Oil prices plunged 6% Wednesday after the government reported a surprise increase in oil stockpiles, U.S. and Asian stock markets fell, and a report on durable goods came in much weaker than expected.
Is the Chinese economy in the same state as the American economy was in the summer of 2007? In other words, all pumped up and ready to pop?
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Treasurys fell Wednesday, giving back earlier gains, after the government’s $39 billion auction of 5-year notes received lukewarm demand.
On one hand, Federated Investors’ Market Opportunity Fund had a good year: In a market where nearly every mutual fund got clobbered, it beat 95% of its competitors in 2008 and topped the S&P 500 by an astounding 30 percentage points.
The Pound pushed back above 1.6200 after falling below 1.6000 early yesterday as a pick up in risk appetite and overbought conditions inspired sterling bulls. Talking Points • Japanese Yen: Found Resistance at 93.60 • Pound: Higher Ahead Of BoE Rate Decision • Euro: Higher As ECB Upbeat in Monthly Report • US Dollar: Initial Jobless Claims On Tap.
Fundamental Headlines • China’s Exports Signal Recovery – Wall Street Journal • EU Finance Minister Aim To Cut Risk – Wall Street Journal • Judge approves plan to sell GM assets – Financial Times • Earnings Drop Worldwide as Job Losses Hurt Consumers – Bloomberg • Biggest VIX Drop Hides Options Bets S&P 500 Will Fall Hiring – Bloomberg EURUSD – The European Sentix investor confidence indicator unexpectedly fell to -31.3 from -27 as the outlook for a robust recovery has started to dim. Concerns are growing that the level of global unemployment will make any rebound formidable and the possibility of a double dip recession is still alive. The ECB left rates unchanged and failed to add to their quantitative easing measures, but left the door open for further easing.?? Discuss the topic and your trade ideas in the EUR/USD Forum.
The Pound fell over 200 pips following a report that the BoE will announce additional quantitative easing at their upcoming policy meeting.
JPY traded on a firmer footing, with risk appetite waning amid fresh concerns over the global growth outlook after the recent U.S. employment numbers. Ahead of the G8 meeting the dollar’s reserve status is the subject of fresh debate, which has also encouraged a reduction in risky positions and beneficial for JPY due to a general flight to low yield currencies.
GBP experienced downside pressure as risk appetite waned on Monday. Cable fell in Asia and saw good selling early on in the European session to trade at 1.6222 lows, which provided support for EUR-GBP and it traded in to the 0.8600 region
