Been Drained From Markets

Fundamental Analysis EUR "Industrial producion is a imely reminder that firstquarter GDP will likely show a contracion." - Marin van Vliet, an economist at ING Industrial producion in the Eurozone contracted unexpectedly in March, Eurostat data showed on Monday. Producion fell 0.3 per cent from February, when it rose 0.8 per cent. USD "The fear factor is definitely higher." - Madelynn Matlock, a fund manager at Hunington Asset Advisor U.S. stocks retreated on Monday on a poliical impasse in Greece. GBP "I can’t see even after the next Greek election a government appearing that will be able to do anything else than perhaps manage the Greek exit." - Simon Sole, chief execuive officer of Exclusive Analysis Ltd. U.K. stocks tumbled on Monday. The benchmark FTSE 100 Index fell 1.97%, or ...

Months of swinging between hope and despair over Greece is taking its toll on bond traders at the heart of the euro zone crisis, leaving bank trading teams stuck in an unprofitable funk. "We're sick of Greece and sick of Europe... It's getting very difficult now to try and make money," said one London-based government bonds trader. The threat of a Greek default has seen European Union leaders step up their efforts to lance Athens' painful debt boil, demanding tough austerity and heaping pressure on private creditors to take increased losses. Yet as deadline after deadline slips past without a clear resolution, traders have become weary of the inevitable cycle of optimism followed by disappointment. They are coping by taking short-term bets and standing ready to jump out of the market at ...

Get-rich-quick investment advice is a fantasy. Get-rich-slow is a validated strategy for real wealth. Today, it is more important than ever to keep the long-run perspective firmly in mind… Lest you’ve forgotten, world financial markets are in a state of unparalleled disorder. More capital has been drained from markets, thanks to the irresponsibility of politicians and the acquiescence of naive citizens, than at any time in modern history. The damage done by bombers and tanks in world wars has been matched by the unintended consequences of central planning and bureaucracies. Fortunately, however, the political and philosophical trend lines are all pointing to true long-term reform. The pendulum’s swing cannot be stopped, and the coming decades will be unmatched in terms of technological ...

Forex News and Events: The optimism generated from the departure of Silvo Berlusconi quickly drained from FX markets. It was the slow realization that nothing had fundamentally changed and that the problems that affected the Eurozone were still without a solution. EURUSD drifted down to 1.3575 from 1.3661. USDJPY was relativity unchanged around the 77 handle, except for rogue spike mid Asia although there was no signs of official intervention. The market was quick to realize that the new technocratic government in Greece and Italy would struggle to push through the austerity measures. The European Commission stated echoed the markets sentiment that the modification in Italy's government 'doesn't change the diagnosis'. But the larger weight on the markets mind was relayed when European ...

(Reuters) - Gold prices gained nearly 1 percent on Monday after Greece's politicians sealed a deal to form a coalition government, while continued uncertainty about resolving the zone's debt crisis supported safe-haven demand in bullion. Greece's politicians agreed on Sunday to form a unity government to approve a euro zone bailout, but uncertainty remained over who will lead the new Greek government amid bitter political divisions and the unspecified timing of early elections. Fuelling this gloomy outlook were events in Italy, where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has one day left before a parliament vote on public finance after his government failed to adopt reforms to defuse a dangerous debt crisis. "Investors still lack confidence in the situation in Europe," said a Shanghai-based ...

NEW YORK (Reuters)- For the small club of companies who trade the food, fuels and metals that keep the world running, the last decade has been sensational. Driven by the rise of Brazil, China, India and other fast-growing economies, the global commodities boom has turbocharged profits at the world's biggest trading houses. They form an exclusive group, whose loosely regulated members are often based in such tax havens as Switzerland. Together, they are worth over a trillion dollars in annual revenue and control more than half the world's freely traded commodities. The top five piled up $629 billion in revenues last year, just below the global top five financial companies and more than the combined sales of leading players in tech or telecoms. Many amass speculative positions worth ...

What happened last week? The Great Correction gave notice: it’s not going away. On Friday, the Dow rose 42 points. The gold price advanced towards $1,600. Oil seems to be headed for $100. With gold over $1,600, is it time to sell? Nah…not even close. It will have to go to $2,500 just to reach the high – adjusted for inflation – set 30 years ago. But a lot of water has gone under the bridge in the last 3 decades. And almost every drop of it gurgles to us: Gold will go higher. There’s much more debt than there was 30 years ago…and much more ‘funny money.’ What’s more, Paul Volcker is no longer at the Fed. This time, America’s central bank is run by Ben Bernanke…who has made it very clear what his response to crisis will be – print more money! Yes, dear reader, gold is going higher. A ...

(Reuters) - The Chinese yuan will rise 4 percent against the dollar in the coming 12 months, making it the strongest performer among the BRIC country currencies, according to the latest Reuters poll. As the Chinese economy expands with rising foreign exchange reserves, the yuan, also known as the renminbi, is set to extend an uninterrupted rise since it was de-pegged from the dollar just over a year ago. A poll of 36 strategists and analysts, taken mostly before the People's Bank of China (PBOC) raised interest rates for the third time this year on Wednesday, showed the yuan trading at 6.40 in three months, 6.30 in six and 6.20 in 12 months. That compares with 6.45, 6.38, and 6.24 in the previous quarterly BRIC FX poll. BRIC countries have emerged as important players in the global ...

Pessimism spread through global financial markets ahead of the U.S. session, where Moody’s announced it downgraded Portugal’s credit rating to junk, while China announced it raised benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points, and now investors are eyeing the ISM services index from the United States, which is expected to show that activities eased in June. Moody’s Investors Services, the rating agency, decided to lower the credit rating of Portugal by four notches to Ba2 from Baa1, which spread fear among investors and reignited the concerns from the European debt crisis, where Moody’s expect Portugal will need a second bailout in order to avoid default. Meanwhile, speculations mounted earlier this week that China was set to raise the benchmark interest rates, where an official ...