December 2013

Federal Reserve tapers monetary easing stimulus on the basis of strong jobs growth whilst dollar reaches five year high versus yen

The key high impact news event of the day came with an element of surprise given that the majority of economists polled by either Bloomberg or Reuters predicted that the result of the two day FOMC meeting would not bring an alteration to the Fed’s monetary easing scheme. The Fed decided to taper by $10 […]

Federal Reserve tapers monetary easing stimulus on the basis of strong jobs growth whilst dollar reaches five year high versus yen Read More »

UK unemployment falls to 7.6%, German business confidence rallies, whilst China’s IFO business climate reading increases by 1.4% in November

All investor eyes will no doubt be focused on the FOMC meeting the afternoon and the impending decisions regarding base rates and the monetary easing programme. However, in the meantime, there are several news events that have been published overnight and in the morning trading session that will be of interest to investors and traders

UK unemployment falls to 7.6%, German business confidence rallies, whilst China’s IFO business climate reading increases by 1.4% in November Read More »

The power of auto suggestion in trading; “every day, in every way, my trading is getting better and better”

Yesterday in our article titled; “Managing our emotions when trading; why you ignore this issue at your peril and why dreaming ‘works’”, we discussed how positive imagery can help reinforce positive expectations in our trading. We discussed how setting ourselves ‘imaginary’ but realistic targets can help ward off the many negative thoughts and emotions which

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Greece to receive its next tranche of bailout cash, as markets await outcome of FOMC meeting

After yesterday’s sharp rise in equities markets in Europe and the USA, global markets retreated in Thursday’s afternoon session with European indices falling back sharply. This was despite various European agencies publishing positive data regarding the overall state of the European economy. The EUROFIN meetings also provided details regarding the next small tranche of funds

Greece to receive its next tranche of bailout cash, as markets await outcome of FOMC meeting Read More »

UK inflation falls to four year low at 2.1% whilst London house prices reach new record level as FOMC meeting in USA begins this afternoon

UK inflation has fallen by a modest 0.1% according to the latest figures published this morning by the UK’s official data agency, the ONS. The figure came in at 2.1%, versus expectations of 2.2%. However, with real wages in the UK only rising by 0.8% over the past year the cost of living gap continues

UK inflation falls to four year low at 2.1% whilst London house prices reach new record level as FOMC meeting in USA begins this afternoon Read More »

USA balance of payments are scheduled to come in at $101 billion for the quarter on Tuesday, but the markets are expected to ignore the data as the last FOMC meeting of 2013 takes centre stage

There was plenty of positive data, contained in the high impact news events published on Monday, which cheered the markets in the USA and Europe. After the wave of mainly positive European PMIs from Markit were published in the morning session (with the exception of France which appears to be heading back into recession), the

USA balance of payments are scheduled to come in at $101 billion for the quarter on Tuesday, but the markets are expected to ignore the data as the last FOMC meeting of 2013 takes centre stage Read More »

Managing our emotions when trading; why you ignore this issue at your peril and why dreaming ‘works’

As traders we’re often ‘guilty’ of dreaming where our trading may eventually take us financially. In many respects projecting our ambitions into the future, by using our imagination, is a perfectly healthy occupation. We often like to point out that as retail traders we’re entrepreneurs running a small business and whatever small business we start

Managing our emotions when trading; why you ignore this issue at your peril and why dreaming ‘works’ Read More »

Swing-trend trading analysis for the week beginning Sunday December 15th

Sunday evening witnesses the publication of the Westpac consumer sentiment survey for New Zealand, the previous print came in at 115.4, the anticipation is for a similar result. The Japanese Tankan manufacturing index is published late Sunday evening, predictions are for a figure of 15, up from the previous month’s figure of 12. The non-manufacturing

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Banking stress tests reveal Slovenia’s banks need a re-capitalisation programme, Europe’s industrial production falls, whilst USA unemployment figures disappointing

In an echo of season’s past a relatively small European country, Slovenia, revealed that several of its banks require approx. €5 billion in order to pass the E.U. banking stress tests. This situation has a familiar theme to it, it’s reminiscent of the trouble Greek banks found themselves in during 2011. However, the relatively small

Banking stress tests reveal Slovenia’s banks need a re-capitalisation programme, Europe’s industrial production falls, whilst USA unemployment figures disappointing Read More »