Dollars — Just

Fundamental Analysis EUR "We fear things are likely to get worse before they get better" - Martin van Vliet, a senior euro-region economist at ING Bank Spain sank into recession in the first quarter of 2012. The economy contracted 0.3 per cent, after shrinking by the same amount in the previous quarter, Madrid-based National Statistics Institute data showed on Monday. USD "What was encouraging was that the income numbers improved. Our expectation is that job growth does increase gradually" - Peter Newland, an economist at Barclays Capital Inc. U.S. consumer spending was boosted by higher than expected incomes, said the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Monday. Household purchases increased 0.3 per cent. Incomes gained 0.4 per cent, the most in three months. GBP "This is year three of a ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR Unemployment in Spain approached a new record of 5.64 million in March while the jobless rate topped 24.4%, reported the national statistics office. Analysts expect the Spain's officials to confirm that the country is falling into recession. Meanwhile, retail sales in the country declined by 3.7% in March on an annual basis. USD US consumer spending surged in March, adding to the previous gains as incomes increased. Household purchases that account about 70% of the US economy surged by 0.3%, following a 0.9% increase in February. Experts projected consumer spending to rise by 0.4%. Meanwhile, incomes eased up 0.4%, indicating the largest increase in the last three months. GBP UK home value accelerated in April, the second straight month, Hometrack Ltd said on ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "Once we hit the 6.5 per cent mark , the alarm bells will go off loudly in Brussels and more rhetoric will be coming from the European Central Bank" - Adrian Miller, a global markets strategist at GMP The rating agency Standard & Poor’s has downgraded Spain’s credit rating by two notches to BBB-plus with a negative outlook from A, citing expectations the government finances will deteriorate. USD "While the economy continued to grow in the first quarter, the expansion remains modest in pace and subpar from a historical perspective" - Jim Baird, chief investment strategist at Plante Moran Financial Advisors The U.S. economy grew at a slower pace than forecast in the first quarter as businesses cut on investment. Gross domestic product increased at a 2.2 per cent ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR Spain's credit rating was lowered by Standard & Poor's for a second time in 2012 on enduring worries the nation will have to apply additional fiscal backing to lenders as the economy shrinks. S&P cut its long term grade for Spain from A to BBB+ adding a negative outlook. Country's short term rating was lowered from A-1 to A-2, S&P agency reported on Thursday. USD Crude oil price declined from almost 4-week high in New York trade after S&P ratings agency cut Spain's sovereign credit rating, boosting concerns that further recession in Europe may halt demand for crude. Oil to be delivered in June lost USD 0.61, reaching USD 103.94 a barrel. June Brent oil gave up USD 0.49 and traded at USD 119.43 a barrel. GBP Today the Great Britain Pound extended its gains ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR Deutsche Bank, the German biggest lender posted a 33% drop in its first quarter profit, citing debt crisis as a negative force that curbed trading. Net income declined to EUR 1.38 billion (USD 1.82 billion) compared to EUR 2.06 billion in the same period last year. Economists questioned by Bloomberg expected the profit to decrease less to EUR 1.56 billion. Deutsche Bank shares have added 16% this year. USD Crude oil fluctuated close to a one-week record high as Fed claimed they expect the economic growth to advance, encouraging the speculation that fuel demand will increase. Moreover Iran announced it may stop its nuclear expansion. June crude traded at USD 104.07 a barrel after climbing USD 0.57 yesterday. Brent oil to be delivered in June traded at USD 119 a ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "There’s a bit of risk back on after some positive company numbers helped stocks and improved the tone of the markets" - Eric Wand, a fixed-income strategist at Lloyds Banking Group Plc Demand for Spanish and Italian debt rose, pushing Spanish and Italian bonds higher, as investors turned to higher-yielding assets after companies from Apple to Swedbank reported better than forecast earnings. USD "The committee expects economic growth to remain moderate over coming quarters and then to pick up gradually" - Federal Open Market Committee U.S. durable goods orders tumbled below forecast in March, a sign the manufacturing sector may be losing momentum. Bookings for long lasting goods dropped 4.2 percent, said the Commerce Department on Wednesday. GBP " could be ...

A little more than a year ago, a very successful professional investor declared, “If you don’t own a home, buy one. If you own one home, buy another one, and if you own two homes, buy a third and lend your relatives the money to buy a home.” Since that declaration, house prices have continued drifting lower in most parts of the country. The Case-Shiller index of national home prices is down about 4% year over year. Even so, we’re betting this professional investor was merely early…not wrong. US housing isn’t just cheap; it is the cheapest it has been in more than 40 years. And when one considers the possibility that inflation may rear its head soon, housing looks even cheaper still. If you think we’re crazy, you’re not alone. The housing market is a complete bust right now. The following ...

Dukascopy Technical Analysis EUR/USD "With concerns about global growth now weighing on sentiment, the single currency seems to behave like a proper funding currency should do—it rallies against risk-correlated currencies. We suspect that this should remain the case in the near term" - Citigroup (based on Reuters) The pair is attempting to advance further and it is likely to test the 7-month high at 1.3457. EUR/JPY "Over the short term, there appears to be little to jolt markets out of their stupor and if anything, is likely to continue to drift higher according to our short-term quantitative models" - Credit Agricole (based on MarketWatch) A fierce resistance lies ahead of EUR/JPY at 111.57 (intervention high). If EUR/USD fails to advance higher, it will commence a slide back towards ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR Greek CDS sellers might have to pay 78.25 cents on each euro of the bonds to cover the insurance claims caused by Greek credit restructuring. According to Cedex Group and Markit Group, the dealers have set an initial 21.75% price at a Greek-bond auction today. USD United Parcel Service expanded its bid for TNT Express by 5.6% to EUR 5.16 billion to shelter the largest deal in UPS history and beat the offer from Deutsche Post AG. Atlanta-based UPS raised its offer price from EUR 9.0 a share to EUR 9.5 a share. TNT shares added 1.8% on the announcement in Amsterdam trading session. GBP British FTSE 100 index declined on Monday as dropping commodity prices negatively affected the value of resource shares. Financials also provided substantial downward contribution. ...