Cable lost some steam after BOE’s King made comments that the UK recovery will be “slow and uncertain”.  With the UK financial sector
exposed to the Euro Zone and their current crisis, there will be continued pressure on their economy.
Inflation in the UK inched higher-while growth in the nation slowed.

The Euro lost steam-and dropped below the 1.27 level in overnight trading.  The continued concerns over Greece, and that Spain will face “astronomical” borrowing cost (according to Rajoy)-there is a risk that the markets may stop lending to the country-which would cause a major credit crisis throughout the region.  These components all lead to the drop in the euro.

Gold is lower-at $1540/oz. Oil is also lower.
Asia equity markets were lower-and Europe is mostly higher except for the FTSE.
Dow Futures are also higher at this time.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Germany had some positive news today-when German Q1 took the markets by surprise and rose .5% versus the .1% that was expected.
It seems that better than expected exports along with better than expected consumer spending kept the data positive.
The German data helped keep Euro Zone Q1 GDP flat-as opposed to a negative number.
Italian preliminary Q1 GDP was -.8%-higher than the -.6% expected.
Dutch Q1 GDP -.2%-better than the -.3% that was expected.

After yesterday’s downgrade of 26 Italian banks by Moody’s-the markets  and rating agencies will be looking at the Spanish and the rest of Europe’s banking sector with a fine tooth comb, not that they haven’t been.

US Retail Sales rise .1%-as expected.
US April CPI +2.3%-as expected.

Dow Futres are positive-as are world equity markets.
Oil is higher too.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

I see that the trend has stayed one sided since I was last in the USA- over 2 weeks ago.

I have been across North America, Saudi Arabia,Qatar,Jordan with a quick stop in Egypt-to see our clients and IBs throughout the region.

Risk off- as the markets are concerned over Greece-with Spain not far behind-and worries over the Chinese economy, and the about future growth of the country is adding  jitters to the markets.

Spanish German 10 year government bond spreads increased to a record 484 bps from 449 bps first thing this morning.
Italy also sold 3.5 billion euros of 3 year notes at 3.91%,  European sovereign bonds are selling-just at higher yields.

Euro is lower
Gold and metals are lower
WTI & Brent are lower
10 year US treasury yields are lower 
Equities are lower too. 

Let’s see what today brings:

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Friday, May 11th 2012 7:30pm-9:00pm – FXDD will host a welcome to Masters Live Preview Event with speakers James Chen, Greg Michalowski, Shawn Powell, Robert McKeon, Tom O’Reilly and Anh Nguyen. The Preview will be held in the same hotel as the Saturday event from 7:30pm-9:00pm. The event will showcase the simplicity of trading with FXDD, how to open a trading account, basics of Forex, highlighting what will be taught by James Chen and Greg Michalowski on Saturday and will also feature a special promotion for new traders.

Saturday May 12, 2012 9:00am-5:00pm – Get your Forex trading in shape before it’s too late. In this unique workshop you will be able to learn from two highly respected industry professionals with years of financial market and Forex trading experience. During the sessions, you will be taken on a detailed journey based on Greg Michalowski and James Chen’s own trading methodologies and strategies.

Special topics Included in your program are:

· How to approach trading the Forex market
· What trading tools to use and why
· How best to define risk, limit risk, and accept risk
· How to better control your fear so you can trade with confidence
· How to enter, manage and exit positions effectively
· How to get on the trends, and stay on the trends.

You will also get a free gift bag, with full color workbook so you can follow along. Held live at: The Marriott West Loop Hotel, Houston Texas. If you need more information you can contact jboyd@fxdd.com or call +1.212.266.0715

The UK had some disappointing news this morning:

UK Q1 GDP -.2%.  Medium forecasts were for .1%
So UK now in a  technical recession and cable collapses to  1.6090 from around 1.6140

Spanish 10 year bond yields are down to 5.825%.

German 30 year Bunds were sold at 2.41% (down from 2.62%).
The yield was better but the take up was lower than expected. 
They sold 2.405 bin euros out of a total targeted amount of 3 bln euros.
Germany keeps it’s 2012 GDP forecast at +.7%-with +1.6% in 2013.

Oil is now at $104.31/bbl.

Asian equity markets were mostly higher.  Europe is higher-as are US Futures.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

We awaken this morning to a quiet marketplace.

