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Forex Money Management

2009-05-20T20:09:00.000-07:00

by Boris Schlossberg

Put two rookie traders in front of the screen, provide them with your best high-probability set-up, and for good measure, have each one take the opposite side of the trade. More than likely, both will wind up losing money. However, if you take two pros and have them trade in the opposite direction of each other, quite frequently both traders will wind up making money - despite the seeming contradiction of the premise. What's the difference? What is the most important factor separating the seasoned traders from the amateurs? The answer is money management.

Like dieting and working out, money management is something that most traders pay lip service to, but few practice in real life. The reason is simple: just like eating healthy and staying fit, money management can seem like a burdensome, unpleasant activity. It forces traders to constantly monitor their positions and to take necessary losses, and few people like to do that. However, as Figure 1 proves, loss-taking is crucial to long-term trading success.

Amount of Equity Lost	Amount of Return Necessary to Restore to Original Equity Value
25%	33%
50%	100%
75%	400%
90%	1000%

Figure 1 - This table shows just how difficult it is to recover from a debilitating loss.

Note that a trader would have to earn 100% on his or her capital - a feat accomplished by less than 1% of traders worldwide - just to break even on an account with a 50% loss. At 75% drawdown, the trader must quadruple his or her account just to bring it back to its original equity - truly a Herculean task!

The Big One

Although most traders are familiar with the figures above, they are inevitably ignored. Trading books are littered with stories of traders losing one, two, even five years' worth of profits in a single trade gone terribly wrong. Typically, the runaway loss is a result of sloppy money management, with no hard stops and lots of average downs into the longs and average ups into the shorts. Above all, the runaway loss is due simply to a loss of discipline.

Most traders begin their trading career, whether consciously or subconsciously, visualizing "The Big One" - the one trade that will make them millions and allow them to retire young and live carefree for the rest of their lives. In FX, this fantasy is further reinforced by the folklore of the markets. Who can forget the time that George Soros "broke the Bank of England" by shorting the pound and walked away with a cool $1-billion profit in a single day? But the cold hard truth for most retail traders is that, instead of experiencing the "Big Win", most traders fall victim to just one "Big Loss" that can knock them out of the game forever.

Learning Tough Lessons

Traders can avoid this fate by controlling their risks through stop losses. In Jack Schwager's famous book "Market Wizards" (1989), day trader and trend follower Larry Hite offers this practical advice: "Never risk more than 1% of total equity on any trade. By only risking 1%, I am indifferent to any individual trade." This is a very good approach. A trader can be wrong 20 times in a row and still have 80% of his or her equity left.

The reality is that very few traders have the discipline to practice this method consistently. Not unlike a child who learns not to touch a hot stove only after being burned once or twice, most traders can only absorb the lessons of risk discipline through the harsh experience of monetary loss. This is the most important reason why traders should use only their speculative capital when first entering the forex market. When novices ask how much money they should begin trading with, one seasoned trader says: "Choose a number that will not materially impact your life if you were to lose it completely. Now subdivide that number by five because your first few attempts at trading will most likely end up in blow out." This too is very sage advice, and it is well worth following for anyone considering trading FX.

Money Management Styles

Generally speaking, there are two ways to practice successful money management. A trader can take many frequent small stops and try to harvest profits from the few large winning trades, or a trader can choose to go for many small squirrel-like gains and take infrequent but large stops in the hope the many small profits will outweigh the few large losses. The first method generates many minor instances of psychological pain, but it produces a few major moments of ecstasy. On the other hand, the second strategy offers many minor instances of joy, but at the expense of experiencing a few very nasty psychological hits. With this wide-stop approach, it is not unusual to lose a week or even a month's worth of profits in one or two trades. (For further reading, see Introduction To Types Of Trading: Swing Trades.)

To a large extent, the method you choose depends on your personality; it is part of the process of discovery for each trader. One of the great benefits of the FX market is that it can accommodate both styles equally, without any additional cost to the retail trader. Since FX is a spread-based market, the cost of each transaction is the same, regardless of the size of any given trader's position.

For example, in EUR/USD, most traders would encounter a 3 pip spread equal to the cost of 3/100th of 1% of the underlying position. This cost will be uniform, in percentage terms, whether the trader wants to deal in 100-unit lots or one million-unit lots of the currency. For example, if the trader wanted to use 10,000-unit lots, the spread would amount to $3, but for the same trade using only 100-unit lots, the spread would be a mere $0.03. Contrast that with the stock market where, for example, a commission on 100 shares or 1,000 shares of a $20 stock may be fixed at $40, making the effective cost of transaction 2% in the case of 100 shares, but only 0.2% in the case of 1,000 shares. This type of variability makes it very hard for smaller traders in the equity market to scale into positions, as commissions heavily skew costs against them. However, FX traders have the benefit of uniform pricing and can practice any style of money management they choose without concern about variable transaction costs.

Four Types of Stops

Once you are ready to trade with a serious approach to money management and the proper amount of capital is allocated to your account, there are four types of stops you may consider.

1. Equity Stop

This is the simplest of all stops. The trader risks only a predetermined amount of his or her account on a single trade. A common metric is to risk 2% of the account on any given trade. On a hypothetical $10,000 trading account, a trader could risk $200, or about 200 points, on one mini lot (10,000 units) of EUR/USD, or only 20 points on a standard 100,000-unit lot. Aggressive traders may consider using 5% equity stops, but note that this amount is generally considered to be the upper limit of prudent money management because 10 consecutive wrong trades would draw down the account by 50%.

One strong criticism of the equity stop is that it places an arbitrary exit point on a trader's position. The trade is liquidated not as a result of a logical response to the price action of the marketplace, but rather to satisfy the trader's internal risk controls.

2. Chart Stop

Technical analysis can generate thousands of possible stops, driven by the price action of the charts or by various technical indicator signals. Technically oriented traders like to combine these exit points with standard equity stop rules to formulate charts stops. A classic example of a chart stop is the swing high/low point. In Figure 2 a trader with our hypothetical $10,000 account using the chart stop could sell one mini lot risking 150 points, or about 1.5% of the account.

Figure 2

3. Volatility Stop

A more sophisticated version of the chart stop uses volatility instead of price action to set risk parameters. The idea is that in a high volatility environment, when prices traverse wide ranges, the trader needs to adapt to the present conditions and allow the position more room for risk to avoid being stopped out by intra-market noise. The opposite holds true for a low volatility environment, in which risk parameters would need to be compressed.

One easy way to measure volatility is through the use of Bollinger bands, which employ standard deviation to measure variance in price. Figures 3 and 4 show a high volatility and a low volatility stop with Bollinger bands. In Figure 3 the volatility stop also allows the trader to use a scale-in approach to achieve a better "blended" price and a faster breakeven point. Note that the total risk exposure of the position should not exceed 2% of the account; therefore, it is critical that the trader use smaller lots to properly size his or her cumulative risk in the trade.

Figure 3

Figure 4

4. Margin Stop

This is perhaps the most unorthodox of all money management strategies, but it can be an effective method in FX, if used judiciously. Unlike exchange-based markets, FX markets operate 24 hours a day. Therefore, FX dealers can liquidate their customer positions almost as soon as they trigger a margin call. For this reason, FX customers are rarely in danger of generating a negative balance in their account, since computers automatically close out all positions.

This money management strategy requires the trader to subdivide his or her capital into 10 equal parts. In our original $10,000 example, the trader would open the account with an FX dealer but only wire $1,000 instead of $10,000, leaving the other $9,000 in his or her bank account. Most FX dealers offer 100:1 leverage, so a $1,000 deposit would allow the trader to control one standard 100,000-unit lot. However, even a 1 point move against the trader would trigger a margin call (since $1,000 is the minimum that the dealer requires). So, depending on the trader's risk tolerance, he or she may choose to trade a 50,000-unit lot position, which allows him or her room for almost 100 points (on a 50,000 lot the dealer requires $500 margin, so $1,000 – 100-point loss* 50,000 lot = $500). Regardless of how much leverage the trader assumed, this controlled parsing of his or her speculative capital would prevent the trader from blowing up his or her account in just one trade and would allow him or her to take many swings at a potentially profitable set-up without the worry or care of setting manual stops. For those traders who like to practice the "have a bunch, bet a bunch" style, this approach may be quite interesting.

Conclusion

As you can see, money management in FX is as flexible and as varied as the market itself. The only universal rule is that all traders in this market must practice some form of it in order to succeed.

By Boris Schlossberg, Senior Currency Strategist, FXCM

Boris Schlossberg is the Senior Currency Strategist at Forex Capital Markets in New York, one of the largest retail forex market makers in the world. He is a frequent commentator for Bloomberg, Reuters, CNBC and Dow Jones CBS Marketwatch. His book "Technical Analysis of the Currency Market", published by John Wiley and Sons, is available on Amazon, where he also hosts a blog on all things trading.

Source: http://www.goforex.net/forex-money-management.htm

An Analysis of Secular Bear Markets and Secular Bull Markets since 1900

2009-05-20T20:04:00.000-07:00

From a historical perspective since 1900 there have been 3 Secular Bull Markets and 3 Secular Bear Markets as shown by the tables below of the Dow and S&P 500. As you can see during a Secular Bull Market the Average Annual Return (highlighted in red) is considerably higher than during a Secular Bear Market (highlighted in blue). Thus the long term Buy and Hold strategy that worked well in the 1980’s and 1990’s for investors may have not worked very well during the Secular Bear Markets of 1906-1921, 1929-1949 and 1966-1982.

Secular Bear Markets vs Secular Bull Markets and Dow Performance

The big question is now are we in the beginning stages of a 4th Secular Bear Mark

et which started in 2000. The average length of the previous 3 Secular Bear Markets was 18 years with a minimum of 16 years and a maximum of 21 years. Thus if you add 18 years to the year 2000 and take + or - 3 years on either side then the next Secular Bull Market may not begin until sometime in the 2015 to 2021 time period if we are now entering a 4th Secular Bear Market. However I would like to point out that even in a Secular Bear Market there can still be Bull Markets lasting a year or two as the longer term charts of the Dow show below.

Notice after the Secular Bull Market of 1922-1928 which was followed by a Secular Bear Market from 1929-1949 that the Dow still had impressive gains during the early to mid 1930s (points A to B) before going through another Bear Cycle prior too and during World War II (points B to C). This was then followed by another Bull Cycle from 1943-1946 (points C to D). However from the early part of 1937 (point B) until the end of 1949 (point E) the Dow virtually had a net gain of 0% as its basic overall pattern was a series of up and down movements which pretty much cancelled each other out.

Meanwhile after the Secular Bull Market from 1950-1965 the Dow once again went through another Secular Bear Market from 1966-1982. Notice after the Dow peaked in early 1966 (point F) that it had a lot of upward and downward movements from 1966 through 1982 but it basically went nowhere and actually was lower at the end of 1982 (point G) versus its peak in early 1966 (point F).

Looking at the current chart of the Dow shows that it has been exhibiting a choppy pattern similar to previous Secular Bear Market environments after experiencing a Secular Bull Market from 1983-1999. One has to wonder during the next 10 years or so whether the Dow will continue to exhibit a similar pattern that occurred from the mid 1960’s through the 1970’s in which it had a lot of downward and upward moves but the overall net gain was negligible.

Even if we go through another Secular Bear Market over the next several years there will still be plenty of smaller Bull Markets and if taken advantage of properly will still lead to some excellent investment opportunities in the future.

Source: http://www.forex-articles.net/article-66.html

Forex Trading- The Most Successful Forex Strategies

2009-05-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

You want to catch the serious profit in forex dealing you need to trend watch forex trends which are worse term. here we are going to give you a 3 step simple method which if you use it correctly, will help you catch every superior forex trend and lead you to long-term term currency dealing success.

Most beginner traders don't bother trying to trend following forex lengthier term - instead they try forex scalping or day trading. These methods focus the trader on small moves and they hope to catch small profit however as most short term moves are random, this leads to equity eliminate.

The other alternatives are swing trading and long term forex trend following and this article is all about the latter method. If you look at any forex chart, you will see long-term term trends that last for months or years. These moves can and do yield serious profit - present we will outline a simple method to get them.

Breakouts

By far the best way of catching the serious moves is to use a forex dealing strategy based around breakouts. A breakout is simply a move on a forex chart where a new high or low is made and resistance or support is broken.

It's a fact that most leading moves start from new highs or lows.

While it might appear that you are not buying or selling at the greatest level, you are in terms of the odds of the trend continuing. Most forex traders make the mistake of waiting for the breakout to come back and get in at a better price but these traders never get on board. The grounds for this is if a breakout occurs, then you have a new strong trend and a pullback is not very likely to occur.

Most traders don't buy or sell breakouts and that's exactly why it's such a powerful method.

The only point to keep in mind is a support or resistance which is ruined, should be valid and that means at least 3 points in at least 2 different times frames. The more tests and the greater the spacing between the tests the more valid the level is.

Confirmation

Of course not every breakout keeps and some reverse, these are false and can cause losses. You therefore need to confirm each move. All you need to do to achieve this is to put a few momentum indicators in your forex trading system to confirm your dealing signal.

These indicators give you an estimation of the strength and velocity of price and there are many to choose from. We don't have time to discuss them here (simply look up our other articles) but two of the greatest are - the stochastic and Relative Strength Index RSI

Stops and Targets

Stop points are easy with breakouts - Simply behind the breakout point.

If you have a serious trend then you need to be careful you can milk it, so don't move your stop to soon and keep it outside of normal volatility. If it is a huge move, trailing stops should be held a long-term way back and the 40 day moving average is a good level to use.

You have to keep in mind that when the trend does eventually turn you are going to give some profit back. You don't know when the trend is going to end, so don't predict.

It's ok to give a serious back, as that's the nature of trading forex. Keep in mind if you got 50% of all leading trend you would be very rich. When you are long-term term trend following you have accept giving a bit back and taking dips in open equity as the trend develops - this is noise and does not affect the long term trend.

The above is a simple way to trend watch forex and catch the high odds moves that yield the serious profit. If you are learning forex dealing and want a simple method that is robust and will help you get every major move, then you should base your dealing on the above method.

Now that you have all the winning strategies, you now need to have a winning broker, recently the CFD FX Report has reviewed these brokers and have come up with Best Forex Broker to find out this visit the website. Visit today and see why all the experts traders are using this site.

