Previous: On Wednesday, trading on the euro closed down and the British pound closed slightly up. There were some fluctuations in both directions on the pairs at 17:40 EET when an act of terrorism was committed in London. A car on Westminster bridge drove onto the pavement, hitting a number of pedestrians as it made its way to the parliament building. 5 people have been confirmed dead, including the assailant, who was shot by police, and another 40 were injured. The pound slid to 1.2423 in the aftermath of the attack, while the EUR/GBP cross rose to 0.8700. On the back of euro purchases on the cross, the EUR/USD rate was able to renew the dai...
Since the beginning of the financial market meltdown in August of 2007 the U.S. Federal Reserve’s balance sheet has increased enormously. The total assets of the Fed increased from $869 billion on August 8, 2007 to $4.45 trillion as of February 13, 2017. The Fed expanded its balance sheet during and after the financial crisis by purchasing large quantities of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities. The composition change in the balance sheet was largely related to the Fed’s support of the mortgage granting institutions to contain the collapsing housing sector. As the following two charts illustrate, the total assets at the Fed have bee...
Global markets stabilized yesterday after taking some losses a day earlier. Investors are on edge ahead of a vote on U.S. health care later today that could be a barometer for future Trump administration policies. Be prepared for some USD volatility with Fed Chair Yellen speaking @GMT 12:45. The Dow fell for a fifth straight session Wednesday as the broader market staged a modest rebound on the back of technology stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, -0.03% shed 6.71 points to close at 20,661.30, its longest losing streak since January. The S&P 500, +0.19% edged up 4.43 points, or 0.2%, to finish at 2,348.45. Crude oil price...
Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIVE) late Wednesday posted market-beating fourth quarter earnings results an offered a solid outlook for 2017, sending its shares higher in aftermarket trading. Written by StockNews.com The Philadelphia-based kids merchandise retailer reported Q4 earnings per share (EPS) of $0.90, which was $0.01 better than the Wall Street consensus estimate of $0.89. Revenues jumped 18.9% from last year to $388.1 million, also topping analysts’ view for $387.63 million. The company also noted that comparable sales (“comps”) rose 1% from the year-ago period. Comps are considered a key indicator of a retailer’s health, since ...
GBP/USD 4 hour The GBP/USD is in an uptrend channel indicated by the support (green) and resistance (red) trend lines. Price seems to be breaking above the 61.8% Fibonacci level which means that price could test the next Fib at 78.6%. 1 hour The GBP/USD is trying to build a bullish breakout above resistance (dotted red). EUR/USD 4 hour The EUR/USD is building a rising wedge chart pattern (red/green) trend lines. A break below the wedge could send the EUR/USD to test the next support (blue). A break above it could see price invalidates wave 2 (purple) at the horizontal line (red) and see a potential breakout within wave 5 (purple). 1 hour The ...
I’m normally an optimistic, “glass-half-full” kind of guy. I roll my eyes every time I see a headline decrying the next market crash or cataclysmic event that will cripple the global economy.I’m quick to discern speculation from truths and prefer taking the opposite side of most mainstream assumptions. It’s not that I see everything through rose colored glasses, but rather that I have found an unruffled approach to be a strong foundation for better decision making.Navigating the markets with a calm and calculated strategy produces far superior returns than simply worrying about what dangers might lurk around every corner. That b...
The Australian dollar is torn between positive Chinese data and not-so-good employment data at home. The wobbles of the US dollar also play a role in AUD/USD. What do the technical levels tell us? Here is the view from NAB: Here is their view, courtesy of eFXnews: NAB Technical FX Research notes that while AUD/USD 2017 uptrend remains in play from a price structure, the pair’s repeated failures above 0.7730 in 2017 confirm that resistance up to 0.7850 is likely a firm obstacle. As such, NAB continues to anticipates a multi-week period of consolidation in an approximate 0.7500/20 to 0.7730/50 range. “A weekly close above 0.7835 will con...
The past few weeks have been a nightmare for the many hedge funds who gambled on higher oil prices. They obviously hadn’t realised that OPEC’s November quota agreement was most unlikely to lead to a major rebalancing of today’s vastly over-supplied market. But as I suggested in December: The simple fact is that the arrival of US shale production means OPEC are no longer the swing producer, able to control the world market. The quotas will have little effect in themselves, as most of the participants will cheat. Instead, they will simply help to boost US oil and gas production, whilst turbo-charging the use of smart meters. No...
On the 4h chart of USD Index we see price trading within a higher degree three wave decline and current bearish breakdown may be part of wave C. At the moment we see price trading within the strongest and steepest sub-wave 3). If we are on the right track, then even more weakness may follow within the mentioned wave and ideally towards the 98.00 region. USD Index, 4H...
Gold prices rose for a sixth consecutive day, extending the longest winning streak since mid-January. The US Dollar edged lower against most of its major counterparts and Treasury bond yields declined as the priced-in Fed rate hike path continued to flatten. Not surprisingly, this offered a lift to non-interest-bearing and anti-fiat assets including the yellow metal. Significant follow-through seems unlikely in the near term however, with traders probably leery of overcommitting ahead of an upcoming speech from Fed Chair Janet Yellen. Remarks from Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari – the sole dissenting vote against the rate hike...