COMMENTARY

• Will the Greek Austerity Plan Pacify The Markets?
  Written by Boris Schlossberg
  Last updated 3/3/2010 5:01:36 AM ET
  The EUR/USD rallied to reach session highs as news of Greek austerity plan began to trickle out to the market. According to Dow Jones newswires, the Greek government will increase the VAT tax to 21% from 19%, freeze all pension payments and reduce civil service wages by 12% in an effort to control its growing budget deficit this year. Greek bonds responded positively to the news as GGB/BUND spreads narrowed to 293bps from 300bps prior to the news .
  7 comments
• NZD/JPY Long Opportunity at 61.31
  Written by Bradley Gareiss
  Last updated 3/2/2010 8:11:13 PM ET
  A bullish Gartley pattern is forming on the NZD/JPY
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• Dollar: Turning To Leading Indicators For NFP
  Written by Kathy Lien
  Last updated 3/2/2010 5:34:01 PM ET
  Once again, it was relative growth and not risk appetite that dominated the flows in the forex market. With lackluster price action in the equities and bonds, risk was clearly not the focus. Even though there was no U.S. economic data on the calendar today, there were plenty of non-dollar centric events for currency traders to key off of. The euro, Australian and Canadian dollars strengthened against the greenback thanks to the rate hike in Australia and hawkish comments from Canadian policy makers. The euro stabilized as Greece prepares to announce another round of deficit cuts tomorrow. The British pound on the other hand fell for the tenth consecutive trading while the call for more Chinese Yuan revaluation by the IMF pushed the Yen higher against the dollar.
  3 comments
• AUD/NZD Hits Critical 1.30 Resistance
  Written by Roger Stojsic
  Last updated 3/2/2010 3:01:34 PM ET
  New short (at market) triggered as prices hit significant, converging resistance, and bearish pattern completion...
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• Extended Target for AUD/CAD Short
  Written by Roger Stojsic
  Last updated 3/2/2010 11:15:30 AM ET
  Stops have been tightened to .9354 in order to lock in some profit while allowing a bit of room for this position run down to the extended target of .9088 in coming days
  3 comments
• CAD Soars on Hawkish BoC Comments
  Written by Kathy Lien
  Last updated 3/2/2010 9:21:04 AM ET
  The Bank of Canada backed off their pledge to leave interest rates unchanged until June, sending the Canadian dollar sharply higher.
  1 comment
• Euro's Turn To Swan Dive - Yearly Low Set
  Written by Boris Schlossberg
  Last updated 3/2/2010 5:09:25 AM ET
  Risk FX remained under pressure with the euro rather than the pound taking the brunt of selling on the second trading session of the week while the Aussie held it s own in the wake of an RBA rate hike. The Reserve Bank of Australia resumed it rate tightening policy elevating its benchmark rate to 4.00% - the highest in the G-20 universe, but the cautious tone of the post announcement statement by Governor Glenn Stevens tempered market enthusiasm for the currency and Aussie remained below the .9000 level for most of the European morning trade.
  2 comments
• Aussie Subdued After RBA Rate Hike But Still Best of the Pack
  Written by Boris Schlossberg
  Last updated 3/2/2010 2:57:47 AM ET
  The Reserve Bank of Australia resumed it rate tightening policy elevating its benchmark rate to 4.00% - the highest in the G-20 universe, but the cautious tone of the post announcement statement by Governor Glenn Stevens tempered market enthusiasm for the currency and Aussie remained below the .9000 level at the start of European morning trade.
  0 comments
• EUR/JPY Short at 122.39
  Written by Bradley Gareiss
  Last updated 3/1/2010 8:13:27 PM ET
  A bearish Gartley pattern is forming on the EUR/JPY.
  29 comments
• U.S. Dollar: Rate Decisions First, Then NFP
  Written by Kathy Lien
  Last updated 3/1/2010 4:49:53 PM ET
  Although risk on appears to be the theme in financial markets today with equities up strongly, the price action in the majors indicates that the divergence trade is in full swing. The dollar traded higher against the euro, British pound and Swiss franc, lower against the commodity currencies and unchanged against the Japanese Yen. The U.S. non-farm payrolls may be due for release this week but with 4 central bank rate decisions on the calendar, forex traders can put off thinking about the labor market report until the end of the week particularly since there is no market moving U.S. data on the calendar tomorrow. The aggressiveness and passiveness of central banks will be the driving force of the forex markets this week. Tonight, the Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to raise interest rates for the fourth time in this monetary policy cycle and tomorrow a bit more optimism is expected from the Bank of Canada. So over the next 24 hours, the market will focus less on U.S. developments and more on monetary policy developments in the rest of the world.
  3 comments
• Bank of Canada Rate Decision – What to Expect
  Written by Kathy Lien
  Last updated 3/1/2010 4:13:27 PM ET
  The strength of the Canadian dollar going into Tuesday’s monetary policy meeting suggests that forex traders are anticipating a positive outcome for the loonie. Given that the central bank is not expected to raise interest rates or make any changes to their Quantitative Easing program, traders may wonder what the BoC could possibly say or do to boost the CAD.
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• Trade Update: AUD/CAD Stops To Break-Even
  Written by Roger Stojsic
  Last updated 3/1/2010 12:51:00 PM ET
  Stops have been moved to break-even (.9454) on our current AUD/CAD short
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• Dollar Remains Firm Despite Weak ISM and Mixed Personal Income/Spending Data
  Written by Kathy Lien
  Last updated 3/1/2010 10:12:33 AM ET
  The U.S. dollar is trading higher against every major currency except for the Aussie, because the market expects an interest rate hike from Australia this evening.
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• Pound Weakness Continues as 1.5000 Comes Into View
  Written by Boris Schlossberg
  Last updated 3/1/2010 5:31:05 AM ET
  A probative night of trade in the currency market during the first session of the week as risk FX tested key levels in late Asia on the weaker than expected Chinese PMI data only to recover some ground after EZ results beat forecasts. Chinese PMI Manufacturing which printed at 52.2 versus 55.4 the moth prior caused a flurry of selling as traders became concerned about the strength of the economic recovery in Asia Pacific. This was the second consecutive month of weaker than expected results and although many analysts dismissed the data as being seasonally affected by the Chinese New Year, we noted that,” he fact remains that Chinese manufacturing production has slowed materially since the start of the year casting doubt on the strength of the global economic recovery story.”
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• Will Weaker Chinese Data Force RBA To Keep Rates Steady?
  Written by Boris Schlossberg
  Last updated 3/1/2010 2:27:43 AM ET
  Weaker than expected Chinese PMI Data reversed a small short covering rally in risk FX as European markets opened for trade at the start of the week. Chinese CFLP Manufacturing PMI slowed to 52.0 from 55.8 the month prior which the HSBC gauge dipped to 55.8 from 57.4 in January. Both measures remained firmly in expansionary territory but declined for the second consecutive month after hitting their peak in December of 2009.
  3 comments