Source: http://www.forexarticlecollection.com/trading-strategy/forex-trading-the-most-successful-forex-strategies.html

Forex Market Snapshot

2008-09-24T20:43:00.000-07:00

Forex Market Snapshot

Introduction

The following facts and figures relate to the foreign exchange market. Much of the information is drawn from the 2007 Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity conducted by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in April 2007. 54 central banks and monetary authorities participated in the survey, collecting information from approximately 1280 market participants.

Excerpt from the BIS:

"The 2007 survey shows an unprecedented rise in activity in traditional foreign exchange markets compared to 2004. Average daily turnover rose to $3.2 trillion in April 2007, an increase of 71% at current exchange rates and 65% at constant exchange rates...Against the background of low levels of financial market volatility and risk aversion, market participants point to a significant expansion in the activity of investor groups including hedge funds, which was partly facilitated by substantial growth in the use of prime brokerage, and retail investors...A marked increase in the levels of technical trading – most notably algorithmic trading – is also likely to have boosted turnover in the spot market...Transactions between reporting dealers and non-reporting financial institutions, such as hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds and insurance companies, more than doubled between April 2004 and April 2007 and contributed more than half of the increase in aggregate turnover." - BIS

Structure

Decentralised 'interbank' market

Main participants: Central Banks, commercial and investment banks, hedge funds, corporations & private speculators

The free-floating currency system began in the early 1970's and was officially ratified in 1978

Online trading began in the mid to late 1990's

Source: BIS Triennial Survey 2007

Trading Hours

24 hour market

Sunday 5pm EST through Friday 4pm EST.

Trading begins in New Zealand, followed by Australia, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and America

Size

One of the largest financial markets in the world

$3.2 trillion average daily turnover, equivalent to:

More than 10 times the average daily turnover of global equity markets¹

More than 35 times the average daily turnover of the NYSE²

Nearly $500 a day for every man, woman, and child on earth³

An annual turnover more than 10 times world GDP⁴

The spot market accounts for just under one-third of daily turnover

1. About $280 billion - World Federation of Exchanges aggregate 2006
2. About $87 billion - World Federation of Exchanges 2006
3. Based on world population of 6.6 billion - US Census Bureau
4. About $48 trillion - World Bank 2006.

Source: BIS Triennial Survey 2007

Major Markets

The US & UK markets account for just over 50% of turnover

Major markets: London, New York, Tokyo

Trading activity is heaviest when major markets overlap⁵

Nearly two-thirds of NY activity occurs in the morning hours while European markets are open⁶

5. The Foreign Exchange Market in the United States - NY Federal Reserve
6. The Foreign Exchange Market in the United States - NY Federal Reserve

Average Daily Turnover by Geographic Location

Source: BIS Triennial Survey 2007

Concentration in the Banking Industry

12 banks account for 75% of turnover in the U.K.

10 banks account for 75% of turnover in the U.S.

3 banks account for 75% of turnover in Switzerland

9 banks account for 75% of turnover in Japan

Source: BIS Triennial Survey 2007

Technical Analysis

Commonly used technical indicators:

Moving averages

RSI

Fibonacci retracements

Stochastics

MACD

Momentum

Bollinger bands

Pivot point

Elliott Wave

Currencies

The US dollar is involved in over 80% of all foreign exchange transactions, equivalent to over US$2.7 trillion per day

Currency Codes

USD = US Dollar

EUR = Euro

JPY = Japanese Yen

GBP = British Pound

CHF = Swiss Franc

CAD = Canadian Dollar

AUD = Australian Dollar

NZD = New Zealand Dollar

Average Daily Turnover by Currency

N.B. Because two currencies are involved in each transaction, the sum of the percentage shares of individual currencies totals 200% instead of 100%.

Source: BIS Triennial Survey 2007

Currency Pairs

Majors: EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, USD/CHF

Dollar bloc: USD/CAD, AUD/USD, NZD/USD

Major crosses: EUR/JPY, EUR/GBP, EUR/CHF

Average Daily Turnover by Currency Pair

Source: BIS Triennial Survey 2007

Retail Trading

Anecdotal research from retail brokers suggests 90% of retail traders lose money, 5% breakeven, and 5% make money.

Risk Disclosure: Trading foreign exchange on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to invest in foreign exchange you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with foreign exchange trading, and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.

Source: http://www.goforex.net/forex-market-snapshot.htm

5 Steps – How To Begin Forex Trading On The Online Account

2008-02-07T04:48:00.000-08:00

5 Steps – How To Begin Forex Trading On The Online Account

Forex stands for Foreign Exchange Market (FX). It is the largest market for currency trading – that covers the whole world. A lot of information about Forex trading is available today. Analytics, news, trading strategies, trading signals, auto-trading systems and much, much more. This information is very complicated so novices usually get frustrated because of information overload.
And usually the most asked questions are: What to start from? Whom to listen to? Is it really so complicated to day-trade FOREX online? I’m not going to answer all of these questions right now – not in this short article. I want to summarize the knowledge and write some useful tips for novices to help them understand the whole thing and finally get ahead in this online Forex trading business.

So what exactly should you do as an aspired forex starter? Here is an exact plan for you:

1. Set a deadline – five or seven days (free days I mean). During these days try to absorb as much information about Forex Trading as possible. Use Google and your imagination to search. You can start from “forex”, “currency trading”, “forex trading” etc. After this period stop consuming information. At all. Just sit down and try to summarize it. The pen and the piece of paper will be truly useful for this.

2. Choose your first forex online broker. Don’t make things too complex and complicated – you just need to get started. Don’t start with huge online forex trading deposits, I recommend to start your forex trading from mini-forex online account or even forex demo account if you don’t have a few hundred dollars to open mini.

3. Pick your primary online forex trading currency pair and stick to it for at least three-four weeks. Get used to this currency. I recommend eur/usd, gbp/usd, aud/usd and cad/usd but that’s not of vital importance, pick the forex currency pair what you like the most.

4. Choose your online forex trading strategy – and use it for three-four weeks no matter what happens on the forex market. Then decide, if this forex trading system is worth using or not. This step looks very complicated for the majority of forex starters, but it isn’t really so hard to choose online forex trading strategy. I’ll cover this topic in more detail later. For now – just choose what’s simple and free. Believe me, you don’t have to re-invent the wheel.

5. Manage the online forex trading risks. Use forex stop-loss orders to control your potential loss. Don’t risk more than 10% of your deposit in one deal if your deposit is less that $10 000 (and it should be less – remember what I said earlier about mini-forex).

If you make these steps, you will finally move ahead in your online forex trading, so I recommend you to begin right now. Remember – your success depends on your knowledge, skills and ability to make the right decisions at the right time. I hope you will!

By: Cas Jones

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

P.S. I recommend you to try out this Online Forex Broker Trading Platform + FREE Forex Ebook . You won't need to download the software, Account can be opened As Fast As 5 Minutes. Trade USD vs. All Major Currencies and Start for As Little As $100. Leverage Up to 200:1 is available for You. Also You can Comfortably use Your Credit Card to deposit funds. So Open Forex Trading Account and Enjoy the Trading Right Now!

Source: http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/5-Steps---How-to-Begin-Forex-Trading-on-the-Online-Account/425357

FOREX-Euro softer, focuses on ECB and Trichet

2008-02-07T04:46:00.000-08:00

FOREX-Euro softer, focuses on ECB and Trichet

Thu Feb 7, 2008 3:52am EST

By Ian Chua

LONDON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The euro was struggling to make any headway on Thursday ahead of the outcome of the European Central Bank's policy meeting with some investors betting the inflation-fighting central bank might soften its hawkish stance.

While markets expect no imminent changes to interest rates, the euro had been under pressure this week after surprisingly weak euro zone service sector data on Tuesday fuelled expectations the ECB might have to bring forward any rate cuts to shore up growth.

"The euro has been a little bit weak in the past couple of days and probably the market is looking for the ECB to tone down a little bit its hawkishness, but we don't think this will happen at this meeting," said Marcus Hettinger, global FX strategist at Credit Suisse.

The single European currency had also been hit by weaker equity markets this week. "Today, some European markets are in negative territory, so that is bringing a little downside for the euro," he added.

The FTSEurofirst 300 share index lost half a percent in early trading, hurt by bad news from the tech sector.

At 0825, the euro was a touch softer against the dollar at $1.4614 on the day, holding near a two-week low of around $1.4590 touched a day earlier. Versus the Japanese currency, the euro was also slightly weaker at 155.78 yen .

Against a basket of major currencies, the dollar edged up 0.1 percent to 76.225 .DXY.

In contrast to the United States, Canada and Britain, the ECB has not yet gone down the path of cutting interest rates because of price pressures in the 15 countries using the euro. In January, euro zone inflation hit a record high.

But recent signs of faltering growth in Spain, Italy and elsewhere in the bloc are expected to weigh on the ECB Governing Council at this morning's meeting. For investors, the main focus will be on what ECB's President Jean-Claude Trichet says at a news conference at 1330 GMT, following the rate decision at 1245 GMT. The ECB is widely seen holding rates steady at 4 percent.

"Our focus will be on whether Trichet concedes that the outlook for slower global growth will reduce upside CPI risks and/or if he states that the Council considered all options, including an easing, which would shift the bias toward neutral," said analysts at Calyon.

"The latter in particular would hint at a rate cut before the June move, which we currently forecast, and prompt a sell off in EUR/USD," they said in a report

Should Trichet stick to the hawkish script, the euro will likely benefit, but given expectations that the ECB will eventually have to lower rates, any boost to the currency should prove short lived, Calyon added. The Bank of England (BoE) will also be holding its policy-setting meeting on Thursday and is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 5.25 percent to head off a sharp consumer-led slowdown.

Sterling, which has fallen in recent sessions, slipped 0.2 percent to $1.9566 ahead of the BoE decision due at 1200 GMT.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/usDollarRpt/idUSL0724752320080207?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

Daily Forex Overview

2008-02-07T04:43:00.000-08:00

Daily Forex Overview

Thu, Feb 7 2008, 08:59 GMT
by Raivis Zile

Dukascopy Swiss FX Group

Previous session overview

On Wednesday, the dollar jumped within a narrow range from losses to gains against the euro as equities fluctuated with risk appetite.

Markets expect the ECB to keep rates steady at 4.0%, with Trichet acknowledging some downside risk but still focused on the bank's single mandate to control prices and the pressure it faces from high inflation.

Yesterday's US ISM non-manufacturing report was a shocker, collapsing from 53.2 to 44.6 in January.

The Euro weakened against the dollar today as a stronger than expected productivity report was released. There are signs of an economic slowdown, after yesterday's euro zone retail report showed a -0.1 decline despite Christmas spending.

The Japanese yen strengthened against the dollar. Asian stocks posted their biggest loss in two weeks, with worries about the health of the global economy.

The British pound fell briefly to 1.9554 in European morning and later briefly bounced to 1.9636 ahead of the interest rate decision from the Bank of England, which is widely expected to cut rates by 25 basis points to 5.25% from 5.50%.

The Australian dollar continued to weaken Thursday, as yet more negative credit headlines on Wall Street spooked investors, sending higher yielding currencies lower. The Australian and New Zealand dollar weakened against the dollar as investors unwound their carry trades after the MSCI Asia Pacific Index of regional shares fell.

Market expectation

Today EUR ECB President Trichet Speaks: as usual, the main event of the day; we have to pay attention to comments regarding inflation and growth: If Trichet implies that (the ECB) may change its hawkish stance, investors will likely sell the euro.

EUR/USD is right now at 1.4610 bearish in daily and 4 hours charts, yet the pair will have to break the key Fibonacci level mentioned yesterday, 1.4589, 61.8% of the 1.4365/1.4950 rally, to continue in that direction.

GBP/USD is quoting at 1.9603, tending bearish despite also rebounding around the Fibonacci level mentioned yesterday, 1.9575 61.8% Fibonacci rally 1.9337/1.9957, as the pair was unable to confirm under that point.

USD/JPY is quoting at 106.33 and despite the range the pair is into, bigger charts are tending lower.

This Saturday, the Group of Seven (G7) will meet in Tokyo to discuss high oil prices, the economic outlook.

With dollar appreciating on risk aversion (American stocks continue going down while gold return to the 900 level) and US data continues weak, today could be a definition day for the American currency.

Today we will see the release of Japan's machine tools, U.K. industrial and manufacturing production, German factory orders and U.S. pending home sales.

Source: http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-forex-overview/2008-02-07.html

Forex: Dollar Mixed

2006-09-12T05:31:00.000-07:00

DJ Midday Forex: Dollar Mixed, Cross Flows Favor Euro
LONDON (Dow Jones)--The dollar is mixed against other major currencies midday Monday in Europe, with cross-related flows favoring the euro and trimming recent yen gains.
The euro is making steady progress above $1.27 in what traders describe as a cautious market, as Monday marks the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The yen slipped in Tokyo after Japanese July machinery orders fell an unexpectedly large 16.7%, against an expected decline of 5.3%. The Japanese unit weakened above Y149.00 by midday in Europe, up over 100 sen on the day, while dollar/yen climbed back above $117.00. Sterling came under pressure after subdued producer price index data eased inflation worries and chipped away at the pound's interest rate prop that has supported the unit of late.

U.K. August Output PPI was flat on the month against the Dow Jones Newswires forecast of a 0.2% increase, while input PPI fell 1.2% on the month, the largest monthly fall since December 2004.

Euro/sterling rose to a fresh three-week high of 0.6817 shortly after the data, while cable gave back early gains to trade around the day's lows of $1.8650.

However, despite the overall weaker start for the dollar many technical analysts are expecting the U.S. unit to strengthen in the sessions ahead, with the exception of dollar/yen.

BNP Paribas expects the latter to be kept under pressure as Asian currency flexibility is likely to be addressed as this weekend's Group of Seven meeting in Singapore. The bank has targets of Y114.05 for dollar/yen and Y147.30 for the euro/yen cross.

As for euro/dollar, the bank says the breach of trendline support at 1.2695 seen Friday favors the downside and it would sell upticks to $1.2730 with a stop at $1.2780, targeting $1.2570.

By 1000 GMT, the dollar was at Y117.23, up from Y116.93 late Friday in New York, according to EBS. The euro was at $1.2725, up from $1.2672, and at Y149.05, up from Y148.20. The dollar was trading at CHF1.2400 from CHF1.2475, while sterling was fetching $1.8665 versus $1.8652.

