* Dollar hammered by weak US data; breaks down out of range
* How high can the EUR go?
* Multiple central bank rate decisions next week
* Key data and events for next week

After trading in a broad consolidation range for just over three months, the greenback plunged to new all time lows against the EUR, breaking above the key psychological/ technical 1.5000 level. Follow-through buying has been abrupt and this is the result of the relative suddenness of the break-a lot of speculative buyers were caught off guard-and the amount of option interest at/above 1.50 generating EUR/USD buying demand. The immediate catalyst on Tuesday was a string of worse-than-forecast US data reports (higher PPI, lower home price, and sharply weaker consumer confidence), but the move really got going after Fed Vice Chair Kohn suggested that the US housing slump had more room to go and that financial market stabilization would be more prolonged. In short, Kohn suggested that the much hoped-for recovery in the second half of 2008 was likely to be postponed. That prospect of light at the end of the tunnel had been helping to support the USD despite overwhelming expectations that the US economy was softening and US rates were headed lower. Once that light went out, the buck went with it.  Full text »

digg this! | del.icio.us | Technorati | Stumble It!

Stocks fell in Europe and Asia, trimming their first monthly gains since October, as financial companies and carmakers dropped on mounting concern the U.S. economy is slipping into a recession. MAJOR HEADLINES - PREVIOUS SESSION Stocks fell in Europe and Asia, trimming their first monthly gains since October, as financial companies and carmakers dropped on […]

Gold Gold was up $7.10 to $965.80 per ounce in trading in New York yesterday and silver surged another 44 cents to $19.64 per ounce (more on silver below). In Asian and early European trading, gold and silver rose to new respective record and 27 year high levels but have fallen from record highs of […]

Headlines • Crude at new all time highs after attacks in Nigeria • Gold and Copper gain as EUR/USD is breaking higher • Zinc helped higher by short-covering

Gold (Futures) traded to a new year high on Thursday breaking through its Jan 30’08 high at $942.30 to close the week at $947.50.The current upsurge in price is coming on the back of a break out of a symmetrical triangle (weekly) in late December’07.With the metal now holding above its recent consolidation band between […]

Markets: Fixed Income On Thursday, global bonds rallied higher amid new safe haven flows related to weak US eco data and comments of Bernanke that some small US banks may go bankrupt. During the morning session, bonds traded still mainly sideways, as the European eco (German unemployment and retail PMI) and inflation data (Belgian CPI) […]

Yesterday, EUR/USD kept its strong momentum that took off after the break above the key 1.4968/1.50 barrier. There was some temporary consolidation during the morning session in Europe, but as soon as US traders got involved, the USD was sold again. The eco data (GDP revision and claims), while not of utmost importance, confirmed the […]

On Thursday, the weak US dollar gave the commodity prices a very helpful fillip. The dollar is weaker than ever against the euro after the Chairman of the Federal Reserve did nothing in his speech to budge market expectations of additional interest rate cuts. Investors have pumped capital into the commodity markets, and prices have […]

Comment: You know things aren’t right when three-month TBills yield 1.87%, two-year TNotes 1.76%, and the Fed Funds target is 3.00%. Fed chairman Bernanke’s candid remarks on the limitations of his tool box are welcome but probably not what a desperate public need or want. More folks in denial, and the best Treasury Secretary Paulson […]

Continued investment inflows have pushed the precious metals to fresh highs this morning with gold setting an all-time high above $970, silver nearing $20/oz and palladium pushing to a 61/2-year high of $584. Ongoing rate cut speculation following Fed Chairman Bernanke’s address to congress this week led the Euro to an all-time high of 1.5230 […]