A GLEAM OF A SILVER LINING IN THE STORM May 9, 2011 LAST week was truly horrible for leveraged longs in commodity markets. Silver fared particularly badly with prices falling close to 30 per cent in five days. It was a vicious sell-off which will have left many traders and investors bruised, battered and wary of future volatility. Yet there is plenty of anecdotal evidence from dealers [...]
Milton Friedman was wrong: There is such a thing as a free breakfast May 9, 2011 IN ASSOCIATION with GFT, next Thursday City A.M. is hosting a free workshop on contracts for difference (CFD) and currency trading. The speakers will be the regular City A.M. columnists David Morrison, GFT’s market strategist, and Boris Schlossberg, GFT’s director of currency research. It is taking place on Thursday 19 May at The Grange St [...]
Salmond’s momentum sets course for independence May 9, 2011 SO Scotland is on the road to independence. There are many who say it will never happen, but they are the same people who said the SNP would never be the largest party in the Scottish Parliament, let alone win an outright majority. They are the people who said that devolution would kill off all [...]
European Central Bank set for a bumpy ride May 8, 2011 JEAN-CLAUDE Trichet says the European Central Bank (ECB) over which he presides wants to remain flexible. Let us hope his flock of hawks and doves means this because the next few months are going to be a bumpy. What is becoming increasingly clear is that the global manufacturing rebound is slowing down. This is showing [...]
Four reasons why the Eurozone may survive – and two reasons it won’t May 8, 2011 1 COMMITTED TO AUSTERITY Despite (well denied) rumours at the end of last week about a Greek pullout from the euro, Greece, Spain and Ireland are less opposed to reform and austerity than many in the media would have us believe. In Ireland, the electorate remember the prosperity of the Celtic Tiger years and want [...]
Protests, earthquakes, wars and bailouts. But no love for the dollar May 3, 2011 THROUGHOUT 2011, we have had sustained periods of uncertainty in the money markets. In the past, uncertainty and turmoil have given rise to rallies for the greenback as a result of investor flight into the safety and liquidity of this safe haven currency. Continued turmoil in the Middle East, concerns over the ongoing European sovereign [...]
FOREX ANALYST PICKS May 3, 2011 FOREX STRATEGIST JOHN KICKLIGHTER My pick: Long euro-sterling, short euro-Canadian dollar Expertise: Fundamental and Technical Analysis with Risk Management Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week My long dollar-yen position from ¥82.50 tripped its stop with a close below ¥80 with the dollar’s pervasive sell off. In the meantime, with the forthcoming [...]
GOLD PRICES ARE IN THE FED’S HANDS May 2, 2011 ODD things can happen to financial markets in shortened holiday weeks – and I’m not only referring to the death of Osama bin Laden. Typically, volumes are light as there are fewer market participants. Often, these quieter periods are used as a cover to push out unpalatable news items. China has often used an extended [...]
US GDP growth slows but inflation soars April 28, 2011 US economic growth slowed more than expected in the first quarter as higher food and petrol prices hit consumer spending and sent a key inflation measure rising at its fastest pace in two-and-a-half years. Growth in US GDP braked to a 1.8 per cent annual rate after a 3.1 per cent fourth quarter pace, the [...]
FED BOSS: I’M RELAXED ON INFLATION April 27, 2011 GOLD prices soared to a fresh record high last night after markets dismissed Ben Bernanke’s first ever press conference as too dovish on inflation. The price of a troy ounce smashed through the $1,518.6 record set on Monday to a new high of $1,530.3 after the Fed chairman told reporters that the Federal Open Markets [...]