With no major U.S. data scheduled for release Monday, dealers are focusing on a news conference featuring European Central Bank President Jean Claude Trichet at the regular bi-monthly Group of 10 meeting, at around 1100 GMT.

The U.S. session offers speeches from Federal Reserve members Cathy Minehan (1200 GMT), Donald Kohn (1515 GMT) and William Poole (1630 GMT).

Forex Trading guide

2006-09-12T05:29:00.000-07:00

Currency Trading guide

By Mansi Gupta

Currency trading or forex (foreign exchange) as the name suggests refers to the act of exchanging the legal tender of one country for another. "In finance the exchange rate between two currencies specifies how much one currency is worth in terms of the other". For instance an exchange of 200 Japanese yen to dollar indicate that 120 yen is worth the same as 1USD. Exchange rate is also called as foreign currency rate.

Currency trading is a very ancient phenomenon. Its existence can be traced back to time before money and Internet were discovered. The custom of currency trading began with the bartering system i.e. our ancestors commenced trading of goods against other goods. This bartering system was quite incompetent and needed lot of negotiation and investigation to be able to strike a deal. In the years that followed the important metals such gold, silver and bronze were standardized and graded to make easy the exchange of merchandise. The grounds for these mediums of exchange were acceptance by the general public and realistic variables such as durability and storage. As the middle age came, a variety of paper exchange started taking place and that became quite popular as an exchange medium.

Time passed by and the simple bartering system evolved into a complex and huge industry of foreign or currency exchange. Though with the use of money and banks the system developed to a large extent but it is still developing with the aid of Internet.

Currency exchange is not a simple task. It requires enormous time, market knowledge, ability to study the current market and predict its future course and also immense self-control. But the currency exchange market is extremely volatile and fast. There is no guarantee either of profit or of loss. To be successful in this market a trader has to take into consideration technical and fundamental data and make an informed decision on behalf of his observation of forex futures trading market sentiment and market expectations. Proper planning in timing a trade correctly is perhaps the most crucial factor in successful currency trading. However yet there are times when a trader misses the mark i.e. when his timing will be off.

Besides timing factor being rightly handled, patience of a trader is also quite essential. Perseverance is one of the essential characteristics of a trader. He or she might not be academically qualified enough but must have the potential to stand for a good time in the market. It is only after spending a good amount of time that you understand the intricacies of the market and start accruing some gains.

You should not hesitate to take the help of an experienced trader whom you know and trust. It is very difficult to survive in this currency trade market without the help of qualified professionals. So in the beginning it is better for any naïve trader to take the help of professionals.

If you are not incurring gains for a long time and do not hope that in near future, stop for sometime. This will give you mental peace and entitles you to get out at certain points on trade.

At the end of the day don't forget that in the market of currency exchange, experience is the biggest teacher of all.

About the Author
Mansi gupta recommends you visit http://www.forexreader.com/trading/index.html for more information on Currency Trading.

Article Source: http://articles.simplysearch4it.com/article/30901.html

FOREX: Ringgit Lower Against US Dollar

2006-09-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

September 06, 2006

FOREX: Ringgit Lower Against US Dollar

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 (Bernama) -- The ringgit ended lower against the US dollar Wednesday as the greenback regained strength in overseas markets ahead of the release of key US data that will provide direction for the country's economy, analysts said.

Market players were awaiting the data from the Institute for Supply Management's survey on services sector for August and the release of Federal Reserve's Beige Book, they said.

Analysts said the market was relatively quiet as players decided to "wait and see the outcome."

At 5 pm, the ringgit fell to 3.6475/6525 against the greenback from 3.6400/6450 posted Tuesday.

The ringgit was lower against the Singapore dollar at 2.3265/3312 from 2.3249/3279 Tuesday. It was higher against the yen at 3.1328/1376 from 3.1469/1518 previously.

Against the British pound, the local currency strengthened to 6.8920/9036 from 6.9117/9208. It was weaker against the euro at 4.6757/6825 from 4.6747/6813.

Forex news:US dollar mixed

2006-09-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

AFX News Limited
Forex - US dollar mixed Sydney morning amid concerns of slowing EU growth
09.05.2006, 10:34 PM

SYDNEY (XFN-ASIA) - The US dollar was trading mixed against major currencies, rising against the euro on concerns about slowing growth in Europe but weaker against the yen, dealers said.

They said the yen is maintaining its strength ahead of the Bank of Japan possibly providing views on inflation on Friday.

At 11.15 am, Sydney (0015 GMT) the US dollar was trading up 1.2819 eur from 1.2812 in late New York trade while the yen was at 116.37 usd from 115.93.

Traders said the market has been largely focusing on what will come next with eurozone and US interest rates.

National Australia Bank currency strategists said higher eurozone rates will tend to bolster the single currency by making certain types of investments more attractive.

Meanwhile, they noted that while the US Federal Reserve paused its two year rate-raising cycle in August the European Central Bank last week appeared to indicate it will raise eurozone rates at its next meeting after leaving them unchanged this month.

'The hurdle for the euro is that a few further ECB rate hikes are already priced in and the speculative community is very long the currency,' the NAB strategists said.

'That's why we remain reluctant to target eur/usd above 1.3000 eur in the absence of say forecasting a hard landing in US growth.'

They noted that overnight St. Louis Fed President William Poole, a non-voting Fed member, played down the risk of a hard landing in the US, led by housing.

'We might have some weakness in certain sections of the country, but I think we're just not going to have a housing crash that's nationwide,' Poole said.

Sydney 11.15 am (0015 GMT)

US dollar

yen 116.37

sfr 1.2340

Euro

usd 1.2819

stg 0.6767

yen 148.89

sfr 1.5816

Sterling

usd 1.8944

yen 220.05

sfr 2.3370

Australian dollar

usd 0.7707

stg 0.4068

yen 89.535

New Zealand dollar

usd 0.6479

2006-07-14T06:48:00.000-07:00

AFX News Limited
Forex - Dollar firms in late Asia trade;yen surrenders brief gains from BoJ hike
07.14.2006, 05:13 AM

SINGAPORE (XFN-ASIA) - The US dollar was broadly firmer in late Asian trade as the Bank of Japan's widely expected decision to raise interest rates provided no lasting support for the yen, aside from a brief spike after the news was announced.

The dollar eased below Y115.50 straight after the central bank announced its decision to hike rates for the first time in almost six years, from Y115.71 before the verdict was out.

It subsequently recovered to around Y115.85 and was carried through Y116.00 in late dealings.

In a unanimous vote, the BOJ's nine policy board members voted to end its zero rate policy and raise the target for the overnight call rate to 'around 0.25%,' and to raise the official discount rate, the upper limit on overnight rates that commercial banks charge each other, to 0.4% from 0.1%.

But the central bank said that it will keep interest rates at 'very low' levels for the time being, implying that it would not rush the second increase.

'There was little in today's BOJ decision to change market expectations on the BOJ rate outlook,' UBS AG said in a daily note.

The yen remained heavy even after the BOJ later upgraded its view of the economy in its monthly report for July, saying the economy is 'expanding moderately' instead of the previous 'recovering steadily.'

FX dealers noted that the yen had already been under pressure before the BOJ announcement, as jitters over geopolitical risks and high oil prices battered sentiment and sparked demand for safe-haven instruments. Players were also wary about taking new yen positions because of Monday's holiday in Japan.

'The implications are that monetary policy is not directing the yen at the moment,' UBS said. 'The bias recently has been for the yen to weaken, and there is no clear catalyst of a much stronger yen for now.'

Looking ahead, dealers said the dollar-yen will continue to be supported from around Y115.00 while on the topsidethe pair may face some difficulty clearing Y116.70/80.

Singapore 3.50 pm (0750 GMT)Sydney 10.01 am (0001 GMT)

US dollar

yen 115.86 up from 115.42

sfr 1.2329 up from 1.2293

Euro

usd 1.2665 down from 1.2692

stg 0.6887 up from 0.6886

yen 146.79 up from 146.49

sfr 1.5620 up from 1.5602

Sterling

usd 1.8380 down from 1.8435

yen 213.02 up from 212.79

sfr 2.2668 up from 2.2666

Australian dollar

usd 0.7495 down from 0.7531

stg 0.4077 down from 0.4085

yen 86.890 down from 86.905

singapore@xfn.com

bur/mb

Source:http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2006/07/14/afx2878768.html

FOREX-Dollar tumbles hit by views on G7, rates, Iran

2006-04-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

FOREX-Dollar tumbles hit by views on G7, rates, Iran
Fri Apr 28, 2006 7:50 PM BST

(Updates with fresh prices, quotes, changes bline)

By Jamie McGeever

NEW YORK, April 28 (Reuters) - The dollar slumped to an 11-month low against the euro on Friday, as selling continued after Federal Reserve chairman Bernanke said on Thursday that the Fed may soon pause in its 21-month campaing to raise interest rates.

Interest rate differentials between the U.S. on the one hand and Europe and Japan on the other have helped to support the U.S. dollar in the past year, but with that prop seen being removed the market was now focusing on factors bearish for the greenback, analysts said.

After last week's meeting of finance ministers from Group of Seven countries some officials have said that currency markets have misinterpreted the G7 statement as a call for a decline in the dollar, but U.S. Treasury Secretary Snow on Friday said the statement, which called for currency appreciation in China and emerging markets in Asia, spoke for itself.

"At another time, Snow's (non) comments might have been more innocuous," said Sophia Drossos, senior currency strategist at Morgan Stanley in New York.

"But in the current environment, where the market perceives the Fed to be nearing an end, they seemed to sanction the market's view that the G7 wants a weaker dollar."

The dollar's slide this week left it on track for its worst monthly performance against major currencies since September 2003, when the G7 finance ministers met in Dubai and called for increased "flexibility" in global currency markets

The dollar did not get much support from U.S. economic data on Friday either, after first quarter GDP data showed robust economic growth but softening inflationary pressures, consumer sentiment, and regional manufacturing activity.

Mid-afternoon in New York, the euro was up 0.8 percent on the day around $1.2625 , hovering near the 11-month high of $1.2635 reached earlier in the day.

Sterling was up 1.2 percent against the dollar at $1.8230 after touching a 7-month high of $1.8240, while the greenback was mired at a seven-month low against a basket of six major currencies <.DXY>, down 0.7 percent on the day

The dollar was down 0.3 percent against the yen at 113.73 yen, having hit a three-month low of 113.66 yen.

"The ongoing story remains bearish for the dollar," said Charmaine Buskas, FX analyst at Moody's Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

For details on the first quarter gross domestic product data, see [ID:nN28265299]; for more on consumer confidence [ID:nNYJ000065] and more on the Chicago purchasing managers index [ID:nN28392548].

The data did little to uproot a near-consensus that the Fed will likely take a break after raising rates by a quarter percentage point in May, after 15 rate rises since June 2004.

"It looks increasingly like the Fed rate hike cycle is coming to an end, and that's been the focus," Buskas said. "... The market is just looking for an excuse to sell the dollar."

The Swiss franc was among the biggest winners against the dollar, shooting up 1.5 percent and supported by safe-haven flows as geopolitical tensions surrounding Iran's bid for a nuclear weapon escalated.

Most European markets are closed Monday for Labor Day, and Japanese financial markets will be closed for a part of next week for the Golden Week holiday.

(Additional reporting by Nick Olivari)

Source:reuters

FOREX-Dollar slips but shrugs off emerging market woes

2006-03-08T14:39:00.000-08:00

(Updates prices, adds quote)

By Jamie McGeever

NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - The dollar slipped against major currencies on Wednesday, but held within tight ranges, consolidating the previous session's gains as traders awaited several potentially market-moving events later in the week.

The Bank of Japan may scrap its easy-money policy on Thursday while U.S. trade data could show a further widening of the deficit. The U.S. employment report on Friday is expected to show strong job creation.

Most of the foreign exchange market action on Wednesday was concentrated in emerging market currencies, many of which tumbled as concerns over rising global interest rates sparked moves out of higher-yielding, riskier assets.

"There's been a lot of volatility in emerging markets but in the majors, very little," said Robert Lynch, G10 currency strategist for the Americas at HSBC in New York.

"The dollar's off its highs, but in relative terms it's holding at fairly firm levels. I wouldn't call it offered," Lynch said.

The dollar rallied strongly earlier this week amid growing expectations U.S. interest rates will continue to rise in the coming months.

Ahead of events later in the week, dealers took advantage of a session devoid of U.S. economic data to trim positions and lock in some profits, dealers said.

In late trading on Wednesday, the euro was up 0.3 percent on the day at $1.1922 , while sterling was up a touch at $1.7376 .

The dollar was off 0.4 percent against the Swiss franc at 1.3082 francs and down a touch against the yen at 117.83 yen .

BOJ IN FOCUS

But the dollar held relatively close to two-week highs against the Japanese currency touched on Tuesday. Traders were looking to the possible end of the BOJ's policy of quantitative easing, or flooding the monetary system with excess cash.

Investors are divided about whether the central bank will scrap its five-year-old policy on Thursday or next month and, if so, what kind of policy target would follow.

Markets see the BOJ raising rates to 0.25 percent or 0.5 percent by year-end from virtually zero currently, but do not expect much more than that, which would keep the yen among the lowest-yielding currencies in the world.

The BOJ has held interest rates below 0.5 percent since 1995.

Steve Barrow, head of global currency strategy at Bear Stearns, thinks the bias for the dollar against the yen is to the upside no matter what the BOJ does. But given the potential for market volatility, he advised caution.

"We are not going to take a position ahead of the BOJ. Our bias would be to be long of the dollar as we are not sold on the idea that the (BOJ) will do anything tonight given that the debate about an inflation target within the bank might not be fully resolved," Barrow wrote in a research note.

"Alternatively, if the BOJ does move, we suspect it will work hard to ensure that the market sees its actions as pretty benign. It might be a tough job as the market is very nervous about this one, but it might produce a temporary rally in dollar/yen," he added.

On the U.S. data front, the latest snapshots of the U.S. trade deficit and pace of job creation are the big events.

Economists polled by Reuters expect the January trade deficit to have widened to $66.5 billion, which would be the second biggest on record. They also expect a 210,000 rise in non-farm payrolls for February.

Meanwhile, major currencies remained relatively immune to the fluctuations in emerging markets and commodities.

The Brazilian real , Mexican peso , Hungarian forint , Turkish lira and spot gold all tumbled on Wednesday amid concerns of rising interest rates around the world.

