Greenback Slides Ahead of FOMC by Korman Tam

The euro bounced off its lows against the dollar around the 1.46-figure, to recover near the 1.4650-mark while the sterling rebounded above the 1.63-level at the start of the week. Economic data will remain in focus in the coming week with key reports due out from the US, Eurozone, UK, Canada and Japan. The major global equity bourses were marginally higher on the session, while spot gold edged up slightly from its one-month lows near $1,125 per ounce and crude oil slipped beneath the $70-per barrel mark.

FX Snaps out of Range, USD Breaks Higher by Korman Tam

he dollar advanced sharply across the boarding, rallying to 1.4306 against the euro, 1.6082 versus the sterling and 90.34 against the yen. The greenback benefited from continued risk aversion in the global equity bourses as markets digest the prospects for interest rate hikes from the central banks. The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were all lower by around 1% in the Thursday session. 

Weekly jobless claims were higher than estimated at 480k up from 474k a week earlier. The November leading indicators index edged out consensus forecasts, rising to 0.9% versus 0.3% from October. The Philadelphia Fed business survey improved sharply, beating calls for a decline to 16.0, instead jumping to 20.4 from 16.7 in November. 

USD Bounces Higher, GBP Slumps by Korman Tam

The dollar edged higher against the majors in the Tuesday session, advancing to its highest level since September versus the euro at 1.4216 and a two-month high against the British pound at 1.5920. A barrage of economic reports were released from the US including Q3 GDP, October home prices, November existing home sales, and the December Richmond Fed survey.

Economic growth in the US slowed in the third quarter with GDP downwardly revised to 2.2% from the previous reading of 2.8%. The Q3 GDP deflator was lower at 0.4% from 0.5% previously and PCE prices slipped to 2.6% from 2.7%. Third quarter corporate profits were also downwardly revised to 12.7% compared with 13.4% previously. The key highlight in the data was a strong surge in November existing home sales, which spiked up to 7.4% -- far outpacing estimates for a decline to 2.9% and improving to 6.54 million units. The October home price index improved to 0.6% on a monthly basis and declined by 1.9% on an annualized basis. Meanwhile, the Richmond Fed composite index deteriorated to -4 in December versus a 1.0 reading in the previous month while the services index worsened to -9 from -7. 

Dollar Slides vs Major FX by Korman Tam

The dollar was broadly lower against the major currencies in the first trading day of 2010, relinquishing the 1.44-level versus the euro and sliding to 1.0374 against the Canadian dollar. Crude oil popped back above the $80 per barrel level while the global equity bourses advanced in the Monday session as traders shifted back into riskier assets. The Dow Jones, Nasdaq and S&P 500 were all higher by over 1.5% by afternoon.

The economic calendar was light today, with the release of the December manufacturing ISM report. The data improved by more than expected, edging up to 55.9 and beating calls for an increase to 54.0 from 53.6 in November. The ISM prices paid component jumped to 61.5 versus 55.0 in the previous month. 

China Tightens Policy, JPY Gains by Korman Tam

The dollar was lower against the majors in the Tuesday session, sliding to 90.73 against the yen and to just shy of the 1.62-level versus the British pound. The global equity bourses also slumped, with the S&P500 and Nasdaq lower by over 1% while Dow Jones slipped by around 0.7% in afternoon trading. Meanwhile, spot gold was down by nearly 2% to $1,129.60 per ounce and WTI crude oil slipped by around 2.3% to $80.65 per barrel.

The economic calendar from the US was light, with just the release of the November trade deficit. The US deficit was slightly less than expected at $33.2 billion, versus a revised $32.9 billion from October. The data for the latter part of the week will include on Thursday: December retail sales, weekly jobless claims, November business inventories and on Friday: December real earnings, core CPI, CPI, industrial production, capacity utilization, January NY Fed manufacturing index, and the University of Michigan consumer confidence survey.

Daily trading- theres no no spoon for u.

Some people are asking me about the secret of daily trading. The answer is there is no secret. It is there for everyone to see but the question is, can you accept what you see.

Trading the daily chart requires patience, lots of it. That is what most of us lack. Patience. If you look at the longer timeframe charts, you will see that price will stop or hover around certain areas. That is your key point. Always start or stop trading around these key point.

The next indicator I use is CCI. CCI alone is a bit of a headache. So I smooth it out with MA. With the MA, I can see the direction of trade clearly. People say MA is a lagging indicator but I dont want to be early going to a party. I like to enter when the party already started.

World s cheapest car to cost a fortune

NEW DELHI: It was touted as the world s cheapest car at 2,000-dollars apiece, but a new version of the snub-nosed Tata Nano will be available soon at a price closer to that of a top-end Ferrari or Porsche. Mumbai-based firm D C Design says it is refitting the 3.1-metre (10.23 feet) five-seater hatchback, doing away with its plastic seat coverings, small wheels and single-dial dashboard. The car s basic silhouette will be retained, but everything else will go in the new 220,000-dollar bespoke models that will have a top speed of 200 kilometres (124 miles) an hour,