Birth Of Euro Euro

(Reuters) - Tackling pollution, not freeing up trade, is regarded as the solution to a global shortage of rare earths, the metals that are the building blocks of the 21st century. The United States, Europe and Japan have lodged a formal trade complaint against China, the world's monopoly supplier of rare earths, accusing it of choking exports of the metals, used in advanced technologies from computer screens to hybrid cars. Industry experts say the West and Japan have a strong case to argue before the World Trade Organization (WTO), but the same experts and environmental groups argue that mere victory on a trade complaint will not be enough to break China's grip. Instead, they say the key to ending China's monopoly is for other nations to help clean up one of mining's dirtiest ...

Morning Briefing : Greece again, again EU ministers aiming for solution today What's new: Asia: The PBoC cut the reserve requirement ratio 50bp, effective by February 24th , triggering a boost in risk appetite. Japanese trade figures in line with expectations. USD/JPY capped just before the 80.0-figure. AUD/USD briefly above 1.08. The MSCI Asia-Pacific equity index has risen for the past nine weeks in a row. US: No big surprise in US CPI. Europe: Strong UK retail sales boosted the GBP. Forex rates in Asia and Indices: EUR/USD: 1.3237 - 1.3190. USD/CHF: 0.9164 – 0.9138. GBP/USD: 1.5879 - 1.5844. EUR/JPY: 105.75 – 104.77. USD/JPY: 79.88 – 79.42. DowJones: 12’949.87 +0.35% NASDAQ: 2'951.787 -0.27% S & P 500: 1'361.23 +0.23% Nikkei: 9’485.09 +1.08% Shanghai: 2'363.60 +0.27% Gold: $ 1'734. ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "The debt swap agreement is ready, but it will not be announced before the end of the week" - A senior Greek banker The leaders of 25 European Union member countries Monday signed a German-inspired pact for stricter budget discipline which will impose sanctions on countries that run excessive deficits and rack up unsustainable debts. USD "Consumer confidence appears to have leveled off, as job growth isn’t quite as good and gasoline prices have moved back up" - Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group Inc. U.S. consumer confidence declined in January as consumers became less optimistic on the outlook of the country’s economy, the Conference Board Inc. said on Tuesday. An index of sentiment decreased to 61.1 from a revised 64.28 reading. ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "The move in itself will not lead to any improvement in credit ratings" - Scott Bugie, S&P's Managing Director S&P top official warned Friday that record 489 billion euros allotted between 523 European banks by the ECB will not protect them from threatened rating downgrades. USD "All of the housing numbers have looked a lot better recently" - Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC Sales of new U.S. homes advanced to a seven month high in November, according to the data published by the Census Bureau. The number of new houses sold rose 1.6 per cent to an annualized rate of 315 thousand from 310 thousand in October. GBP "Households and businesses lack the confidence needed to seek credit for spending or investment" - David Dooks, BBA ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "The move in itself will not lead to any improvement in credit ratings" - Scott Bugie, S&P's Managing Director S&P top official warned Friday that record 489 billion euros allotted between 523 European banks by the ECB will not protect them from threatened rating downgrades. USD "All of the housing numbers have looked a lot better recently" - Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC Sales of new U.S. homes advanced to a seven month high in November, according to the data published by the Census Bureau. The number of new houses sold rose 1.6 per cent to an annualized rate of 315 thousand from 310 thousand in October. GBP "Households and businesses lack the confidence needed to seek credit for spending or investment" - David Dooks, BBA ...

Question: How many finance chiefs does it take to perpetuate a monetary crisis? Answer: Twenty…and all of them convened in Paris last weekend. The finance chiefs from the “Group of 20” nations convened to propose and discuss various bailout schemes for the euro zone. Many of the chiefs urged their European peers to amass even larger bailout firepower than the $605 billion European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). Other chiefs suggested that the IMF play a much larger role than it has to date. But no matter the precise proposals, all 20 chiefs agreed that the key to halting the crisis in Europe was more government action…and certainly not less. “I think have come to recognize that, if you underdo it, it’s going to be more expensive,” said US Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, ...

The euro held steady against the dollar on Thursday as uncertainty gripped markets before an ECB meeting that could see rates cut or the rebirth of long-term lending to banks, while Europe's efforts to resolve its debt crisis and solid U.S. data provided tentative support for riskier assets. The euro, last at $1.3331, maintained most of its overnight gains made after Germany said it would help its own banks if necessary and opened the possibility of using a regional bailout fund to strengthen the euro zone banking system. Investor focus now shifts squarely to the European Central Bank's monetary policy meeting, whose outcome -- due at 7:45 a.m. EDT -- seems increasingly uncertain. The ECB has been widely expected to keep rates unchanged at 1.5 percent, but calls for a cut have grown ...

(Reuters) - Billionaire investor George Soros has warned Europe's debt crisis risks triggering another Great Depression unless euro zone leaders adopt a series of radical policy measures, including the creation of a common treasury. Soros, in an article for the New York Review of Books and Reuters.com, says policymakers must prepare for the possibility that Greece, Portugal and perhaps Ireland will have to default and leave the euro zone. "It appears the authorities have reached the end of the road with their policy of 'kicking the can down the road'," he says. "Even if a catastrophe can be avoided, one thing is certain: the pressure to reduce deficits will push the euro zone into prolonged recession. This will have incalculable political consequences." A growing number of policymakers, ...

Yesterday, the concrete cracked…the glass broke…empire continued to crumble. Not that there was anything special about yesterday. This happens every day. In the markets, the Dow fell 54 points. Gold rose to a new record of $1,587. “Sell stocks on rallies; buy gold on dips.” That has been our advice for the last 11 years. Don’t we have anything to add? Haven’t we discovered any new tricks? Isn’t it time to try a different strategy? Nope. Stick with the formula. It’s a formula that doesn’t work very often. But when it does…it’s, well, golden. It doesn’t work very often because empires and their money don’t fall apart very often. Usually, you can trust Caesar and coin to stay put. More or less. But now, Caesar’s money is phony. And it has allowed the empire to grow in absurd and ...