The New Zealand dollar halted its steep decline of late after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept rates on hold at 7.25 percent and indicated that there would be no rate cut this year.

The "kiwi" dollar was up 0.6 percent on the day at $0.6520, rebounding from 18-month lows earlier this week.

Source: http://today.reuters.co.uk/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=usDollarRpt&storyID=2006-03-08T214449Z_01_N08226536_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS-FOREX-UPDATE-9.XML

FOREX-Dollar rally stalled by yen as market takes breather

2006-02-07T21:51:00.000-08:00

By Veronica Brown

LONDON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The dollar dropped sharply after nearing a seven-week high against the yen on Tuesday, with the Japanese currency gaining on position adjustment, but fresh gains were seen for the greenback on a positive U.S. interest rate outlook.

Analysts said that the dollar's interest rate-powered strength had given way temporarily to a buyback in the yen, but recent strong U.S. data and upbeat Federal Reserve comments would allow the U.S. currency to resume its rise.

"What we're seeing right now is the market take a bit of a breather. One thing we've seen in the past two days is yen weakness against the crosses and that probably has to do with the fact that the yen sell-off in the past week or so has been the sharper move," Barclays Capital currency strategist Adarsh Sinha said.

"Now we're seeing a pullback in yen weakness. But our view is that you will see further yen weakness ahead," he added.

By 0903 GMT, the dollar was at 118.13 yen , down 0.78 percent on the day -- having hit a seven-week high of 119.39 on Friday.

The euro was down half a percent at a one-week low of 141.72 yen , with traders citing sell-stops as the market approached 142.00. The euro gained slightly against the dollar to $1.1981 having earlier moved closer to Monday's one-month low of $1.1943.

German industrial production data is due at 1100 GMT in an otherwise thin European calendar.

Production is expected to have risen by 0.7 percent in December, after falling 0.3 percent in November.

FED'S FISHER REASSURES

Dollar bulls had taken heart from Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, who said on Monday he fully expects the Fed to keep control of inflation, encouraging market views that there is more monetary tightening to come.

His comments follow data last week showing upward revisions to job growth and a fall in the unemployment rate to a 4-1/2-year low, reinforcing the outlook for the Fed to keep lifting overnight rates after 14 straight rises to 4.5 percent.

"The market is starting to talk about 4.75 percent and the risk of the Fed perhaps moving to five and even beyond," Barclays' Sinha said.

But some analysts said further gains for the dollar may be limited in the near term, with no major U.S. economic data until later in the week.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Monday the bank was ready to raise interest rates again at any time to keep inflationary pressure in check, backing market expectations for a March rate hike to 2.5 percent.

Foreign buying of U.S. Treasuries at this week's auctions totalling $48 billion should help the dollar, traders said. The first auction of three-year notes will be held later on Tuesday.

Some said Japanese institutional investors may buy some of the revived 30-year bonds, helping the dollar climb further against the yen. Japan's Ministry of Finance sells only a limited amount of such longer-dated bonds.

RATES TO DOMINATE

Traders and analysts said the market would next shift its attention to December data on U.S. trade, due on Friday.

Some market players said the focus was unlikely to shift to the growing U.S. twin trade and budget deficits, as rising U.S. interest rates have helped the United States attract more than enough foreign capital to finance these shortfalls.

"Sentiment for the dollar is so strong at the moment that I don't think the market will start worrying about the deficits," said a trader at a Japanese bank.

Median estimates by analysts point to a widening of the U.S. trade gap to $65 billion in December from November's $64.2 billion. Citibank expects the deficit to blow out to a record $68.5 billion due to a surge in imports.

The United States' reliance on foreign capital has been exacerbated by the steady rise in the U.S. budget deficit, which the government projects will rise to $423 billion in fiscal 2006, up more than $100 billion from the previous year.

Treasury Secretary John Snow will testify before Congress on the budget at 1500 GMT.

2006-01-17T12:10:00.000-08:00

FOREX-Dollar advances with US capacity use at 5-yr highBy Kevin Plumberg

NEW YORK, Jan 17 (Reuters) - The dollar climbed on Tuesday, after a report showed U.S. industrial capacity use running at its highest rate in five years, bolstering the case for further Federal Reserve interest rate increases.

Some investors were forced to cover their bets against the U.S. currency after data showed activity at factories, utilities and mines were running at 80.7 percent of full capacity in December from 80.3 percent in November, indicating slack in the economy is narrowing and potential inflation pressures increasing.

"That's something that the Fed has signaled it is looking at right now with resources getting stretched in the economy," said Jay Bryson, global economist with Wachovia Corp in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"So all things being equal, this is another reason for the Fed to keep tightening. All that is consistent with a stronger dollar," he said.

The euro slipped 0.4 percent from late Monday to $1.2064 . However, it has remained in a narrow range of around $1.2000 to $1.2180 for the past two weeks.

The dollar was up around 0.9 percent to 115.87 yen after initially failing to hurdle the psychologically important 116 yen.

The euro jumped 0.5 percent to 139.92 yen after triggering a layer of automatic buy euros orders around 139.50 yen, traders said.

A sell-off in Japanese equities during the Tokyo trading day and higher oil prices contributed to yen weakness, traders said.

The Nikkei share average <.N225> lost 2.8 percent, its largest single-day decline since April 2005, while the Mothers index <.MTHR> for start-up companies fell almost 12 percent after prosecutors raided a well-known Internet firm on Monday.

BOTTLENECKS AND RATES

The capacity utilization data suggests the Fed may have to extend its 18-month interest rate raising campaign that has so far taken rates to 4.25 percent, economists said.

The prospect for higher U.S. rates relative to other large, industrialized economies boosted the dollar last year, partly because it heightened the allure of dollar-denominated deposits.

"Historically, capacity utilization over the 81 level could bring some production bottlenecks into play throughout the economy which could put upward pressure on prices," said Ron Simpson, managing director of global currency analysis with Action Economics in Dobbs Ferry, New York.

U.S. interest rates still offer a better return compared with 2.25 percent in the euro zone and virtually zero in Japan.

Sterling was down a third of a percent against the dollar at $1.7625 after briefly dipping below $1.76, sliding on data that showed UK consumer price inflation falling back to the Bank of England's 2.0 percent target in December.

While the figures matched economists' forecasts, traders said on-target inflation left open the door to a UK interest rate cut this year.

Earlier in the session, a report from the New York Fed showed regional U.S. manufacturing growth slowed slightly in January but only due to a pullback in inventories. The employment and average work week components both jumped, suggesting inflationary pressures continue to build.

The Fed is widely expected to raise rates for the 14th consecutive time on Jan. 31 but the central bank has said the future path of monetary policy will depend on incoming economic data.

Wednesday's December core inflation data, which is expected to match November's 0.2 percent increase, will undoubtedly draw attention for its impact on expectations for where U.S. interest rates are headed. (Additional reporting by John Parry)

Forex - US dollar mixed in Sydney morning

2006-01-08T17:29:00.000-08:00

Forex - US dollar mixed in Sydney morning, payrolls point to end of rate hikes
01.08.2006, 06:57 PM

SYDNEY (AFX) - The US dollar was trading mixed against the major currency pairs, while selling pressure continued after key payrolls data increased expectations US rate hikes are nearing an end, dealers said. They said the US dollar was sold heavily in overnight trading on Friday as the December non-farm payrolls data was well below the market consensus. However, upward revisions to November's data limited part of the selling. 'Sentiment towards the US dollar remains very negative after Friday's non-farm payrolls report served to maintain expectations that a peak in US official interest rates is near,' National Australia Bank currency strategists said in a market note. 'This dynamic has been driving the US dollar lower at the start of a new year as the speculative community starts to build a net short position,' they said.

At 10:26 am in Sydney (2326 GMT) the euro was firmer at 1.2146 usd from 1.2145 in late New York trading on Friday while the dollar was higher at 114.52 yen from 114.40. Commonwealth Bank market economists said, in a market note, the euro rose to 1.2174 usd from 1.2082 in New York trading following the US payrolls data, while US dollar/yen slumped to a low of 114.22 yen from 116.28. The US non-farm payrolls data for December rose by just 108,000, well short of market expectations of a 200,000 employment increase.

Dealers said the impact of the December outcome was softened from an upward revision of 90,000 to the November non-farm payrolls, while the October data was revised down by 19,000. They said the overall revisions resulted in a total non-farm payrolls growth in 2005 of 2.02 mln compared to total payrolls growth of 2.194 mln in 2004. The NAB currency strategists said given the November revisions, the payrolls data over the past couple of months will see the US Federal Reserve increase cash rates by 25 basis points to 4.50 pct on Jan 31. 'But the odds of a March rate hike remain around 50 pct. If December's outcome is repeated in coming months and we see a slowing in job growth, the Federal Reserve might be done by the time Ben Bernanke takes over,' they said.

Dealers said Federal Reserve Bank of Boston president Cathy Minehan outlined the Federal funds rate is near the bottom end of the neutral rate range, but future decisions will depend on incoming economic data ahead. Also released in the US on Friday were average hourly wages for December, which rose 0.3 pct from a 0.1 pct increase in November, raising the annual rate of wages growth to 3.1 pct which is the biggest increase since 2002.

They said the unemployment rate for December eased to 4.9 pct from 5.0 in November, below the market consensus of a flat outcome. Dealers said the markets will focus on Friday's release of key retail sales and producer price index data for December due on Friday. They added US trade deficit data on Thursday could attract extra attention from traders, with US dollar bears arguing that a peak in interest rates will refocus attention on the record US external deficit. In the euro zone the economic group's unemployment rate for November remained at 8.3 pct and was in-line with market expectations. Dealers said the European Central Bank and Bank of England both meet on Thursday, with no change to official interest rates expected.

They said a market survey on Friday of traders, strategists and investors showed 44 pct recommend selling the US dollar against the euro, up from 28 pct in the previous survey conducted in the prior week. The NAB currency strategists said the euro's strength from the weak US headline payrolls data was lackluster, with 1.2156 usd capping its gain. However, the yen 'was the standout performer on Friday, crashing through option barriers at 115.50 yen on its way to 114.50,' they said. Dealers said the yen is likely to be contained within a tight trading range today due to a national holiday in Japan.

FOREX-Dollar hits 27-mo high vs yen

2005-11-25T12:43:00.000-08:00

FOREX-Dollar hits 27-mo high vs yen on US rate view
By John Parry
NEW YORK, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The dollar rose to a new 27-month high against the yen in holiday-thinned trade on Friday, bolstered by the market's return to the view that rising U.S. interest rates will give the greenback a lift for some time yet.
The dollar also rose against the euro.
These gains showed the U.S. currency "has continued to recover from Tuesday's minutes of the November 1 Fed meeting which introduced some uncertainty into the longer term outlook for U.S. interest rates and triggered the notion the Fed may be less aggressive (in raising interest rates)" said Alex Beuzelin, foreign exchange market analyst with Ruesch International in Washington DC.

The central bank's minutes from its Nov 1 meeting revealed some policy-makers were concerned about the risk of going too far with the Fed's rate-rise campaign.
"But the market has digested those minutes and the reality remains that in the near term the Federal Reserve will continue to outpace its central bank counterparts in Europe and in Japan, which means the dollar's rate advantage will get better," Beuzelin added.
In 2005, the dollar has rallied as rising U.S. interest rates and yields have burnished the appeal of dollar-denominated deposits to foreign investors.
Midmorning in New York, the dollar gained against the yen to new 27-month highs at 119.69 yen, up 0.6 percent from late Thursday, according to Reuters data. The euro traded at $1.1733, down 0.4 percent.

Against the Swiss franc, the dollar traded up 0.3 percent at 1.3186 francs. Earlier, the Swiss currency rallied against the euro and dollar after stronger-than-expected Swiss data.
The moves took place in thin trading conditions, U.S.-based traders said, with desks having only skeleton staffing in the wake of Thursday's U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. With little U.S. economic data to speak of, major currencies were rangebound as analysts braced for next week's array of potentially market moving U.S. economic reports.
Next week brings a data on gross domestic product for the third quarter, the core PCE price index -- an inflation gauge the Fed watches closely -- the Institute for Supply Management November manufacturing report and the November non-farm payrolls report, for which economists' median forecast is a rise of 210,000 jobs.

The currency market has high expectations for the jobs report, ISM manufacturing survey and inflation data, "which all point towards continued strength in the economy and favor the U.S. dollar," said Tim Mazanec, director and senior currency strategist with Investors Bank & Trust in Boston.
The U.S. Federal Reserve's credit-tightening campaign, with expectations for further increases, has helped drive the dollar up more than 15 percent against the euro and yen this year.
The Federal Reserve is expected to raise rates next month to 4.25 percent from the current 4 percent, while the European Central Bank is seen increasing its refi rate by 25 basis points to 2.25 percent next Thursday.

The yen was also knocked against the dollar in thin post-Thanksgiving trade as mixed Japanese inflation data cemented expectations that interest rates in Japan won't rise soon.
"The yen remains the weakest link due to the benign rate outlook in Japan," said Niels Christensen, senior currency strategist at Societe Generale in Paris.
China disappointed offshore investors with a one-year, $6 billion currency swap that priced the yuan at a weaker level than had been expected in the one-year forward markets.
(Additional reporting by Veronica Brown in London)

Forex weekly review and outlook

2005-10-02T16:31:00.000-07:00

Forex weekly review and outlook

ForexTV.com Commentary, News, & Analysis.

FOREX WEEKLY REVIEW AND OUTLOOK

Oct 02 2005 09:10 am

EUR/USD

EUR/USD's decline was just contained above cluster support of 1.1964/70 (with 61.8% projection 1.2582 to 1.2098 from 1.2269 at 1.1970) last Tuesday and turned into volatile sideway trading since then. Even though the downside momentum of the fall from 1.2269 is not convincing, EUR/USD is still trading well below 4 hours 55 EMA and the short term falling trend line. Overall short term trend is still downwards

As discussed before the fall from 1.2582 is treated as either (i) resumption of medium term down trend from 1.3668; OR (ii) a falling leg of wide
range consolidation pattern from 1.1873. In either case, the immediate question is how far this fall will go.