Italy and Spain both had successful auctions-coming in at the top end of the range.
Spain paid  more for it’s 3 month bill .634% from .381% at the last auction.
Which is a continuing sign of credit issues in the Euro Zone.
Spanish/German 10 year government bond spread narrowed to 424 bps from 436 bps earlier this morning.

Australian inflation came out lower than expected-and market participants are expecting a rate cut by the RBA.
Most bets put the rate cut coming in May at their next meeting.

Gold and Silver are higher.
Oil up at 103.55/bbl.

Asian equity markets were higher-except for Tokyo.  Europe and US Futures are also higher.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Risk Off-as Germany’s April flash manufacturing PMI printed at 46.3 versus 49.0 that was forecasted.
This was the largest contraction since July 2009.
This report is somewhat of a shocker-and not a great sign for the Euro Zone’s overall economic situation.
Dutch April business confidence -3.3 from -2.6 in March.
Dutch/German 10 year bond spreads widen to 72 from 61.
French April manufacturing industry morale-95 down from 98
Italy April consumer morale-much lower at 89 from March’s read of 96.3-this is the lowest reading since January 1996.

Is this problem starting to reach some of northern Europe too- Let’s hope not!

Gold, Silver and oil are all lower.

World indexes were all lower-and US Futures are pointing to a lower opening this morning.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Better than expected Spanish bond sales helped the euro.
Spain sold 2 and 10 year bonds.  The 2 year yield will be 3.463% versus 3.495%.
Spanish 10 year bonds yielded 5.743% versus 5.403%.
Even though the 10 year yield was higher than the last auction-it stayed below the key 6% level.
Spanish/German 10 year spread widens to 421 bps from 410.
Italian/German 10 year spread widens to 390 bps from 376
French/German 10 year spreads widens to 140 bps from 129

Oil is trading under $103/bbl
Gold & Silver are also lower.

Asian and European equity markets were mixed-US Futures are higher.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

GBP took center stage overnight-as the GBP hit a 19 month high versus the euro after MPC minutes showed that members voted 9-0 to keep rates unchanged, and 8-1 to keep QE at 325bln GBPs
Better than expected UK employment data also helped boost sterling.

In European news:
German auctions results went very well.
Spanish home prices fall -3% in Q1.  Drop is -7% from a year earlier.
Things just continue to get uglier in Spain.
Comments from Sarkozy and Lagarde continued to put pressure on the single currency.

Gold and Silver are all lower
Oil is higher-over $104/bbl
Asian equity markets were higher-Europe is mostly lower-and US Futures are also mostly lower

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Credit issues in the Euro Zone are still the main course in the marketplace.

Spanish 10 year yield rose to 6.10%, this is their highest level since December.
Spanish/German 10 year government bond spreads rose to 440 bps.
Spain’s Rojoy made comments that Spain must cut deficit, Spain must act faster than was originally thought, and no one should
questions Spain’s commitment to the euro.
These comments are all repeats of the same story in Greece just a few short months ago.

Asian equity markets were lower-but Europe and US Futures are higher.

Oil is lower-at $102.37 bbl.
Gold and Silver are also lower.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Friday the 13th-and European markets are not happy:

ECB data shows that Spanish banks borrowed 316.3 bln euros in March compared to 169.9 bln in February.  This accounts for 28% of all ECB borrowing-quite a staggering number.
Spanish and Italian 10 year bonds saw their yields rise overnight.

In China the government announced Q1 GDP-it was a “mere” +8.1% compared to +8.9% in Q4.  It was forecasted to be  +8.3%.
Retail sales in April were +15.2% from a year ago, industrial production up 11.9% from a year ago.
This is data that the rest of the world would dream to have.

Asian equity markets were all higher-Europe is lower-as are US Futures.

Oil trading at $103.30 bbl.
Gold and Silver are all lower.

HAVE A GREAT DAY-WEEKEND & GOOD LUCK

The greenback was mixed versus most of their counterparts.

Italy saw their cost of borrowing increase to the highest levels since January 2012 at today’s bond auction.  The auctions are well received,  but yields in Spain and Italy along with most of the EU are moving higher.  Concerns over debt contagion from Spain is putting pressure on the bond markets throughout the EU.
Greek January unemployment rose to 21.8% from 21.2% in December.

Some good news out of the FOMC:
It seems that both Dudley and Yellen have stated that their is still support of keeping interest rates low through 2014-and longer if necessary.  Also they stated that the door for additional QE is open.

Oil is back over $103/bbl.

Asian equity markets were higher-along with Europe and US Futures.

Gold is slightly lower-while silver is higher.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK