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U.S. Dollar Is Getting Hammered

Connie Madon — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:20:00 EST

Filed under: Commodities, Oil, Federal Reserve, Currency

The U.S. dollar is coming under increasing pressure on several fronts. First and foremost is oil. Oil closed at $102 per barrel Wednesday for the first time in over two years. Oil has been driven upwards by the turmoil in the Middle East. The Libyan situation is getting worse with both sides vowing to fight on. There is unrest throughout the Arab region. The great fear for the West is that oil flows may be disrupted. The U.S. dollar usually moves inversely to oil. Today the March futures closed at 76.689, down .394

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Top Picks 2011: ProShares UltraShort Yen (YCS)

Steven Halpern — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 10:40:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Newsletters, ETF Investing, Japan, Currency, Best Stocks for 2011

This post is one in a series in which more than 60 newsletter advisors share their Top Stock Picks for 2011. This special report is courtesy of TheStockAdvisors.com.

"Bloomberg recently reported that China has recorded two straight months of reducing its holdings of Japanese debt; t.his suggests that the Japanese yen has reached the point where it's become too 'strong' for its own good -- or at least for China's taste," says global stock specialist Keith Fitz-Gerald.

The editor of The New China Trader explains, "Considering China has become the world's de facto financier, we'd be wise to pay attention.

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Dollar Hits Low Against the Swiss Franc

Connie Madon — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Market Matters, Currency

Three intermarket commodities are on the move today. The Financial Times reported that the U.S. dollar hit a low against the Swiss franc.

Why is this noteworthy? First the Swiss franc is a separate currency, not part of the euro. With Europe in disarray, the only safe currency is the Swiss franc. Anyone wanting to hedge against the eurozone getting worse would buy the Swiss franc. On the futures market, the March Swiss is trading at 1.05610, up 0.0138 (9:20 EDT). The March U.S. dollar is trading at 80.18, down 0.49.

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U.S. Futures Trading Lower Ahead of Economic Data

Jason Raznick — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: Before the Bell, Commodities

U.S. stock futures are lower, this morning as investors are awaiting economic data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average are down 10 points to 11,029.00, while those for the S&P 500 are down 0.60 point to 1,185.90. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index lost 1.50 points to 2,144.00.

U.S. stock markets closed lower yesterday, with the Dow losing 0.36%.

Economic data on Case-Shiller home prices for September and the Chicago PMI index for November business activity are due at 9:00 a.m. and 9:45 a.m. ET, respectively. The Conference Board is set to release November consumer-confidence data at 10 a.m. ET.

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U.S. Futures Trading Lower Ahead of Economic Data originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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U.S. Dollar Continues to Fall

Connie Madon — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Commodities, Federal Reserve, Currency

In meetings this weekend, the Group of 20 finance ministers failed to nail down specific policies for currency devaluations. The final communique of the group, reported in the Wall Street Journal, reads: G-20 nations will "move towards more market determined exchange rate systems that reflect underlying economic fundamentals and refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies." It added that "advanced economies, including those with reserve currencies, will be vigilant against excess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates."

That vague language is taken to mean business as usual. The dollar's fall is expected to continue. In early trading the U.S. dollar futures are down .505 at 77.18. Commodities and the stock market are up. Oil, gold, grains and the S & P futures are all trading higher.

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Swiss Franc at Record High Against Euro

Connie Madon — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Japan, Personal Finance, Commodities, Currency

Why buy the Swiss franc? There are many reasons. Here are just a few:

The Swiss franc is the stand-alone currency of Switzerland. By this we mean that Switzerland is not part of the European Union and does not use the euro as its currency.
The Swiss franc offers currency exposure to Europe, while not subject to problems of countries like Greece and Spain defaulting on their sovereign debt.

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Oil Prices Drop to Three-Month Low on Economic Concerns

Michael Fowlkes — Thu, 13 May 2010 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Economic Data, Oil, Eastern Europe, Financial Crisis, Currency

Oil prices continue their decline, falling today to levels not seen since mid-February.

Concerns continue to linger about the economic situation in Europe, which has been giving the U.S. dollar a major boost, driving oil lower. Oil fell $1.25 a barrel today to $74.40.

There are plans in place to combat the crisis in Greece, but experts are skeptical that the $1 trillion package and additional austerity measures will be able to completely correct the debt problem the country is experiencing.

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Oil Jumps to 17 Month High

Michael Fowlkes — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Forecasts, Middle East, Employees, Economic Data, Oil, Currency

Oil prices have been steadily rising, and today hit levels that we have not seen in 17 months for the precious crude.

A major reason why oil has been so strong lately is the weak U.S. dollar, which further weakened today in the wake of a worse than expected jobs report.

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Oil Closes Above $80

Michael Fowlkes — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Middle East, Economic Data, Commodities, Oil, Currency

Over the past week, oil prices have been flirting with the psychological $80 barrier, and they were finally able to settle above $80 Wednesday. Oil traded up $1.26 a barrel to $80.94.

Earlier today, we got the weekly inventory report from the Department of Energy, which showed a greater-than-expected jump in reserves last week. The report showed that oil inventories grew by four million barrels, which was well above the one-million-barrel increase that analysts had forecast.