At this point, the fall from 1.2582 is still expected to continue as long as cluster resistance of 1.2119/23 (50% retracement of 1.2269 to 1.1976 and 23.6% retracement of 1.2582 to 1.1976 at 1.2119) holds. But weakness could only be confirmed by firm breaking of 1.1964/70 cluster support. In such case, further decline towards 1.1873 low should follow. But, the real test lies in cluster projection target at 1.1759 (1.1759 being Apr 04 low, 50% projection of
1.3483 to 1.1873 from 1.2582 at 1.1777, 100% projection of 1.2582 to 1.2098 from
1.2269 at 1.1785). Strong rebound above this level could mark the end of the
fall from 1.2582 and bring another leg of consolidation pattern from 1.1873.
Decisive break of 1.1759 will add much credence to the scenario that medium term
fall from 1.3668 has resumed.

On the upside, break above 1.2119/23 resistance will indicate the whole fall from 1.2582 has possibly finished and opens up a few short term bullish scenarios. But in any case, EUR/USD should head towards next cluster resistance at 1.2269 (50% retracement of 1.2582 to 1.1976 at 1.2279) first.

Stay tuned with our daily and mid-day newsletters

GBP/USD

Even though, crawling lower to as low as 1.7565 last week, cable's fall is still contained above 78.6% retracement of 1.7271 to 1.8498 at 1.7530. From a bigger picture, since we're treating the fall from 1.8498 as resumption of medium term down trend from 1.9554, further decline to cluster support of 1.7271 (161.8% projection of 1.8498 to 1.7959 from 1.8146 at 1.7274) is still being expected in the coming week(s). However, the question is, whether a corrective rebound will happen in the near term first.

Zooming in the the near term picture. Even though, cable is cable is still trading well below falling trend line and 4 hours 55 EMA, downside momentum is not convincing as bullish convergence is displayed in 4 hours MACD. Further consolidative trading is favored and cable could recover towards cluster resistance of 1.7797 resistance (with 38.2% retracement of 1.8146 to 1.7565 at 1.7787 and 23.6% retracement of 1.8498 to 1.7565 at 1.7785). Break above this level will indicate the fall from 1.8498 could have finished and opens up a few near term bullish scenarios. But in any case, break of 1.7797 will push cable towards next cluster resistance of (with 61.8% retracement of 1.8146 to 1.7566 at 1.7924 and 38.2% retracement of 1.8498 to 1.7565 at 1.7921).

Firm break of 1.7530 will signal down trend resumption for 1.7271.

Stay tuned with our daily and mid-day newsletters

USD/CHF

Similar to EUR/USD, USD/CHF's rally was limited at 1.2996, slightly below 61.8% projection of 1.2239 to 1.2825 from 1.2654 at 1.3016 last Tuesday and turned into sideway trading since then. This rally from 1.2239 is either resumption of medium term up trend from 1.1288 or forming a wide range consolidation pattern from 1.3079. But in either case, further rally should push USD/CHF for retest of 1.3079 resistance.

Zooming into near term picture, USD/CHF is still trading well above the rising trend line. As long as cluster support of 1.2825 (with 50% retracement of 1.2654 to 1.2996 at 1.2825, 23.6% retracement of 1.2239 to 1.2996 at 1.2817) holds, further rally is still in favor. But since upside momentum is not convincing, a break of 1.3016 is needed to confirm underlying strength.

A break below 1.2825 cluster support will signal a top should have been made at 1.2996 and opens up a few bearish scenarios. But in any case USD/CHF should fall towards 1.2654 support first.

Also, the key medium term resistance level lies in 1.3226 cluster resistance (1.3226 being Apr 04 high, 61.8% projection of 1.1481 to 1.3079 from 1.2239 at 1.3227 and 100% projection of 1.2239 to 1.2825 from 1.2654 at 1.3240). Any strong bouncing off from this level will indicate USD/CHF could still be bounded within wide range consolidation mentioned above and bring deep retreat to below 1.2654 level. On the other hand, firm break above 1.3226 will add much credence to the scenario that USD/CHF is in resumption of up trend from 1.1288.

Stay tuned with our daily and mid-day newsletters

USD/JPY

USD/JPY did rose to as high as 113.68 last week as expected, just slightly below mentioned 113.74 resistance. As discussed before, the rally from 108.75 is either resumption of the rise form 101.65 or part of wide range consolidation pattern from 113.74. But in either case, the first target of 113.74 is nearly met.

For the coming week(s) close attention will be paid to how USD/JPY react around 113.74 to 114.87 (with 114.90 being May 04 high and 50% projection of 101.65 to 113.74 from 108.75 at 114.80). Any sell off from this level could mark the end of the rise from 108.75 and bring deep correction. Meanwhile, firm break above 114.87 will add much credence that up trend from 101.65 has resumed.

Zooming into near term picture, breaking of cluster support of 112.66 support will at least turn near turn up trend into sideway consolidation and risk further pull back to 112.09 support. However a firm break below 1.2209 strongly suggest that the rise from 108.75 has ended and risk will significantly increase for a much deeper decline.

Stay tuned with our daily and mid-day newsletters

FOREX-Dollar falls as US growth

2005-09-05T08:15:00.000-07:00

LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - The dollar hit its lowest levels in nearly four months on Monday on worries that the Federal Reserve may pause in its dollar-supportive monetary tightening as the United States counts the cost of Hurricane Katrina. The yen rose both against the dollar and euro, taking heart from buyoant Tokyo stocks which hit 4-year highs and data showing Japanese firms boosted capital spending in the second quarter. In relatively thin trading due to the U.S. Labour Day holiday, investors sold dollars as surging gasoline prices and uncertainty about how deeply Katrina has affected the economy fanned talk the Fed might not raise interest rates at its Sept. 20 meeting from the current 3.5 percent. "People are unwinding growth expectations and interest rate expectations," said Naeem Wahid, currency strategist at HBOS Treasury Services. "The market was pricing in Fed funds rate at 4.25 percent by the year end at one point, now it has been pushed back to 3.75 percent. The dollar will struggle in this environment." By 0940 GMT, the dollar had fallen 1 percent on the day to to 108.77 yen, a 2-1/2 month low. Against the euro it stood at $1.2556, holding close to Friday's 3-month low of $1.2589. It hit a four-month low versus sterling at $1.8499 and a 3-1/2 month low of 1.2241 Swiss francs. The dollar hit its lowest level since May 18 against a basket of major currencies. The euro showed little reaction to data showing growth in the euro zone service sector eased in August, with high oil prices putting pressure on margins. FED PAUSE? The big question for investors is how the Fed will respond to Katrina's impact. U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Friday that Katrina could slow U.S. economic growth for a quarter or so, though it would not have a lasting impact. Some economists said that it would take evidence of a severe downturn in the economy for the Fed to take an extended break in its credit tightening cycle that started in June 2004, given their stated concerns about inflation pressures. The Fed has raised its funds rate 10 straight times to 3.50 percent, helping propel the dollar higher during the first half of the year. "The market is increasingly seeing a risk that the Fed pauses in its rate cycle -- not only that but also the peak in the interest cycle will be considerably lower," said Adam Cole, senior currency strategist at Royal Bank of Canada. The market will keep an eye on upcoming data on U.S. retail sales, jobless claims and consumer confidence, as well as reaction from Fed officials who are due to speak this week, for clues about the hurricane's impact on policy. "I personally think they would raise rates (this month). Inflation could be also a problem so the key to this would be Fed speakers this week," said Wahid at HBOS.

Latest Happenings

2005-08-29T06:51:00.001-07:00

Software send out contamination alert

29/08/2005 - Next time the phone rings, it could by your software alerting you about a contamination problem on the line or in the lab.

The software is from Centrus International, which has developed a rapid alert system to connect its microbial testing equipment with food safety managers or lab workers.

The connectivity allows food, meat, dairy, beverage and nutraceutical processors to make faster, better-informed decisions regarding product safety and release, stated Dominique Sorgeloos, Centrus' managing director of business operations.

“In food microbial testing, speed is all-important,” Sorgeloos stated in a press release. “Soleris Connectivity software speeds the flow of vital test results from the laboratory to key decision makers, allowing them to make fast choices in real time that ensure product safety and quality.”

The company developed its Soleris Connectivity software for use with its rapid optical system. The software system provides secure, real-time test results and data to an unlimited number of approved network users.

It can be adapted to interface with specific laboratory information management systems. The system can also be programmed to send contamination alarms securely through traditional and cellular phone systems.

The software features automated system control, data analysis and automatic contamination detection. Test results can be sent to additional designated workstations on networks inside and outside the lab or testing area.

The information can be sent using a secure supervisor workstation, speeding the distribution of information to an unlimited number of designated viewers.

The system can be integrated with existing information systems, allowing labs to incorporate test results with their own proprietary data and operating systems, Centrus stated.

Test results can be monitored from remote locations connected through any existing communication line, including by telephone or mobile phones, giving managers the ability to receive results and analysis from any test site on the network.

In addition, the software can send alarms through traditional and cellular phone lines when a sample tests positive for contamination.

Other features include a manual backup function, an ability to transfer data files and reports to a supervisor station and a hardware security device to ensure lab results are accessible only through designated secure-access workstations.

Pentax *ist DS2 Digital Camera Announced

2005-08-21T23:10:00.000-07:00

Pentax *ist DS2 Digital Camera Announced

Pentax *ist DS2 D-SLR introduction : Pentax introduces the new Pentax *ist DS2 digital SLR camera. The *ist DS2 D-SLR comes equipped with a large, high-resolution 2.5-inch color LCD monitor and a high-magnification glass pentaprism viewfinder for a large, clear view at every stage of digital photography from shooting to playback to editing.With its enhanced operability and maneuverability, the new Pentax *ist DS 2 assures high-quality digital SLR photography to photographers of all levels. Following in the footsteps of the *ist DS, Pentax's most popular digital SLR to date, the *ist DS2 is a user-friendly camera that is an ideal digital SLR choice for use by families that include beginning and more advanced photographers. Pentax DA 12-24mm ED AL lens Pentax also announced another DA lens and an auto flash unit for use with the latest digital SLR and the entire line of Pentax digital SLR cameras. Pentax will ship the smc Pentax DA 12mm-24mm F4 ED AL [IF] lens in October 2005. First announced earlier in the year, the latest digital SLR lens offers ultra wide-angle coverage and exceptional optical performance for digital SLR users. The Pentax smc 12-24mm marks the eighth lens product offering developed by Pentax that is optimized for digital SLR sensors. Pentax AF540FGZ flash - High guide number Pentax also unveiled an AF540FGZ auto flash unit featuring a large guide number of 54 (at ISO100/m). This clip-on, twist/tilt, auto-zoom flash provides a variety of advanced flash applications, including P-TTL auto flash, high-speed synchronization and wireless P-TTL auto flash, when mounted on a Pentax SLR camera. Availability of the Pentax *ist DS2 D-SLR is September 2005 for under $800 US for body alone. The Pentax 12-24mm lens will ship for under $900. The Pentax AF540FGZ auto flash will ship in October 2005 for under $400 US. *ist DS2 D-SLR - Large display and Compact design The Pentax *ist DS2 incorporates a high-precision 2.5-inch color LCD monitor with approximately 210,000 pixels for easier post-shooting image confirmation. Recorded images can be magnified up to 12 times during playback for closer examination of subject focus and image details. In addition, on-screen menus are displayed with large, easy-to-read letters and digits to facilitate user operations. Featuring a host of advanced downsizing developments, including a high-rigidity stainless-steel chassis, multi-layered electronic circuit boards and high-density packaging technology, the Pentax *ist DS2 digital reflex camera is designed extremely compact and lightweight, measuring 4.9 inches (125mm) wide, 3.6 inches (92.5mm) high and 2.6 inches (67mm) thick, the *ist DS2 weighs 17.8 ounces (505 grams) without batteries and an SD memory card. Pentax *ist DS 2 - Bright viewfinder and 6.1 Megapixels The Pentax *ist DS 2 comes equipped with a glass pentaprism viewfinder offering a 95% field of view and 0.95times magnification. The camera offers a large, bright viewfinder image equal in size, clarity and brightness to those incorporated in conventional 35mm format SLRs to make confirmation of the subject's focus easier even in manual focus mode. With a large, high performance CCD image sensor measuring 23.5mm by 15.7mm, the *ist DS2 offers 6.1 effective Megapixels. Coupled with original image processing technology from Pentax, it produces high-definition images rich in gradation and saturation. It also offers a choice of finishing touch between "Bright" and "Natural" to reflect the photographer's creative intention. Pentax DS2 DSLR - Auto sensitivity and high-speed shutter Like many digital compact cameras, the *ist DS2 features an "AUTO" position for sensitivity setting. In this position, the camera's sensitivity is automatically set by the camera, based on such factors as subject brightness and lens focal length, while the user can randomly select the upper limit of sensitivity between the standard output of 400 and 3200. This position is extremely useful to avoid camera shake in poorly lit locations and to prevent sensitivity resetting failures by the photographer. The *ist DS 2 D-SLR features a high-speed shutter unit with a top speed of 1/4000 second and a top synchronization speed of 1/180 second to assure greater visual creativity. Pentax D-SLR interchangeable lenses The Pentax *ist DS2 digital reflex camera offers the outstanding benefit of lens interchangeability, allowing the user to take advantage of a wide selection of existing PENTAX interchangeable lenses to deal with diversified subjects and applications. Pentax K-, KA-, KAF- and KAF2-mount 35mm-format lenses can be used without an adapter or modification. Pentax screw-mount 35mm-format lenses and Pentax 645- and 67-system lenses can be used with an adapter. Some functions may not be available with certain lenses. Pentax DS2 digital reflex - Easy to use Taking full advantage of its large LCD monitor, the *ist DS2 offers convenient and informative function guidance, which not only provides a detailed explanation of shooting, drive and flash modes and white-balance settings using text and pictures, but also displays a comprehensive list of current camera settings for at-a-glance confirmation. The *ist DS2 is equipped to make camera operations simple and effortless for the user. Its innovative Auto Picture Mode automatically and instantly selects the optimum combination of exposure settings for a given subject or situation, including shutter speed, aperture, white balance, saturation, contrast, and intensity of edges. The built-in auto flash automatically pops up in dimly lit or backlit situations. From the multi-function four-way controller to the responsive electronic AV/TV dials and the large, easy-to-use mode dial, all switches and dials are efficiently and functionally laid out around the *ist DS2's compact body to assure smooth, fingertip control. Pentax *ist DS2 D-SLR camera - High-precision and High-speed shooting The *ist DS2 incorporates an advanced 16-segment metering system to assure high-precision light measurement, even under complicated lighting conditions. Center-weighted metering and spot metering are also available to meet specialized applications. The Pentax *ist DS2 D-SLR camera features the sophisticated SAFOX VIII AF system incorporating 11 AF sensors (nine of them in a cross-type wide-area sensor grid in the middle). This not only provides accurate, pinpoint auto focusing on a wide variety of subjects, but also lets the user select one of the sensors to accommodate a specific image composition. It also offers a choice of AF-single or AF-continuous AF mode to accommodate different types of requirements. The *ist DS2 records up to eight images (in JPEG format, at Best image format and with noise reduction off) consecutively at a speed of approximately 2.8 frames per second, allowing the user to capture a series of the subject's action or movement. Pentax digital SLR - SD card and Superimposed AF sensor The *ist DS2 uses the widely available Secure Digital (SD) memory card as its storage media, not only assuring high-speed recording and readout of image data, but also contributing to the downsizing of the camera body. The selected AF sensor point is highlighted in red in the viewfinder for easy visual confirmation. Pentax *ist DS2 D-SLR camera - Other features - 19 user-programmable custom functions to personalize camera operations - Noise-reduction system to minimize annoying digital noise - Dual power source, with a choice of 2 CR-V3 lithium batteries or 4 AA-size batteries - USB2.0 Hi-Speed compatibility for speedy data uploading to a PC - Functional playback functions, including 12X zoom display and nine-image thumbnail display - A choice of image format between JPEG (best, better or good) and RAW - 4 built-in digital filters (black-and-white, sepia, slim, and three-level soft) - Pentax Photo Laboratory 2.1 RAW-data processing software included - Pentax Photo Browser 2.1 browser software included - PictBridge compatibility.

