Maria Iacob

US Senate negotiators finally are closing in on a deal to extend jobless benefits for 1.4M workers, as the NFP print dominates the high impact news events on Friday

Morning Roll Call

Employment and unemployment numbers were the big news events on Thursday for the USA and the news was very positive, particularly the ‘Challenger Report’ which announced the lowest level of layoffs since 1997, a quite incredible and very welcome bullish statistic. Further the USA weekly unemployment numbers came in slightly better than forecast, with 15,000 […]

US Senate negotiators finally are closing in on a deal to extend jobless benefits for 1.4M workers, as the NFP print dominates the high impact news events on Friday Read More »

UK balance of payments worsens in final quarter of 2013 to close on £30 billion in deficit as exports collapse by 3%

Mind The Gap

France’s trade balance came in below expectations at €5.7bn this morning, worse than the €4.6 bn predicted by analysts polled and an increase on the €4.8 bn print from the previous month. Whilst not a huge miss the figure does add to the belief amongst many analysts that France still has some distance to travel

UK balance of payments worsens in final quarter of 2013 to close on £30 billion in deficit as exports collapse by 3% Read More »

Which news events actually move the markets and how can we use them to good effect?

Between the lines

Each trading day, in our various articles and blog entries, we discuss the medium-high impact news events and any fundamental policy decisions that may move the market. Once traders are past the apprentice stage they’ll quickly realise that it is in fact fundamental issues and news events that move the market ahead of any ‘lines

Which news events actually move the markets and how can we use them to good effect? Read More »

Dollar rises to four month high after latest FOMC minutes are released Wednesday evening

Morning Roll Call

The ADP private payroll data from the USA came in ahead of expectations on Wednesday at 238K jobs created in December, with an anticipation of 199K. This print is adding to belief that the NFP number, to be printed this Friday, will also ‘surprise’ the market with a better than forecast print. The anticipation is

Dollar rises to four month high after latest FOMC minutes are released Wednesday evening Read More »

UK retailers experienced a late Xmas rush that has failed to impress. Italy’s unemployment reaches record high, with participation rates at recorded lows

Mind The Gap

There has been frenetic activity in the UK retail sector this morning with several famous high street names announcing their Xmas period performance. As always some of them suggested that they’d had the “best ever Xmas in the history of the universe” but then, as we peel back the skin of the announcements, we find

UK retailers experienced a late Xmas rush that has failed to impress. Italy’s unemployment reaches record high, with participation rates at recorded lows Read More »

The Fibonacci Retracement and its relevance in FX trading, does it offer more than simply ‘mapping’ the market?

Between the lines

There are many aspects of FX trading that elevate us beyond our base level understanding of the usual mathematics involved. These aspects can spark the curious and creative elements which exist in all of us. The use of Fibonacci is one such creative phenomenon that, when you begin to examine and research it in more

The Fibonacci Retracement and its relevance in FX trading, does it offer more than simply ‘mapping’ the market? Read More »

DJIA breaches 16,500 to the upside as Boston Fed president states that the unwind from QE3 will be very slow

Morning Roll Call

The DJIA pushed back through the critical 16500 handle on Tuesday as a much better than anticipated balance of payments print for the USA cheered American investors. The market was expecting a print of circa $40 billion as a deficit, but the figure came in at $34.3 billion and looking at historical precedents it’s a

DJIA breaches 16,500 to the upside as Boston Fed president states that the unwind from QE3 will be very slow Read More »

You think you’re hopeless at trading, so what’s wrong and how can you fix it simply and quickly? Part two.

Between the lines

Impatience Why are we so impatient when it comes to trading? We set out in our trading plan exactly when, why and where we’re going to take trades. And yet in the ‘heat of battle’ we’ll close the trades too early, or we’ll enter too early, which can have the effect of seriously damaging our

You think you’re hopeless at trading, so what’s wrong and how can you fix it simply and quickly? Part two. Read More »

USA markets experience moderate sell off due to poor data prints as gold futures experienced a temporary flash crash

Morning Roll Call

Two economic indices for the USA came in below expectations leading to a muted session on Wall St. with the main indices selling off moderately. The ISM non-manufacturing print came in at 53, whilst the Markit services PMI came in at 55.7. These poor prints also partly led to a selloff in the USD for

USA markets experience moderate sell off due to poor data prints as gold futures experienced a temporary flash crash Read More »