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Gold prices steadied near $1,640 an ounce in Europe on Tuesday as a softer tone to the dollar arrested the previous session's slide, but traders largely stuck to the sidelines ahead of a key monetary policy meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Spot gold was at $1,638.30 an ounce at 6:05 a.m. EDT (1005 GMT) against $1,637.63 late on Monday, while gold futures for June delivery were up $6.40 an ounce at $1,639.00. The Federal Open Market Committee begins a two-day meeting on Tuesday at which quantitative easing is set to be discussed. The FOMC is expected to keep interest rates on hold, but its accompanying statement will be watched for hints of fresh QE. Ultra-loose Fed policy has kept interest rates and hence the opportunity cost of holding gold low in recent years. Expectations for ...

www.sunbirdfx.com The US stock markets closed a second day in the red territory and the S&P 500 is close again to the important support at 1370 points, and if it makes a successful break-down this time, the declines might get much more intensive. The indices looked bullish on first half-hour of the trading day buy disappointing economic data pulled the stock to the red zone. Unemployment claims were 386K, against expectations of 370K; existing home sales were 4.48M, whereas analysts expected 4.62M. The investors will focus on the G20 that started yesterday and will continue during the weekend. USD/CHF This pair has not made any significant change in the recent weeks, and in fact, it has been moving in a narrow range since the intervention of the Swiss central bank on September 2011. Yet, ...

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 ...

(Reuters) - Today's coda for investing in the market calls for rapid-fire trading and an eye for the next hot sector. The investing heroes in this world are hedge funds such as Renaissance Technologies, which made founder James Simons a billionaire with its computer-driven, high turnover trading. And yet, an informal study of U.S. mutual funds shows that managers who churn through their portfolios are underperforming those who hold investments for longer periods. The hair-trigger trading strategies used by a number of hedge funds ran into trouble last year, when worries over the U.S. budget, European debt crisis, Japanese tsunami and North Africa unrest whipsawed markets and left investors frustrated over when to get in and out. The mutual fund study, from Thomson Reuters' Lipper Inc, ...

Business and political leaders from around the globe gathered in Davos, Switzerland, amid the heaviest snow in 66 years, as the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting starts today. Amid the ongoing woes over Europe’s debt crisis and the weaker prospects for global growth, the theme of this year’s meeting is “Great Transformation”. It’s been 4 years since the world has been affected by a brutal economic crisis that left hundreds of millions unemployed around the globe, and no signs of it ending soon are seen in the horizon, raising debate weather capitalism is an effective economic system or is it leading to “economic and social inequality and unfair distribution of wealth and power”. While some leaders confirm the risks of capitalism, where WEF founder Klaus Schwab said: “Capitalism ...

Dukascopy Fundamental Analysis EUR France is increasing pressure on other EU members to accelerate the planned ban on Iran oil imports, said two officials familiar with the matter. France suggests embargo should not be postponed for more than 3 months, to give countries including Spain, Italy and Greece to find other supplies. European policy makers prepare to discuss the embargo at meeting due January 23. USD Mitt Romney’s controversial actions regarding Hispanic voters may lead to a decline in his popularity index, experts claimed today. While claiming himself as “one of us” within the Hispanic community, he strongly promoted the ideas of Kris Kobach, an activist fighting against increasing immigration. An unclear stance in the immigration questions may lead to a decline in votes in ...

The numbers tell us America is in decline… if not outright collapse. I say “the numbers tell us” because I’ve become very sensitive to the impact this kind of statement has on people. When I warned about the impending bankruptcy of General Motors in 2006 and 2007, readers actually blamed me for the company’s problems — as if my warnings to the public were the real problem, rather than GM’s $400 billion in debt. The claim was absurd. But the resentment my work engendered was real. So please… before you read this column, which makes several arresting claims about the future of our country… understand I am only writing about the facts as I find them today. I am only drawing conclusions based on the situation as it stands. I am not saying that these conditions can’t improve. Or that they ...

The latest data show that book sales are way up this season. So much for the prediction that books will be killed by technology. On the contrary, technology has enabled the great literature of the ages and the present to be put in the hands of everyone. I can’t think of a better time to begin refurbishing Laissez-Faire Books (founded in 1972), because it is the market that laissez-faire celebrates that has made all the literature we love more accessible than ever. Addison Wiggin, president of Agora Financial, and I were discussing the various challenges ahead of us as we infuse new life into an old and venerable institution. He drew my attention to a point that I’ve overlooked. Most people don’t know the term “laissez-faire.” They don’t know how to say it (that very day, I was introduced ...

(Reuters) - Political turmoil in the euro zone is undermining the ability of computer-driven trading systems to cope with volatile market sentiment, challenging the "rocket scientists" who create them to seek new ways to guarantee returns. Some - many of whom started work as physicists rather than financiers - are looking outside the banking world to smarten up their systems. Complex computer algorithms designed to highlight trading opportunities are taking a growing share of the $4 trillion a day FX market thanks to their capacity to process vast amounts of data and latch far more quickly than humans on to the trends that allow them to make money. But erratic market swings, as developments in the euro zone crisis trigger big fluctuations in investor appetite for risk, means so-called ...