January 2010 Monthly Archive
With Big Ben's status as Fed Chairman still hanging in the balance, the FOMC stuck to their usual "cautiously optimistic" spiel during their recent rate statement. Well, I'm tired of the same old speech from the Fed... I think they've been reading from a script that's almost a year old!… More…
Posted 05:00 28 January 2010 by Forex Gump
Just recently, we saw China overtake Japan as the number two biggest economy in the world. The change in the world rankings was more than just result of China's robust economic growth as Japan's poor performance made them surrender their spot over to the Chinese. I have come up with, not one, not two... but FOUR main reasons why the Japanese economy is in trouble. … More…
Posted 05:56 27 January 2010 by Forex Gump
Even though big brother RBA has been raising rates month after month, don't expect the RBNZ to follow suit just yet! Let me tell you why!… More…
Posted 06:01 26 January 2010 by Forex Gump
My, how time flies! Just 4 years ago, we were all introduced to a certain Ben Bernanke who would be the new head of the Federal Reserve. Now, with his term coming to an end, what will happen when the confirmation clock strikes midnight for Big Ben?… More…
Posted 06:01 25 January 2010 by Forex Gump
US President Barack Obama did quite a number on the markets yesterday when he called for an overhaul of the banking industry. Wait, let me reword that. Obama, in his speech yesterday, declared a full-on war on commercial banks. … More…
Posted 05:50 22 January 2010 by Forex Gump
Remember last week when I told you that China is the world's third largest economy? Well, scratch that. A report just released today showed that China grew 10.7% during the final quarter of 2009, overtaking Japan as the second largest economy on the planet. … More…
Posted 05:02 21 January 2010 by Forex Gump
By now, I guess you're probably tired of hearing me talk about the UK as the only major economy stuck in recession. So let's take a look at the possibility of stagflation, another problem that's lurking around the corner for the British economy. … More…
Posted 06:27 20 January 2010 by Forex Gump
A year ago, the ECB's concern was simple: economic recovery. The year 2009 proved to be relatively good, as the euro zone was able to finally climb out of recession and post some optimistic economic data here and there. All good, right? … More…
Posted 03:52 19 January 2010 by Forex Gump
Ugh! Did you see that recent report on US retail sales for December? It was terrible! Apparently, sales at the retail level fell 0.3% instead of growing 0.4% like initially expected.… More…
Posted 04:30 15 January 2010 by Forex Gump
Who cares about inflation? Hardly anybody expects it to rise sharply in the coming year anyway. But I think it is important to take a look at it every now and then. Inflation figures play a key role in the Fed's decision on interest rates - and that should be reason enough!… More…
Posted 06:15 14 January 2010 by Forex Gump
Compared to the rest of the major economies, Australia has been highly aggressive with its exit strategies as their central bank hiked interest rates for the last three months. And who could blame them? … More…
Posted 05:00 13 January 2010 by Forex Gump
China might not be your picture perfect country but nobody can deny its importance in the global economy and international trade. China has been dubbed as the fastest growing country over the last several years, making it the third largest economy in the world. … More…
Posted 06:00 12 January 2010 by Forex Gump
Ladies and gentlemen, are you all ready for the much-awaited NFP report this Friday? November's report printed only 11K in net job losses, which was 100K less than the consensus. Could we be in for another major upside surprise?… More…
Posted 04:18 07 January 2010 by Forex Gump
The pound was off to a bad start this year as it tumbled against its major counterparts during the first trading day of 2010. Oh bugger, does this spell gloom and doom for the pound for the rest of the year? … More…
Posted 05:00 05 January 2010 by Forex Gump
Although 2009 has been quite a rollercoaster ride in the currency markets, I'm looking forward to the surprises that 2010 will bring. After all, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke did say that 2010 would be the 'Year of Recovery'. But I have a hunch that there's plenty more in store us...… More…
Posted 12:57 01 January 2010 by Forex Gump