Forex

2005-08-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

FOREX-Dollar falls broadly ahead of retail sales

LONDON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - The dollar fell to its lowest levels against the euro and Swiss franc in about two months on Thursday, extending a recent decline, while the yen jumped on strong gains in Tokyo stocks and fading political worries. U.S. retail sales data later in the session is expected to show strong growth but the upbeat forecasts failed to boost the dollar as investors appeared keen to take profits on this year's 10-percent rally.

"We are just seeing continued dollar consolidation," said Jeremy Stretch, currency strategist at Rabobank in London.

"The market has become accustomed to strong U.S. data across the board and much of the good news is priced in so dollar longs are getting frustrated."
At 1200 GMT the dollar traded 0.2 percent down on the day at $1.2408 per euro, after hitting $1.2431, its lowest level since the end of May. It also fell to 1.2503 Swiss francs, a low from June 8.
Euro zone data showed the bloc's economy growing at a slightly faster than expected pace of 1.2 percent on the year in the second quarter.
Against the yen, the dollar fell to 110.12 yen, a three-week low, before regaining some ground to 110.40.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian crown eased slightly versus the dollar and euro after the country's central bank kept interest rates at 2 percent but appeared less hawkish than some analysts had expected.

DOLLAR DATA
Analysts said the dollar was unlikely to benefit sustainably from strong retail sales data because investors have grown accustomed to upbeat economic figures from the U.S. There were also concerns about U.S. trade figures due on Friday.

"It is difficult to see this release providing much reprieve for the dollar. In fact, as the market's attention turns towards structural issues, it is the June trade balance data, due for release tomorrow, which will grab the focus," UBS analysts said in a note.

The Japanese currency was bolstered by Tokyo stocks which hit four-year highs on optimism about Japan's economy amid buying by foreign investors.
It reversed losses made following Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's called for an election after losing a parliamentary vote on privatising the postal system.

Public opinion polls showed on Wednesday Koizumi's support rating had risen since he called the election for Sept. 11 to seek a new mandate for reforms.
Even before this week's rally, foreign investors bought a net 495.0 billion yen ($4.47 billion) of Japanese stocks in the week ended Aug. 6, taking their net purchases this calendar year to 5.27 trillion yen.

The yield on two-year Japanese government bonds hit an 11-month high while yen money market futures fell as speculation swelled that the Bank of Japan would end its zero interest rate policy early next year.
After upbeat machinery orders data this week, investors are looking ahead to Japan's gross domestic product figures for the April-June quarter on Friday for evidence of robust growth.
Talk that Japanese investors were preparing to repatriate coupon payments on U.S. Treasuries also helped the yen, traders said.

Analysts have estimated that $5 billion of the $24.7 billion in coupons to be issued on Aug. 15 will go to Japanese investors. Barclays Capital said coupon-related sales of dollars for yen could total $900 million a day between Friday and next Tuesday.

"The yen is trading a bit better on the back of fundamentals," said Stretch. "There are signs of foreign investors coming back to Japan again and the market has been very short yen for a considerable period."

A Reuters poll showed economists expect Japan's economy to have grown 0.5 percent quarter-on-quarter in April-June for an annualised pace of 2.0 percent. The economy expanded at an annualised 4.9 percent in January-March, its fastest in a year. "You see a lot of selling pressure in dollar/yen... People are not only taking off positions in dollar/yen but also in dollar/Swiss and euro/dollar, so you have a spill-over effect," said Hans-Guenter Redeker, chief foreign exchange strategist at BNP Paribas in London.

U.S. retail sales are expected to rise 2.2 percent in July from the previous month and 0.6 percent with auto sales excluded.
Source:Reuters

FOREX Basics

2005-08-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

FOREX Basics.

What is it?

On the FOREX exchange you can buy and sell currencies. For example, you might buy Japanese yens (by exchanging them to the dollars you had), then, after yen / dollar ratio goes up, you sell yens and buy dollars again. At the end of this operation you are going to have more dollars, then you had at the beginning.

The FOREX market has much higher liquidity, then the stock market, as much more money are being exchanged. Also, it does not have "exchange places", like stock market does. FOREX is spread between banks all over the world, and as the result, it is open 24 hours, during the business week.

Unlike stocks, FOREX trades are performed with high leverage, usually it is 100. It means that by investing $1000 you can control $100,000, and increase potential profits accordingly. Some brokers provide also so called mini-FOREX, where the size of minimum deposit equals $100. It makes possible for individuals to enter this market easily.

Important note: Trader software comes with indicators, that are configured to assume margin (leverage) equal 1 stock operations and 100 for FOREX.

The name convention. In FOREX, the name of a "symbol" is composed of two parts - one for first currency, and another for the second currency. For example, the symbol usdjpy stands for US dollars (usd) to Japanese yen (jpy).

As with stocks, you can apply tools of the technical analysis to FOREX charts. Trader's indexes can be optimized for FOREX "symbols", allowing you to find winning strategy.

Cord Blood

2005-07-25T10:19:00.000-07:00

Cord Blood

Q: Where can I donate cord blood?

A: If you are interested, or someone you know is interested, in donating cord blood, look for a Cord Blood Bank or collecting hospital within or close to your community. There are only a small number of cord blood banks in the United States, so donation to a local bank is not possible in many areas.

If there is not an NMDP Cord Blood Bank in your community, refer to the Non-NMDP Cord Blood Bank list on this Web site or contact any major university hospital or medical center in your state to see if they accept cord blood donations.

Q: Why isn't there a cord blood bank or collecting hospital in my area?

A: Cord blood donation is currently not possible in many communities. Many communities do not have the technical and financial resources needed to establish and operate a public cord blood bank. Although cord blood banks are developing throughout the United States, the annual number of births far exceeds the expected need for cord blood storage.

Q: Does it cost me anything to donate cord blood?

A: There is no cost for donating. Unrelated donor cord blood banks will take care of the procedure and cover the cost of processing and storing your baby's cord blood unit. However, parents also have the option of storing cord blood exclusively for use within their own family for a fee. Several banks in the United States will collect and store cord blood reserved for private use. A list of these banks is available at www.parentsguidecordblood.com.

Q: Are there any risks to donating cord blood?

A: Donating cord blood is medically safe. Donating poses no health risks to you or your baby. Donating does not affect your baby or your birth experience because the cord blood is collected after your baby is born. If you or your baby experience any complications during delivery, your doctor will not collect the cord blood.

Q: I have been approached, or contacted, by a self-storage program about storing my child's cord blood. Should I store the cord or donate it?

A: Donating your child's cord blood or storing it for private use is a personal decision that only you can make. If you have a child with leukemia or other disease that may be treatable by transplant and you are pregnant, talk with your oncologist or pediatrician about saving your baby's cord blood. For more information see the Non-NMDP Cord Blood Bank list.

Families may feel a great deal of pressure from the promotions and advertisements they receive from the for-profit private storage cord blood banks. The NMDP agrees with the policy statement of The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued in 1999:

AAP's second recommendation follows:

"Given the difficulty of making an accurate
estimate of the need for autologous [donation
from self] transplantation and the ready
availability of allogeneic [donation from
sibling or unrelated person] transplantation,
private storage of cord blood as "biological
insurance" is unwise. However, banking should
be considered if there is a family member with
a current or potential need to
undergo a stem cell transplantation."

(Words in italics added by the NMDP.)

Q: What will happen to my child's cord blood if I donate it?

A: After the baby's birth, the umbilical cord is clamped, breaking the link between the baby and the placenta. The small amount of blood remaining in the placenta and umbilical cord, typically three to five fluid ounces, is drained and taken to a cord blood bank where the unit is processed and samples are sent for tests. To be stored, the cord blood unit must meet these standards:

The unit must be large enough.
The maternal and family health history must meet eligibility guidelines.
Tests of the cord blood unit and the mother's blood sample must show no signs of infection or other possible problems.

If the unit meets these standards, it is frozen and stored in a liquid nitrogen freezer. The cord blood unit is then listed on the NMDP's Registry, where it will be searched for a matching recipient and then transplanted.

Q: Who has access to the donated cord blood?

A: Once the donated cord blood is processed and stored at the Cord Blood Bank, it is listed on the NMDP Registry and available to patients all over the world who are searching for a match. The cord blood can be transplanted into any patient whose doctor selects the cord as a match for that patient.

Remember that donating cord blood to a public bank is different than storing the cord blood for your family's private use. The donated cord blood is not reserved for your family. Also, some donated cord blood units cannot be stored. Some units are too small or have other factors that make them unsuitable for storage in a public bank.

Q: How long can cord blood be stored before it expires?

A: Studies have shown good cord blood cell recovery after up to ten years of storage (Clin Exp Immunol 1997; 107, Suppl 1). Studies are ongoing to determine the storage life of cord blood units.

Q: How soon should I notify the cord blood bank in my area or my doctor about donating my child's umbilical cord blood?

A: It is recommended that someone who is interested in donating contact the cord blood bank by the 34th week of pregnancy.

Q:Why is there a need for women from all racial and ethnic groups to donate their baby's cord blood?

A: Because the tissue traits that are used to match a cord blood unit with a patient are inherited, a patient's most likely match will be cord blood donated by someone of the same heritage. American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Black and African American, Hispanic and Latino, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and multiple-race patients face a greater challenge in finding a match than White patients.

NMDP cord blood banks are working in local communities to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of NMDP cord blood listings. From 2001 to 2003, the likelihood of finding a matched cord blood unit has grown at least twofold for patients from all racial and ethnic groups. Still, some patients are unable to find a match because of the rarity of their tissue traits. Some tissue traits are more likely to be found among people of a particular racial or ethnic heritage. That is why a pressing need remains for more cord blood donations from American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Black and African American, Hispanic and Latino, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and multiple-race donors.

Q: Is cord blood donation confidential?

A: Identifying information is never exchanged between a cord blood donor and cord blood transplant recipient. The identity of the cord blood donor is kept confidential at the cord blood bank.

Q: How does the National Marrow Donor Program support cord blood donation?

A: The NMDP has developed a central Registry of cord blood units that physicians may search. In addition, several mechanisms exist for physicians to search cord blood banks not currently participating with The NMDP. Physicians can obtain additional information from the NMDP Office of Patient Advocacy at 1 (888) 999-6743. Outside the United States, call 1 (612) 627-8140.

Mesothelioma

2005-07-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

Cancer Facts

Mesothelioma:

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer in which malignant(cancerous) cells are found in the mesothelium, aprotective sac that covers most of the body's internalorgans. Most people who develop mesothelioma haveworked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles.

What is the mesothelium?The mesothelium has different names, depending on itslocation in the body. The peritoneum is the mesothelialtissue that covers most of the organs in the abdominalcavity. The pleura is the membrane that surrounds thelungs and lines the wall of the chest cavity.The pericardium covers and protects the heart. Themesothelial tissue surrounding the male internalreproductive organs is called the tunica vaginalis testis.The tunica serosa uteri coversthe internal reproductive organs in women.

What is mesothelioma?Mesothelioma (cancer of the mesothelium) is a diseaseinwhich cells of the mesothelium become abnormaland divide without control or order. They can invadeand damage nearby tissues and organs. Cancer cellscan also metastasize (spread) from their original site toother parts of the body. Most cases of mesotheliomabegin in the pleura or peritoneum.

How common is mesothelioma?Although reported incidence rates have increased inthe past 20 years, mesothelioma is still a relativelyrare cancer. About 2,000 new cases of mesotheliomaare diagnosed in the United States each year.Mesothelioma occurs more often in men than in womenand risk increases with age,but this disease can appearin either men or women at any age.

What are the risk factors for mesothelioma?Working with asbestos is the major risk factor formesothelioma. A history of asbestos exposure at workis reported in about 70 percent to 80 percent of allcases. However, mesothelioma has been reported insome individuals without any known exposureto asbestos.

Asbestos is the name of a group of minerals that occurnaturally as masses of strong, flexible fibers that canbe separated into thin threads and woven. Asbestos hasbeen widely used in many industrial products, includingcement, brake linings, roof shingles, flooring products,textiles, and insulation. If tinyasbestos particles float in the air, especially during themanufacturing process, they may be inhaled or swallowed,and can cause serious health problems. In addition tomesothelioma, exposure to asbestos increases the risk oflung cancer, asbestosis (a noncancerous, chronic lungailment), and other cancers, such as those of the larynxand kidney.

Smoking does not appear to increase the risk ofmesothelioma. However, the combination of smoking andasbestos exposure significantly increases a person's riskof developing cancer of the air passageways in the lung.Who is at increased risk for developing mesothelioma?Asbestos has been mined and used commercially since thelate 1800s. Its use greatly increased during World War II.Since the early 1940s, millions of American workers havebeen exposed to asbestos dust. Initially, the risksassociated with asbestosexposure were not known. However, an increased risk ofdeveloping mesothelioma was later found among shipyardworkers, people who work in asbestos mines and mills,producers of asbestos products, workers in the heatingand construction industries, and other tradespeople.Today, the U.S. Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration.(OSHA) sets limits for acceptable levelsof asbestos exposure in the workplace. People who workwith asbestos wear personal protective equipment tolower their risk of exposure.

