NORDICS MAY HAVE RUN THEIR COURSE March 6, 2012 FINANCIAL FEATURES WRITER JUST how long can the appreciation of the Nordic currencies last? When the Swiss National Bank (SNB) last year put in place measures to defend a floor in the euro-Swiss franc exchange rate, options for havens as the European debt crisis escalated were in short supply. For some, the Nordic currencies of [...]
THE TIPSTER March 6, 2012 THE dollar-yen pair has been on the tear since the start of February, climbing over 500 pips to hit highs not seen since May of 2011 around ¥81.84. The strong month-long trend line was broken though yesterday around ¥81.30 and it does look ripe for a correction. Look to sell any rebounds towards ¥81.40/50 with [...]
FTSE slides as miners hit by China’s cut in growth targets March 5, 2012 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 fell yesterday, as weakness in miners and engineers outstripped strength in defensive stocks after China cut its growth forecasts, while mixed economic data in Europe and the United States dimmed the outlook for global growth. London’s blue chip index shed 36.31 points or 0.6 per cent to 5,874.82, although it held within [...]
Lower US markets led by commodities March 5, 2012 US stocks fell yesterday for the second straight session and the third in the last four trading days, led lower by basic materials shares after China trimmed its growth target for 2012. The S&P 500 index opened lower and data showing the US services sector expanded in February at its fastest pace in a year [...]
Papering over the cracks – for now March 5, 2012 AFEW months ago, many market watchers were measuring the time until a full-blown disorderly Greek default with an egg timer rather than with a calendar. However, the risk of a Greek implosion – and the risk that such an event would drag the European financial system down with it – has lessened over the course [...]
CANADIAN DOLLAR SHOWS SOME PROMISE, AS AUSSIE DOLLAR HIT BY SLOWDOWN March 5, 2012 THE RESERVE Bank of Australia is expected to keep rates on hold at today’s meeting, but the news may prove cold comfort for the Aussie dollar-dollar pair as currency traders become increasingly concerned about the rate of economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region. As this week opened for trade, the Aussie was the weakest link [...]
THE TIPSTER March 5, 2012 INSURER Admiral endured choppy waters in 2011, seeing its share price drop to a nadir of 800p due to worries about bans on referral fees and a profit warning in the latter half of the year. 2012 has seen better sailing, but the company will need to show signs that the increase in claims has [...]
Trading screen of the future March 5, 2012 THE IPC “trader cockpit” is an intriguing piece of design. It integrates video streaming, voice and video calling and the ability to set up automatic filters depending on the big market news that the system picks up at the time. It is clean-looking compared to some more Heath Robinson setups and looking at it, you [...]
IPC’s tech trends to look for in 2012 March 5, 2012 Exponential increases in amount of data (“Big Data”) to analyse in support of trade decisions. Advanced financial instruments and increased government regulations driving more complex trading workflows. Algorithmic trading and electronic trading leading to more frequent trades and less natural liquidity. Traders being pulled into more parts of the trading workflow – research, analytics, customer [...]
Analyst picks for 6 March 2012 March 5, 2012 FOREX STRATEGIST JOEL KRUGER My pick: Sell dollar-yen above ¥81.00, stop-loss on close above ¥82.50 Expertise: Technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week Although we are in the process of a major structural shift, with the market looking to carve a longer-term cyclical bottom after record lows back in October, [...]
