by Arnold Joe
Loading ...Economics:
The Bank of Canada surprised everyone by doing nothing when the consensus view was that they would drop rates by 0.25%. I find it especially surprising since inflation is still well contained and the most recent GDP growth was negative. Most other central bankers would have dropped rates (other than the European Central Bank […]
This blog is in response to a reader query about the basics of trading currencies.
All my experience in trading currency has been through the corporation that I work for. The corporation I work for books millions of dollars of currency transactions a day through spot transactions (normal settlement) and forwards (future settlement). As an individual […]
Economics:
The US ISM (a manufacturing index) in May showed some slight improvement, but still showed the sector was contracting with a reading of 49.6 up from 48.6…any reading less than 50 indicates contraction. Not surprising, the employment sector had another weak reading of 45.5 and the prices paid component hit an 87% which is […]
In many parts of the world such as the U.S. and just about any country that manages its currency (e.g. China, Latin America, Russia, OPEC nations etc) have seen inflation continue to climb. With inflation being so high and interest rates being low, the returns available on some fixed income investments (e.g. bonds) have a […]
Economics:
Canada’s April inflation numbers increased to 0.8% for the month and 1.7% year over year. Canada reported food increased 0.8% in the month and energy prices increased 6.0% (this contrast to the US which strangely enough showed no change in energy prices). Although the year over year numbers are low relative to the other […]
Housing:
There were more negative housing statistics released this morning. The most reliable measure of housing prices is the S&P Case/Shiller Home Price Index. The index (for 20 cities) reported that y/y prices were down 12.7% for February. This represents the biggest fall since the index was created. For the month, the price decline accelerated to […]
There’s lots of talk about what Helicopter Ben Bernanke and the FOMC will decide to do with short term interest rates next week. Apparently the market is no longer pricing in a 50 basis point cut in rates with some economists expecting only 25 or even no rate cuts. My feeling is that Helicopter Ben […]
