...
  2 comments
• Relationship between EUR/USD and Equities
  Written by Kathy Lien
  Last updated 2/8/2010 9:52:09 AM ET
  It is a quiet morning in the foreign exchange markets with the dollar holding onto its gains. As our colleague Boris Schlossberg mentioned this morning, the G7 meeting proved to be a dud for the foreign exchange markets as the leaders of the richest nations avoided official comments on currencies.
  1 comment
• EUR/USD Rebounds on Short Covering
  Written by Boris Schlossberg
  Last updated 2/8/2010 4:02:27 AM ET
  After a rudderless G7 meeting over the weekend that saw no resolution on the Greek crisis, risk currencies drifted lower once again at the start of Asian session trade, but rebounded sharply on short covering flows when European markets opened for business. The G7 meeting produced no concrete agreement on the issue of Greece’s fiscal problem. Furthermore congregants proposed a possible 15bp levy on the banking sector to help pay for the massive fiscal deficits incurred by all the members in 2009. The tax should it ever go into effect would no doubt only aggravate the capital markets putting an additional cost on the finance sector. Nevertheless, despite absence of any positive news high beta FX rallied strongly in early morning London trade.
  3 comments
• Euro Holds Its Ground Despite Unsatisfactory G7
  Written by Boris Schlossberg
  Last updated 2/8/2010 2:51:55 AM ET
  The G7 meeting over the weekend produced no concrete proposals on the resolution of the Greek crisis leaving the currency market adrift at the start of the Monday trade. The G7 officials also discussed the possibility of an additional 15bp tax on the financial sector to help raise revenue after last year’s massive fiscal stimulus plans across the G-7 universe resulted in record deficits for all member nations.
  1 comment
• GBP/NZD Long Opportunity at 2.2535
  Written by Bradley Gareiss
  Last updated 2/5/2010 8:10:28 PM ET
  A bullish Gartley pattern is forming on the GBP/NZD.
  7 comments
• U.S. Dollar: Have We Hit A Capitulation Point?
  Written by Kathy Lien
  Last updated 2/5/2010 5:28:56 PM ET
  It has been an extremely volatile day in the financial markets with the Dow Jones Industrial average falling close 160 points only to recover aggressively in the last hour of trading to end the day in positive territory. The turn in risk appetite has caused a similar reaction in currencies with the dollar also ending the North American session higher against the Japanese Yen. We can tell this is not a dollar move because the greenback gave back part of its gains against high yielders like the euro and Australian dollars. With no trigger for the abrupt turn, many traders are wondering whether we have finally hit a capitulation point in the financial markets. Although the recovery in stocks was impressive, the reversal in bond yields and currencies were not nearly as strong. Nonetheless barring any major surprises from the G7 this weekend, if we have really hit a capitulation point in the financial markets, risk appetite should continue to recover in the beginning of the week, which will stem the bleeding in forex.
  6 comments
• EUR/USD Technicals: How Low Will Euro Go?
  Written by Roger Stojsic
  Last updated 2/5/2010 1:26:59 PM ET
  Prices now approach the first Fibonacci support zone between 1.35-1.34 with room down to 1.31-1.30 in weeks ahead...
  0 comments
• Non-Farm Payrolls: Disappointing but not Horrible
  Written by Kathy Lien
  Last updated 2/5/2010 9:01:26 AM ET
  The latest non-farm payrolls report indicates that the U.S. labor market remains weak but like a semi truck turning on a highway, it is moving in the right direction.
  1 comment
• A Suprise Reaction to the NFPs?
  Written by Boris Schlossberg
  Last updated 2/5/2010 5:24:47 AM ET
  Another volatile night of trade in the currency markets with EUR/USD making fresh multi month lows as risk aversion reigned supreme ahead of US NFP report at 13:30 GMT. The EUR/USD dropped below the 1.3650 level for the first time since May of 2009 as relentless selling in EUR/JPY cross amidst very thin market conditions exacerbated the moves.
  4 comments
• The Dilemma For G-7
  Written by Boris Schlossberg
  Last updated 2/5/2010 4:15:07 AM ET
  Another wild night of volatility across all capital markets saw key levels give way in gold, equities and the euro as risk liquidation continued unabated ahead of the NFP report at 13:30 GMT and the G-7 meeting this weekend. With liquidity extraordinarily thin ahead of event risk later in the day, the price moves were highly exaggerated with gold tumbling to $1050/oz. Dow futures breaking below the 10,000 level and EUR/USD hitting multi month lows at $1.3650 all in a matter of minutes at the open of European trade.
  4 comments
• Trading Around the News
  Written by Bradley Gareiss
  Last updated 2/4/2010 7:46:26 PM ET
  Today I will go over how I handle trading near major news announcements.
  5 comments
• Forex Market Hit By Crisis Of Confidence
  Written by Kathy Lien
  Last updated 2/4/2010 5:21:52 PM ET
  A full-fledged meltdown in the forex markets is the best way to describe today’s price action as investors sought safety in the low yielding U.S. dollar. The greenback rose against every major currency except for the Japanese Yen which further indicates that risk aversion is behind today’s strong demand for dollars. Do not be mistaken - traders are not loading up on the buck because they believe that tomorrow’s non-farm payrolls report will be strong, but because they are unwinding high risk positions and reducing exposure ahead of NFPs. With credit default spreads for Greece, Portugal and Spain rising significantly, traders are nervous about how the situation in Europe will pan out. So far, the European Union has failed to calm investors by bailing out Greece or any other nations but they could easily end the euro’s crisis of confidence if did what the UAE did for Dubai. Although investors are not as worried about the U.S. deficit as they are about European deficits at this time, the S&P 500 still fell by the largest amount since October 30th which indicates that Greece’s problems have influenced the world, whether the Europeans like it or not. It also didn’t help that the ratings agency division of Standard & Poor’s downgraded Berkshire Hathaway and that Bank of America agreed to shell out $150 million to strengthen its corporate governance and disclosure practices as part of their settlement with the SEC. This is a story of deleveraging in an environment that is not as severe as the credit crisis, but just as nerve racking in its own way. A strong non-farm payrolls report could turn risk appetite around, but skittish investors will need a lot of convincing to get them to stop selling and to start buying.
  16 comments
• USD/JPY Collapse Now Consolidating
  Written by Roger Stojsic
  Last updated 2/4/2010 3:02:05 PM ET
  Prices took a nose dive overnight and through today's morning session finally settling at 127.2% support...
  0 comments