Minor Movement on Forex Pairs, Financials Pull down Stocks

Toyota also had an effect on the intraday session. Even though the news wasn’t a major market mover, the stock dropped as Toyota said it is recalling about 437,000 Prius and other hybrid cars worldwide to fix brake problems.

Financials were the lager of the day, forcing the indices down to major technical support levels. The S&P500 finished the day with a loss of -0.89%, while the Nasdaq closed with a -0.70% loss. From a technical point of view the major S&P500 presented a reversal candle on Friday, but failed to provide a confirmation candle. Even though the trend is clearly a downtrend, the indices are in need of a bounce – one that could occur around upcoming support.

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Alcoa disappoints, GBP/USD at Critical Point

The major stock indices traded in negative territory throughout most of the session but managed to bounce back, towards the closing bell. Taking a glance at the chart below, one can see that even though yesterday was characterized by selling pressure throughout the session, the trend has not yet been broken, as prior resistance continues to hold as support.




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Low Volume at the Start of the Week, Mortgage Stocks Surge

The U.S stock market started the week on a positive note, ending the session with mild gains. Even though the intraday session was characterized by choppy trading, the indices received a boost towards the end of the session, backed by individual stocks from the housing sector.

Positive sentiment already came during morning hours, as China stated that its growth could reach 10% by next year. China, known for its massive surplus, expanded throughout 2009, by a whopping 8.5%, as various stimulus measures helped to boost the economy. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said yesterday the national economy had improved and was back on track to reach the growth target during 2010. Furthermore, he mentioned that policy makers do not intend to change the management of the Yuan.

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A Lack of Economic Data Sent the Indices Higher, USD/CAD returns to test its break-out

The shortened week started off on a positive note, as Asian indices climbed higher. Positive sentiment quickly spread to Europe and the U.S, sending all the major indices to higher levels. One must note that the Nasdaq closed the session at a new high at 1828.79, after breaking through strong resistance.



The economic calendar lacked market-moving data yesterday, therefore traders turned to previous price action, continuing Friday’s trend. Even though the indices bounced at the start of the session, they presented a lackluster session, consolidating up until the close.

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A wave of Data Led to Further Consolidation

Inflation data was scrutinized by investors ahead of the rate decision to see if there would be any changes to the wording of the FOMC statement due to the numbers. The Federal Reserve Statement displayed little change from prior statements and alerted that market that monetary easing would continue for a substantial period of time. These comments were expected by market participants and the reaction was already baked into the market’s price.
Employment data also grabbed market participant’s attention as Thursday’s first-time jobless claims rose by 7,000 to 480,000, defying expectations of Wall Street’s economists that the number would drop. The less volatile four-week average of new claims, however, fell by 5,250 to 467,500, maintaining a healthier trajectory.



The week ended with the Bank of Japan's policy meeting. The board voted unanimously to leave its policy rate unchanged at 0.1%, as it studies the effects of a measure announced earlier this month to try to lift demand. One must note that the BOJ offered up to 10 trillion yen ($111.2 billion) in short-term funds to the market. The policy board also said in a statement that it decided to "further disseminate" the BOJ's thinking on price stability, and made it clear that the board won't tolerate on-year falls in the consumer price index.

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Dollar Bulls are Still in Control, USD/CAD and AUD/USD now in the Spot Light

The U.S stock market inched higher yesterday, closing with an average gain of 0.2%, after the Fed released its important interest rate decision. While some were expecting a more hawkish statement, market participants managed to read between the lines, understanding that the Fed is now acknowledging the recent economic rebound. Even though the Fed stated that they intend to maintain a low rate policy, the bank touched recent developments in the job market and financial markets, mentioning minor improvement.

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Consolidation on the Forex Market, Stocks Creep Higher

After climbing at the start of the session, the U.S stock market remained in range up until the closing bell. Economic data was the major culprit yesterday, as data from the U.S showed a mixed picture.