The risk of asbestos-related disease increases with heavierexposure to asbestos and longer exposure time. However,some individuals with only brief exposures havedeveloped mesothelioma. On the other hand,not all workers who are heavily exposed developasbestos-related diseases.

There is some evidence that family members and othersliving with asbestos workers have an increased risk ofdeveloping mesothelioma, and possibly other asbestos-related diseases. This risk may be the result of exposureto asbestos dust brought home on the clothing and hairof asbestos workers. To reduce the chance of exposingfamily members to asbestos fibers, asbestos workers areusually required to shower and change their clothingbefore leaving the workplace.

What are the symptoms of mesothelioma?Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear until 30 to50 years after exposure to asbestos. Shortness of breathand pain in the chest due to an accumulation of fluid inthe pleura are often symptoms of pleural mesothelioma.Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma include weightloss and abdominal pain and swelling due to a buildup offluid in the abdomen. Other symptoms of peritonealmesothelioma may include bowel obstruction, bloodclotting abnormalities, anemia, and fever. If the cancerhas spread beyond the mesothelium to other parts ofthe body, symptoms may include pain, trouble swallowing, or swelling of the neck or face.

These symptoms may be caused by mesothelioma or byother, less serious conditions. It is important to see a doctorabout any of these symptoms. Only a doctor can make adiagnosis.

How is mesothelioma diagnosed?Diagnosing mesothelioma is often difficult, because thesymptoms are similar to those of a number of otherconditions. Diagnosis begins with a review of the patient'smedical history, including any history of asbestos exposure.A complete physical examination may be performed,including x-rays of the chest or abdomen and lung functiontests. A CT (or CAT) scan or an MRI may also be useful.A CT scan is a series of detailed pictures of areas insidethe body created by a computer linked to an x-raymachine. In an MRI, a powerful magnet linked to acomputer is used to make detailed pictures of areas insidethe body. These pictures are viewed on a monitor and canalso be printed.

A biopsy is needed to confirm a diagnosis of mesothelioma.In a biopsy, a surgeon or a medical oncologist (a doctorwho specializes in diagnosing and treating cancer)removes a sample of tissue for examination under amicroscope by a pathologist. A biopsy may be done indifferent ways, depending on where the abnormal areais located. If the cancer is in the chest, the doctor mayperform a thoracoscopy. In this procedure, the doctormakes a small cut through the chest wall and puts a thin,lighted tube called a thoracoscope into the chest betweentwo ribs. Thoracoscopy allows the doctor to look inside thechest and obtain tissue samples. If the cancer is in theabdomen, the doctor may perform a peritoneoscopy. Toobtain tissue for examination, the doctor makes a smallopening in the abdomen and inserts a special instrumentcalled a peritoneoscope into the abdominal cavity. Ifthese procedures do not yield enough tissue, moreextensive diagnostic surgery may be necessary.

If the diagnosis is mesothelioma, the doctor will want tolearn the stage (or extent) of the disease. Staging involvesmore tests in a careful attempt to find out whether thecancer has spread and, if so, to which parts of the body.Knowing the stage of the disease helps the doctor plantreatment.

Mesothelioma is described as localized if the cancer isfound only on the membrane surface where itoriginated. It is classified as advanced if it has spreadbeyond the original membrane surface to other parts ofthe body, such as the lymph nodes, lungs, chest wall,or abdominal organs.How is mesothelioma treated?Treatment for mesothelioma depends on the location ofthe cancer, the stage of the disease, and the patient'sage and general health. Standard treatment optionsinclude surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy.Sometimes, these treatments are combined.

Surgery is a common treatment for mesothelioma.The doctor may remove part of the lining of the chestor abdomen and some of the tissue around it. Forcancer of the pleura (pleural mesothelioma), a lung maybe removed in an operation called a pneumonectomy.Sometimes part of the diaphragm, the muscle below thelungs that helps with breathing, is also removed.

Radiation therapy, also called radiotherapy, involvesthe use of high-energy rays to kill cancer cells and shrinktumors. Radiation therapy affects the cancer cells only inthe treated area. The radiation may come from a machine(external radiation) or from putting materials thatproduce radiation through thin plastic tubes into the areawhere the cancer cells are found (internal radiationtherapy).

Chemotherapy is the use of anticancer drugs to killcancer cells throughout the body. Most drugs used totreat mesothelioma are given by injection into a vein(intravenous, or IV). Doctors are also studying theeffectiveness of putting chemotherapy directly intothe chest or abdomen (intracavitary chemotherapy).

To relieve symptoms and control pain, the doctor mayuse a needle or a thin tube to drain fluid that has builtup in the chest or abdomen. The procedure for removingfluid from the chest is called thoracentesis. Removal of fluidfrom the abdomen is called paracentesis. Drugs may begiven through a tube in the chest to prevent more fluidfrom accumulating. Radiation therapy and surgery mayalso be helpful in relieving symptoms.

Are new treatments for mesothelioma being studied?

Yes. Because mesothelioma is very hard to control, the
National Cancer Institute (NCI) is sponsoring
clinical trials (research studies with people) that are
designed to find new treatments and better ways to
use current treatments. Before any new treatment can
be recommended for general use, doctors conduct
clinical trials to find out whether the treatment is safe
for patients and effective against the disease
Participation in clinical trials is an important treatment
option for many patients with mesothelioma.
People interested in taking part in a clinical trial should
talk with their doctor.
Information about clinical trials is available from the
Cancer Information Service (CIS) (see below) at 1–800–4–CANCER. Information specialists at the
CIS use PDQ®, NCI's cancer information database,
to identify and provide detailed information about
specific ongoing clinical trials. Patients also have the
option of searching for clinical trials on their own. The
clinical trials page on the NCI's http://www.cancer.gov/dictionary/db_alpha.aspx?expand=C#Cancer.gov
Web site, located at http://www.cancer.gov/clinical_trials
clinical_trials on the Internet, provides general
information about clinical trials and links to PDQ.
People considering clinical trials may be interested
in the NCI booklet Taking Part in Clinical Trials:
What Cancer Patients Need To Know. This booklet
describes how research studies are carried out and
explains their possible benefits and risks. The booklet is available by calling the CIS, or from the NCIPublications
Locator Web site at http://www.cancer.gov/publications
on the Internet

# # #

Sources of National Cancer Institute Information

Forex Trading

2005-07-24T12:53:00.000-07:00

Asia embraces new financial landscape after China's forex move

7/24/2005

SINGAPORE, July 23 (AFP): Asia embraced a new financial landscape after China finally abandoned its decade-old peg to the dollar, with regional governments and analysts widely applauding Beijing for the move.

Asian currencies were uniformly tipped to appreciate in the long-term following China's announcement Thursday that it had abandoned the yuan peg for a managed float against an undisclosed trade-weighted basket of currencies.

The region's economic growth rates were also expected to get a boost, according to analysts who further predicted China's move would inevitably be the start of a long process of the yuan regime becoming more flexible.

The most immediate impact came in Malaysia, which announced virtually straight after China Thursday that it had scrapped the ringgit's seven-year-old peg to the dollar in favour of a managed float.

"Do not underestimate the significance of a new currency policy for China," JP Morgan equities strategist Adrian Mowat said.

"An appreciating renminbi would accelerate the current trend of appreciating Asian currencies while boosting the region's reflating economies.
"Strong currencies should attract capital and discourage the export of savings, adding to demand for Asian assets."

The yuan, or renminbi, was revalued at 8.11 to the US dollar compared to 8.28, a 2.1 per cent revaluation.
It will be allowed to trade 0.3 per cent either side of a daily fixed rate and trade in a managed float against a basket of trade-weighted currencies.

On its first day of trading, the yuan closed slightly easier at 8.1111 to the dollar, its low for the day and off a high of 8.1100, the Foreign Exchange Trading Centre said.

Thursday's move came after sustained pressure from the United States and other Western nations worried about China's perceived trading advantage with an artificially weak currency unfairly boosting the nation's exports.

Japan, the largest economy in Asia and China's biggest trading partner, was one of the first to urge still greater yuan flexibility, while welcoming the first step.

"A shift to a basket-trading system of the Chinese yuan is positive for the Chinese and global economies," Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Heizo Takenaka told a press conference.

"While the movement of the Chinese yuan is expected to be limited in the near-term after the introduction of the new trading system, it will affect corporate as well as the export activity of Japan in the mid- to long-term."

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Hiroyuki Hosoda, said Tokyo "would welcome it if the yuan becomes more flexible" and Takenaka expressed similar sentiments.

"We will be watching closely whether the Chinese monetary authorities manage the currency trading system more flexibly and in a more market-driven fashion in the long-term," Takenaka said.

Forex News

2005-07-18T14:09:00.000-07:00

Global News / Markets
China hives up forex

BEIJING: China's foreign exchange reserves has zoomed to a record $711 billion in the first half of this year, according to statistics released by the Chinese central bank.

The People's Bank of China said that the country's foreign exchange reserve surged to $711 billion by the end of June, representing a year-on-year increase of 51.1 per cent.

The apex bank said that the foreign exchange reserve increased by $101 billion in the first six months of this year, $33.7 billion more than the same period of last year.

In the January-June period, the Chinese currency, yuan, was pegged at $8.2765, remaining the same level as that at the end of last year. By the end of 2004, China's foreign exchange reserves reached $609.9 billion.
China is the world's second largest ho lder of forex reserves after Japan. - PTI

FOREX-Dollar rebounds after US trade report

2005-07-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

FOREX-Dollar rebounds after US trade report
NEW YORK, July 13 (Reuters) - The dollar rallied on Wednesday, extending gains after a U.S. trade report showed a narrower deficit than expected, easing concerns about the country's external financing problems.

The U.S. trade gap narrowed to $55.35 billion in May, lower than economists' forecast for a $57 billion shortfall. The trade deficit with China, however, swelled 7.1 percent in May to $15.8 billion.

"The indication was for major U.S. ports showing an improvement in exports rather than imports. We also had lower oil prices for April and May, which helped," said Aziz McMahon, senior foreign exchange strategist, at ABN Amro in New York.

The wide trade deficit was a key factor that pushed the dollar into a 30-percent decline against the euro over three years through the end of 2004, but rising U.S. interest rates have fueled a dollar rally in 2005.

"Together with data later in the day on the federal budget, it seems that the structural picture is turning a little bit more positive for the dollar," McMahon said.

The Federal Budget, due this afternoon, is expected to show a surplus of $23.0 billion in June.
In early trade, the euro fell against the dollar to $1.2130, down 0.9 percent from late Tuesday. The dollar traded 0.9 percent higher against the yen at 111.83 yen and was up more than 1 percent against the Swiss franc at 1.2853 francs.

Sterling, meanwhile, dropped more than 1 percent as well to $1.7601.
Some analysts, however, expressed caution about the report. Brian Taylor, managing director of foreign exchange trading at Manufacturers and Traders Bank in Buffalo, New York said that the "market is definitely forward looking and oil prices have since risen." U.S. oil futures hit a record above $62 last week on weather and supply concerns.

So far this year, the dollar has shaken off concerns about structural weakness in the U.S. economy, such as the current account deficit, and gained some 10 percent versus the euro as investors have sought to benefit from rising U.S. interest rates.

The dollar's rally over the last few months, which brought it to 14-month highs versus the euro, has wobbled in the last few days on investor worries about recent weak jobs data and the market grew cautious ahead of the trade numbers.

But traders said it was unclear whether rising U.S. interest rates would continue to give the dollar support or whether worries about structural imbalances would regain the upper hand.
U.S. June retail sales and inflation data will be closely watched on Thursday. (Additional reporting by John Parry)
Source:http://today.reuters.co.uk
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Forex

2005-07-09T15:27:00.000-07:00

Forex - US dollar up vs euro, flat vs yen in Asian trade ahead of US jobs data
07.08.2005, 04:47 AM

SINGAPORE (AFX) - The US dollar firmed against the euro in late afternoon trade here with the market shrugging off a short-lived downward blip in the greenback in the wake of yesterday's London bombings with players now focused on tonight's US June non-farm payroll data, dealers said

The bombs killed more than 30 people and brought the city's transport system to a halt early in the London session. It also rattled global financial markets with one of the blasts taking place in the heart of London's financial district. 'The initial reaction in the currency markets was for sterling and the US dollar to weaken, while the Swiss franc firmed across the board on safe-haven buying,' UBS told its clients in a morning note.

The dollar regained some composure in New York trading time and continued to rebound when Asian markets opened, although sterling remained under pressure. With no sign of any follow up bombings, Asian markets shifted their attention to the key US nonfarm payrolls data due tonight, with most expecting a strong increase in jobs.

'We think the dollar is broadly in recovery mode and yesterday's events could add momentum to its rise, though non-farm payrolls data tonight will be key to moves next week,' UBS said.

Non-farm payrolls are expected to rise 195,000 after the soft 78,000 gain in May which pulled the second quarter average below the first quarter despite a strong April gain, according to a Market News International survey of economists.

Sterling remained under pressure in Asia but has held remarkably well despite concerns of what how the blasts would affect the UK economy. The blasts happened just before the Bank of England announced it was keeping its benchmark interest rate unchanged.

'The terrorist attacks on London will quite obviously be in the media limelight for several more days,' said Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi's Singapore-based economist Wong Keng Siong. 'The key issue to note, however, is that the overall infrastructure at the world's largest financial center remains intact,' he said.

'Despite the human tragedy, therefore, the economic impact is likely to be fairly limited.' Singapore 3.05 pm (0705 GMT) Tokyo 1.05 pm (0405 GMT)

US dollar yen 112.31 unchanged
sfr 1.3023 up from 1.2984
Euro usd 1.1913 down from 1.1934
stg 0.6842 down from 0.6850
yen 133.77 down from 134.11
sfr 1.5512 up from 1.5499
Sterling usd 1.7406 down from 1.7417
yen 195.42 down from 195.65
sfr 2.2663 up from 2.2619
Australian dollar usd 0.7378 up from 0.7376
stg 0.4238 up from 0.4233
yen 82.860 down from 83.880

Source:http://www.forbes.com
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Forex reserves fall by over $1 b

2005-07-09T15:22:00.000-07:00

Forex reserves fall by over $1 b

Mumbai , July 9

THE country's foreign exchange reserves declined in excess of $1 billion on account of currency revaluation. Forex reserves have shrunk for the second week in a row.

