Quest For The Golden Cross

(Reuters) - European shares fell on Wednesday for the second consecutive session as euro zone purchasing managers data suggested the region could tip into recession and potentially have a knock-on effect to company profits. Investor sentiment took a hit after the Markit's Eurozone Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) missed forecasts, raising questions about whether Greece can recover from its economic slump and implement the austerity measures required under its fresh bailout programme. "The PMIs suggest there is going to be a slow period of economic growth, which opens the danger of weak profits," said Richard Batty, strategist at Standard Life Investments, which has $248.37 billion of assets under management. Greece, which received its long-awaited bailout deal early this week, ...

The Greek crisis has been solved…again. Let’s see…that’s probably about 24 “solutions” during the last 24 months. But since these solutions never seem to solve anything, Europe’s central bankers, technocrats and politicians get to huddle together every few weeks and solve the crisis over and over again. It’s kind of like Disneyland for euro-meddlers. They get to keep going on their favorite ride over and over again. Sure, they have to wait in line for a while each time, but the ride is so worth it! Lots of meddling, lots of intervening, lots of “tough negotiations,” lots of prescribing what’s best for others, while spending lots of money that belongs to someone else. If that’s not an “E-Ticket,” what is? The newest Greek solution — approved Monday by the fully employed politicians in ...

(Reuters) - January has turned out strong for equities with just two trading days to go. If you're afraid to miss the ride, there's still time to jump in. You just might want to wear a neck brace. The new year lured buyers into growth-related sectors, the ones that were more beaten down last year. The economy is getting better, but not dramatically. Earnings are beating expectations, but at a lower rate than in recent quarters. Nothing too bad is coming out of Europe's debt crisis - and nothing good, either - at least not yet. "No one item is a major positive, but collectively, it's been enough to tilt it towards net buying," said John Schlitz, chief market technician at Instinet in New York. Still, relatively weak volume and a six-month high hit this week make some doubt that the gains ...

Most of investors’ attention has been fixed on the Eurozone. Europeans wring their hands or curl their lips. They are worried. They are mad. And they don’t know what to make of the situation. French bankers came up with a plan – much like the Brady bonds of Latin American debt fame. The idea is simply to roll over Greek debt, voluntarily, to 30 years. This is a default…but it’s a graceful default. Lenders lose money – they don’t get their money as promised. But they can still hold their heads up; they’ll get it later. If everything goes well. Investors seemed to be betting on it yesterday. Stocks and bonds rose. Trouble is, things are not likely to go well. There is no plausible growth rate that will make it possible for the Greeks to ‘grow their way out’ of this debt. All they can do ...

The US dollar experienced a euphoric jump yesterday morning following an announcement from President Barack Obama that Osama bin Laden had been killed in a military raid in Pakistan. Dollar bears continued to move out of the greenback, however, in exchange for higher yielding currencies immediately following the surprise jump, as record low interest rates remain a prominent factor in America's currency valuation. Economic News USD - Euphoria Over Bin Laden Death Not Enough to Sustain USD Gains The US dollar experienced a euphoric jump yesterday morning following an announcement from President Barack Obama that Osama bin Laden had been killed in a military raid in Pakistan. Dollar bears continued to move out of the greenback, however, in exchange for higher yielding currencies ...

The Week Ahead Highlights * The USD swoons; more weakness is likely * Commodities toy with key psychological levels * Tough decisions for the ECB * UK recovery looks half-hearted * Loonie and kiwi grounded for now but may soon take flight * Key data and events to watch next week The USD swoons; more weakness is likely The Fed consigned the greenback to another bout of weakness, signalling that easy policy would remain in place for the foreseeable future, and markets were only too happy to oblige, sending the USD index to lows last seen in 2008. We see little on the fundamental horizon that could alter the dollar's downtrend at the moment, with US rates on hold and other major central banks biased toward tightening. That leaves the market dynamic (meaning ...

Previous session overview The euro fell against the U.S. dollar and the yen Wednesday in Asian trade, hit by concerns that the euro-zone sovereign debt crisis may not be contained by the latest bailout package announced for Greece. At 0450 GMT, the euro was at JPY122.65, from JPY122.71. At the same time, the dollar traded at JPY94.73, up from JPY94.40 but still unable to breach the JPY95 resistance that has held for two days. Japanese markets remained closed Wednesday for the last day of the Golden Week holidays, and will reopen Thursday. Most Asian currencies were dragged lower by the euro and tumbling stock markets Wednesday but remained within recent ranges, with the exception of the Indonesian rupiah and the Philippine peso. The ICE Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against ...