Similar to last week’s increase Initial jobless claims jumped more than expected to 474.00k. The Georgia department said that 72,298 laid-off workers filed initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits in November, a 2.4% increase from October. Even though the news wasn’t inspiring, it didn’t have much of an effect on the intraday session as the U.S Trade Balance Index showed a slight improvement of -32.90B, compared to a previous-35.70B figure. According to the data, October’s exports were $3.5 billion more than September’s exports, while imports increased just $0.7 billion.

From a technical point of view the major indices continued to trade in range, led higher by consumer Discretionary and Utilities.



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The Dollar Showed Mixed Signals Around its 50 Day Moving Average

The Dollar followed Friday’s trading day and continued higher throughout yesterday’ session. Even though during the start of the session, the Greenback presented minor weakness, Bernanke’s mixed speech helped to drive the Dollar to higher ground.

In a speech before the Economic Club of Washington D.C, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke hinted that interest rates should stay at low levels for an extended period of time. The Fed Chairman commented on the recent recovery, mentioning that that even though the U.S economy is slowly bouncing back, it still has various obstacles to overcome, ones which could weigh on the current recovery, causing slow economic growth. In addition, Bernanke touched on the financial situation, stating that their remains credit problems under the surface.

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The Dollar Strengthens on Better Than Expected Data

The Dollar/Yen had a turn for the better on Friday as investors began to speculate that the decrease in unemployment could lead the Fed to raise interest rates sooner than expected. Friday’s session was a classic “buy the rumor, sell the fact”. Furthermore, news earlier last week mentioned that the Bank of Japan plans to introduce new liquidity measures to combat falling prices. Under the new program, the BoJ will provide JPY10 trillion of three-month loans to commercial banks at a fixed rate of 0.1%. In exchange, banks will provide regular BoJ collateral. The decision was unanimous but the BoJ had come under heavy pressure from the government to cooperate in battling deflation. The USD/JPY surged on Friday, to break trend line resistance at 89.50.



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Good Data Didn't Drive the Markets Higher (Video)

The Dollar Trades Steady

On individual pairs, the USD/JPY came up to prior resistance, as investors grabbed the low levels for a quick profit. In addition officials helped to boost the value of the Dollar after mentioning that they intend to further help the Japanese economy. According to recent news, the BOJ intends to inject an additional 1 trillion yen ($11.5 billion) into short term money markets.

The EUR/USD and GBP/USD also traded steady after economic data showed a mild improvement. Construction PMI came out as expected at 47.00, while the Euro-zone’s PPI figure increased by 0.2% on a monthly basis, higher than analyst’s expectations of 0.1%.

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Commodities Jumped, Will They Continue Higher?

Commodities grabbed news headlines last week, as Gold, Silver and Platinum all presented sharp moves higher. The moves came as traders jumped into these safe-havens, prior to the closely watched employment result that was scheduled to be released on Friday.  Gold presented an enormous intraday break up and moved up by $34 dollars per ounce this week or 3.7%.  This precious metal tested the $1,000 mark, but failed to break the level on Friday, after the employment report.  In addition, silver broke out to new highs for 2009, smashing through trend line resistance to close at $16.23 for the week.   Silver had an outstanding move for the week, moving up by $1.45 an ounce (9.8%), to close around major resistance.  One must note that Gold and Silver are now currently trading around major psychological resistance. Even though a correction is expected around current levels, a break of current levels by the two commodities will confirm a continuation of both the trends.
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Dollar Counterparts Received a Boost at the End of the Session

After a drop at the start of the session, investors grabbed the lower prices, driving the major indices to close with gains. Unfortunately investor’s didn’t pay much attention to the GDP figure yesterday, as Crude oil weighed on the session, dropping below $70. After a tri-star doji pattern the major indices were in need for a correction, but instead of taking profits, investors took advantage of the lower prices to jump on the current trend. The S&P500 closed the session with a gain of 0.28%, while the Nasdaq bounced higher finishing with a 0.24%