For the week ended July 1, forex reserves fell by $1.447 billion to touch $137.443 billion, according to the Reserve Bank of India's Weekly Statistical Supplement. In the earlier week, the total reserves were at $138.890 million. In the last two weeks alone, reserves have fallen by $2.123 billion.

The decline in reserves was mainly due to the huge dip in foreign currency assets, which fell by $1.516 billion to touch $131.426. Foreign currency assets expressed in US dollar terms include the effect of appreciation/depreciation of non-US currencies (such as euro, sterling, yen) held in reserves.

This fall was partly offset by gold, which increased by $77 million to touch $4.453 billion. Special Drawing Rights were unchanged at $4 million. The country's reserve tranche position in the IMF fell by $8 million to touch $1.560 billion, the WSS said.

The week under review saw an inflow of $515 million into the country's equity market.
Currency revaluation was the only reason for the decrease in reserves, said a chief dealer with a private bank.

The week in question saw a significant fall in all non-dollar currencies. According to another bank official, inflows of dollars into the country have been matching outflows. As the RBI has shifted a significant part of the reserves to euro, any change in the value of the euro would have an impact on the reserves, he said.

About the movement of the rupee in the coming week, he said the rupee was likely to trade along the levels of 43.60.

Source:http://www.thehindubusinessline.com
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War of The Worlds:Movie Review

2005-07-08T01:43:00.000-07:00

"No one would have believed in the early years of the twenty-first century that our world was being watched by intelligences greater than ours"...

"We always thought they would come in peace...but we never know... "

With this Steven Spielberg takes us to the adventurous journey of alien invasion.
Back 1982 when Speilberg gave us all time classic blockbuster E.T.(Extra territorial).It seems only few days back it had released but it had been 23 years old still charming in our mind.

Comes 2005 and here again spielberg brings another alien movie.But...but this time the aliens are not for friendship,not for war but for total extermination of human beings.H.G.Wells 1898 novel had been turned into visual stunner by Steven Spielberg

Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is an average blue-collar worker living in a cluttered house with a job that probably allows him to barely meet his mortgage payments. He rushes home from work one morning to greet his kids - 10-year old Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and her 16-year old brother, Robbie (Justin Chatwin) - who are being dropped off by his ex-wife, Mary Ann (Miranda Otto), for a weekend visit.

Ray doesn't have the best relationship with his offspring, and his deficiencies as a father are immediately apparent. But this isn't a normal day. Before it has ended, bizarre lightning storms have caused gigantic alien tripods to explode from beneath the ground and entire towns are being leveled.

Ray grabs his kids and takes them on a frantic roadtrip to find their mother. But, in a world where nothing can stop the mechanical monsters and humans are turning on humans for basic necessities, where can safety be found?

Tom Cruise yet again gives a knockout performance.Dakota Fanning is outstanding as Cruise's daughter.Tim Robbins is excellent in his small but significant role.

The only negative aspect of the movie is its ending.The ending is a total letdown especially if we consider its a 'spielberg' movie.However the movie takes you to the ride of breathtaking devastation and destruction by the aliens."Techno maestro" Speilberg proves that no one can beat him when it comes to special effects.

Fabulous,shocking and stupendous words should be used for such type of special effects.For every destruction there is new technique,for every devastation there is new style.Best ever special effects for such kind of movie.Cracking of buildings,shattering of earth and nervous gasps can make your blood chilling even in this summer.

So get ready this summer for joycoaster ride and breathtaking adventure never seen before in an alien movie.
H.G.Wells would be very pleased.his novel had been turned into visual stunner.
One of the best alien invasion movie

We always thought they would come in peace...but we never know
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Forex - Dollar firmer

2005-07-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

Forex - Dollar firmer after FOMC confirms US rate hikes to continue
07.01.2005, 05:43 AM
LONDON (AFX) - The dollar was firmer against major currencies after last night's Federal Reserve Open Market Committee raised US interest rates to 3.25 pct and confirmed that monetary tightening will continue to rise at a measured pace.

The rate hike was fully expected, but the dollar rallied on the back of the accompanying statement which removed fears that the Fed could soon take a pause in raising rates.

'The 25 basis point rate hike at the FOMC meeting yesterday was no surprise nor was the repeat of the 'measured' pace comment, but some had looked for signs that the Fed is close to ending its rate hike cycle,' said CALYON analyst Mitul Kotecha.

He said the dollar is likely to find further support from the Fed statement, sufficient to push the euro below 1.20 usd in the coming days, due to favourable US interest rate spreads -- given that the next moves in the euro zone and the UK are set to be down.

'The Fed revealed no signs of being close to putting the brakes on further rate hikes in the months ahead,' he said. The dollar rose across the board, with the yen unable to benefit from an upbeat Tankan report which showed widespread improvement in Japanese business sentiment.

The euro also failed to capitalise on a survey showing an improvement in manufacturing sector activity in June. The purchasing managers' index for the 12-nation single currency zone rose to 49.9 in June from 48.7 in May, still showing a contraction but well above analysts' expectations for a more modest rise to 49.0.

Meanwhile, the pound remained weak after a string of very disappointing data over the past few days intensified speculation that the Bank of England will cut interest rates as soon as August.

'Sterling has remained under pressure as the weakness in UK data persists,' said HBOS currency analyst Steve Pearson.

Short sterling contracts indicate that the market has fully discounted two rate cuts this year, with a third now partially priced-in, whilst the spread between UK and euro zone short-term interest rates continues to narrow, he added.

Yesterday saw a sharp and unexpected downgrade in UK first quarter GDP and a weak consumer sentiment survey add to the negative sentiment prompted after Wednesday's dismal retail sales survey from the Confederation of British Industry.
Today will see the release of the latest purchasing managers index on UK manufacturing activity.

Given that the latest German IFO and Japanese Tankan surveys have begun to show some signs of improvement, however, there is a good chance the UK report could beat expectations and prompt a slight rebound for sterling, Pearson said.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/
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Mesothelioma And Asbestos Cancer

2005-06-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

What is Asbestos Cancer?

Asbestos is the name for a group of naturally occurring silicate minerals that can be separated into fibers. The fibers are strong, durable, and resistant to heat and fire. They are also long, thin and flexible, so that they can even be woven into cloth.
Because of these qualities, asbestos has been used in thousands of consumer, industrial, maritime, automotive, scientific and building products. During the twentieth century, some 30 million tons of asbestos were used in industrial sites, homes, schools, shipyards and commercial buildings in the United States.

There are several types of asbestos fibers, of which three have been used for commercial applications: (1) Chrysotile, or white asbestos, comes mainly from Canada, and has been very widely used in the US. It is white-gray in color and found in serpentine rock. (2) Amosite, or brown asbestos, comes from southern Africa. (3) Crocidolite, or blue asbestos, comes from southern Africa and Australia.
Amosite and crocidolite are called amphiboles. This term refers to the nature of their geologic formation.

Other asbestos fibers that have not been used commercially are tremolite, actinolite and anthophyllite, although they are sometimes contaminants in asbestos-containing products. It should be noted that there are non-fibrous, or non-asbestiform, variants of tremolite, anthophylite and actinolite, which do not have the adverse health consequences that result from exposure to commercial forms of asbestos.
Here are some additional "Facts About Asbestos".

What are asbestos-containing products?What is common to many asbestos-containing products is that they were (are) used to contain heat (i.e. thermal insulation.) It is impossible to list all of the products that have, at one time or another, contained asbestos. Some of the more common asbestos-containing products are pipe-covering, insulating cement, insulating block, asbestos cloth, gaskets, packing materials, thermal seals, refractory and boiler insulation materials, transite board, asbestos cement pipe, fireproofing spray, joint compound, vinyl floor tile, ceiling tile, mastics, adhesives, coatings, acoustical textures, duct insulation for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, roofing products, insulated electrical wire and panels, and brake and clutch assemblies.
Some of these products contained a very high proportion of asbestos, while others contained small amounts.

Why is asbestos still a problem?Asbestos is still a problem because a great deal of it has been used in the United States and elsewhere, because many asbestos-containing products remain in buildings, ships, industrial facilities and other environments where the fibers can become airborne, and because of the serious human health hazards of inhaling asbestos fibers.
Many Americans believe that use of asbestos in products was banned years ago. The fact is that asbestos-containing products are still being imported and sold in this country, continuing to endanger people who may come in contact with such products. A majority of these products are imported from Canada and Mexico, two countries where asbestos is still used; further, not all imported asbestos-containing products are clearly labeled with proper content information. (Sources: U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2003, and "Asbestos Strategies")

In an August 2003 report, the EPA's Office of Inspector General reiterates that asbestos is still a product very much around us: a survey in the mid-1980s found that, on average, 20% of all buildings in the United States contain asbestos. Further, this latest report confirms that asbestos containing material is still allowed in pipeline wrap, asbestos-cement corrugated sheet, asbestos-cement flat sheet, roofing felt, millboard, vinyl-asbestos floor tile, asbestos-cement shingle, and roof coatings. (Rept. #2003-P-00012).
A 2004 report by the Environmental Working Group provides a timely evalution of the asbestos-related disease epidemic in America - a "public health tragedy caused by asbestos." This report documents the history of asbestos use and provides analysis and statistics to inform the political debate currently being waged to resolve the problem.

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Freeing Society From Drugs

2005-06-23T16:20:00.000-07:00

Drugs have been part of our culture since the midpoint of the last century. Even more broadly popularized in the 1960s by music and mass media, today drugs invade all aspects of society. The problem has many faces—from the corporate CEO addicted to cocaine, to the housewife who cannot get through a day without the pills she takes for depression; from the college student dancing wildly for three days straight during an ecstasy-fueled rave, to the third grader addicted to Ritalin.

It is likely that nearly everyone knows a friend, relative or co-worker who has been affected by drugs.
Yet remarkably, amid this sea of chemical solutions to the problems of living, one group has remained 100 percent drug-free*—members of the churches of Scientology. Scientologists use neither street drugs nor any of the dangerous mind-altering pharmaceuticals pushed as a solution to everything from depression to being overweight.
...........................
Drugs not only threaten one physically but spiritually.
........................... To Scientologists, the reason is simple: drugs not only threaten one physically but spiritually.
Scientology is based on the research and writings of author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard, who spent more than a half-century researching basic truths about the mind and spirit. The goal of the Scientology religion is to enable all people to achieve greater awareness and true spiritual freedom.
Mr. Hubbard discovered drugs to be a primary impediment to spiritual progress. Drugs make people less aware, shut them off from the fruits of observation, destroy education, shatter families and result in a myriad of disabilities. And even long after an individual has stopped taking drugs, he can continue to be adversely affected by them, for drug residuals remain in the body and can continue to trigger negative emotional reactions for many, many years.
Fortunately, Mr. Hubbard developed a way which can fully free the individual from the debilitating spiritual effects of drug use, and today millions of Scientologists around the world attest to the workability of his methods.
Deeply concerned about the drug problem and its destructive societal effects, the Church and its members have worked for five decades to help resolve the problem by providing to all who seek them the real and workable solutions developed by Mr. Hubbard.
This site provides information on the many different anti-drug programs which are run by or supported by the churches of Scientology and their members.
We hope you will find the information presented here helpful. If you wish to know more, you are always welcome at any Church of Scientology

Recognizing that we are all involved in the war on drugs, and that it can really only be won on a one on one basis, the Church of Scientology International has created this web site, featuring an on-line copy of the booklet Freeing Society from Drugs.

This free Scientology booklet provides vital information on the underlying causes of the drug problem and effective programs to help prevent and check the spread of this epidemic.

The Church of Scientology International and Scientology churches in countries around the world publish and distribute booklets that lay out the real effects of commonly used drugs. Popular with educators, parents and kids, these booklets speak to youth, presenting the real facts about heroin, cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy to answer their questions and help them make their own decisions about what they are going to do with their lives.

To get copies of these booklets, contact the public affairs director of your local church of Scientology or mailto:info@thinkclearly.org. We also welcome you to contact us about providing drug-education and prevention lectures, setting up chapters of the Drug-Free Marshals or to work with us in any capacity to help eliminate this epidemic.

for more info visit http://www.drugsalvage.org/
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Something about debt Loans

2005-06-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

Looking for debt loans.Debt Management Programmes Debt Management can reduce your monthly repayments by up to 70%. All existing credit cards, loans and other problem debts are consolidated into one lower monthly payment. Apply Now and we'll explain how you may be able to pay back less than you owe, but still clear all your debts
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2005-06-22T09:52:00.000-07:00

We people love animals.Specially cats and dogs.Cause these are domestic animals.Here i am going to provide some information on cat breeds.Responsible breeders are usually enthusiastic cat lovers, who are involved in breeding for sheer interest and not for the money. In fact, the investment and risks involved often make quality catteries non-profitable. Breeders all over the world contribute to the welfare of cats in general and are often involved in cat rescue. They are aware of the problem of cat over-population and will insist on spaying and neutering of all kittens that they sell.
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2005-06-19T03:19:00.000-07:00

Star wars fans would feel great cause the last star wars "Revenge of the sith" had became 19thbiggest alltime grosser.And its still running.Til date it had grossed 684.7million$.It could feature in alltime top ten box office grossers.
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2005-06-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

The American Bulldog is a powerful, athletic short-coated dog, strongly muscled, and well boned. The American Bulldog generates the impression of great strength, endurance and exhibits a well-knit, sturdy compact frame. The American Bulldog should be evaluated as a working dog, and exaggerations or faults should be penalized in proportion to how much they interfere with the dog's ability to work.
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Batman collects 15million$ on 1st day

2005-06-16T15:07:00.000-07:00

For all movie buffs who were waiting for batman is two good news.first it had got good reviews.
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2005-06-09T13:30:00.000-07:00

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2005-06-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

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Privacy Policy

2005-05-22T00:18:00.000-07:00

All contents provided are reserved by the website owner
The contents are sometimes original.If it had been taken from other sources the source is mentioned below the articles.
No one have the right to use these contents without giving the source name of this website.
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2005-05-05T18:46:00.000-07:00

2005-05-05T16:37:00.000-07:00