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Markets are in Pause Mode, Waiting the Fed’s Decision

Investors pressed the sell button yesterday, preferring to take profits on recent gains. The major stock indices closed in negative territory after presenting a choppy session. After Friday’s interesting day, economic data was brushed aside due to its low priority status, allowing investors to focus on recent earning reports.
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A Volatile Stock Session, USD/CAD at a Critical Level

Tags: Tips, Stocks, Forex, Confidence, House Data, China
Economic data had a major impact on the intraday session yesterday, increasing the daily volatility. After approximately 11 days of gains the S&P500 got stopped in its tracks, as the consumer confidence result weighed severely on investors, sending them back into the Dollar safe-haven.

The start of the U.S stock session yet again encouraged buyers back into the market as the S&P/CS Home Price Index showed for the first time in nearly 3 years an increase. One must note that the index measures the price of houses in 20 regions in the U.S, allowing investors to analyze the strength of the housing market. Even though the major indices opened with minor gains, a majority of them quickly lost their steam, as consumer confidence figures hit the board, showing that consumers are still not overly impressed with the recent economic activity. Confidence showed a 46.6 figure compared to an expected 49.00 points.
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Earnings are Driving the Indices Higher

 Tags : Apple, Stock, Dupont, Caterpillar, Aud, Pound, Dollar, Forex, Yahoo
A lot of tension was felt during the U.S stock session yesterday, as Ben Bernanke gave his quarterly statement about the economy and future outlook, while certain large caps released their earnings.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered his testimony on Capitol Hill, mentioning that even though the rate of the contraction is declining, the U.S economy still has a long way to go until it begins to show healthy economic growth. The chairman mentioned that economic growth is expected throughout 2010, but it could still be accompanied by high unemployment. Bernanke also touched on the inflation subject, preparing investors in advanced, incase monetary tightening will be required. To date the Fed has numerous methods that it can carry out to prevent inflation, some of which include selling a portion of its long-term securities holdings and selling bills and deposits.

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There Still Remains One Barrier

 Tags : Stocks , Goog , Goldman Sachs , Cit , Pound , IMF
After weeks of swinging from side to side, the major U.S stock indices bounced higher as traders and investors alike pulled money out of safe-haven assets and rushed back into riskier ones. The beginning of last week already signaled to traders that something promising was about to happen, as the S&P500, the broader market index, bounced off its 200 day moving average, after forming a tri-star doji pattern. (Please note that a tri-star doji is quite rare and will often signal a change in trend).

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Higher Gas Prices Give CPI a Lift, But Annual Prices Drop Most Since 1950

Tag : S&P500, Head and Shoulders, Stocks
At the start of the week, we posted a
potential inverted head and shoulders pattern on the S&P500.
Yesterday's session was characterized by increasing momentum as the
major indices soared higher. The S&P500 broke major resistance and
held onto its gains throughout the whole of the session.
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The sun is starting to shine on Wall Street

Tags:Dollar, Cit, S&P, Intel
Intel encouraged buyers to come back into the market yesterday, sending the indices soaring at the start of the session. Following Goldman Sachs positive result, Intel showed investors that the computer industry isn’t as bad as previously thought.  The world’s largest micro processor hinted that the economic future could be starting to improve.

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Goldman Sachs vs. Intel

Tags:CIT,GS,Intel,Dollar,Forex
The U.S market continued to climb higher yesterday, as additional buyers drove the major indices to a positive close. Apart from economic data, Goldman Sachs and Intel both released their earnings reports, having an impact on the intraday session.

Goldman Sachs beat analyst’s expectations, showing increasing profits for the second quarter. Even though the results were positive, the stock failed to present a dramatic move, finishing the session with a gain of only 0.15%. Please note that the stock is currently trading around major resistance of $150, a level that could lead to selling pressure, should the indices fail to continue their recent rally.
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