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How Long Can the U.S. Dollar Maintain Its Dominance?

Connie Madon — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:40:00 EST

Filed under: Market Matters, Economic Data, Commodities, Federal Reserve

In 1971, President Nixon took the U.S. off the gold standard. On that day, world finance changed forever. What that meant is the Fed no longer backed the U.S. currency with gold. Now the currency was free to trade on a relative basis against other world currencies. Eventually, a U.S. dollar index contract was established on the NYMEX. The index is traded against a basket of currencies.

Now, 40 years later, the dollar is still dominant. Our economy went along merrily until we began racking up huge deficits. The deficits have become so great that we face a loss of confidence from investors in our ability to worm our way out of this mess. This year the Fed had to issue between $1.5 to $2 trillion dollars of notes and bonds. Investors are receiving only 4% on the 10-year note, whereas in the past the average yield was 7% to 9%.

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Oil prices move lower as the dollar rebounds

Michael Fowlkes — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:15:00 EST

Filed under: Major Movement, Forecasts, Oil

Oil prices, which were up earlier in the session, have moved lower in afternoon trading after the dollar rebounded from earlier losses.

Earlier in the session, the U.S. dollar had dropped as much as 0.3% against competing currencies, but reversed course and made back most of its losses. The greenback is now down just 0.1% on the day against competing currencies.

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Why do we have a weak dollar?

Connie Madon — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:45:00 EST

Filed under: Major Movement, International Markets, Products and Services, Management, Competitive Strategy, India, China, Market Matters, Money and Finance Today, Japan, Commodities, Oil, DJIA

The stock market is rallying. Commodities are on a tear. Yet the dollar is falling. Why?

There are several reasons for the drop in the dollar, but the most obvious and simple answer is that investors around the world are selling dollars and using the money to buy stocks and commodities, particularly oil and gold.

Last week India announced that it had bought 200 tons of gold from the International Monetary Fund (IMF.) At an average of say $1000.00 per ounce, the transaction amounted to about $7 trillion dollars. Chances are that India sold dollars from their sovereign fund to buy the gold.

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Central Banks lead a shift away from the dollar

Connie Madon — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: India, China, Brazil, Russia, Market Matters, Money and Finance Today, Federal Reserve

The US dollar is down 20% since 2002 on a trade weighted basis. Other world economies like China are dynamic, with growth rates of 8 and 9%. With that kind of clout, countries like China, India and Brazil, can choose where to place their reserves.

Slowly, developing countries are shifting their reserves away from the dollar into the euro and yen. Neil Mellor, strategist at Bank of New York Mellon Corp (NYSE: BK), which has some $20 trillion dollars in assets under custody said: "I don't think there will be an imminent move, but it is quite clear there's a plan to shift reserves to a more balanced portfolio."

Barclays Capital Research reported that central banks placed 63% of new cash in non US currencies between April and July.

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Why is gold trading at record levels? Look to India for the answer

Connie Madon — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Major Movement, International Markets, Deals, Market Matters, Money and Finance Today, Commodities

Here's a shocker: India's central bank just bought 200 tons of gold.

India paid $6.7 billion to the International Monetary Fund for the gold, securing the equivalent of 8% of the world's annual production. India's move is a clear signal that Asia is moving away from the U.S. dollar.

India's finance minister said the reason for the purchase was that the economies of Europe and the US had "collapsed."

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What does the U.S. mean when it says it 'supports a strong dollar' ?

Joseph Lazzaro — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:10:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Federal Reserve

Investors have probably heard Obama administration officials, like previous Bush administration officials -- and just about every other administration since 1981 -- rattle off the mantra, 'The United States is committed to a strong dollar' even as the dollar continues to weaken. What's going on here?

Well, first: the currency market, long-term, emphasizes actions, not words, and current U.S. public policies do not support the dollar. To strengthen it, the U.S. must cut its trade deficit, eliminate the budget deficit, and get the U.S. economy growing at an adequate rate again.

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Is a 'super-currency' possible?

Joseph Lazzaro — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:40:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, China, Russia

Is a 'super-currency' - one that could for all intents and purpose replace the dollar as the world's reserve currency - possible?

Well, it is possible, but in this case the aforementioned switch would certainly be super, as it would represent a gargantuan task and adjustment period for members of the global financial system.

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Nike Q1 earnings preview

Michael Fowlkes — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:40:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Earnings Reports, Forecasts, Products and Services, China, Market Matters, NIKE, Inc'B' (NKE), Recession, Financial Crisis

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) will get its chance to impress Wall Street when it reports its most recent quarterly results Tuesday following the market close. The company will be reporting its fiscal first quarter numbers, and analysts are expecting slightly lower numbers that its first quarter last year.

The giant in sports apparel and footwear last reported earnings back on June 24 when it was able to outpace analyst estimates, and this time around analysts are looking for the company to show earnings of 97 cents per share. In its first quarter last year, the company reported earnings of $1.03 per share.

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Oil jumps on inventory report

Michael Fowlkes — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:45:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Forecasts, Middle East, Economic Data, Oil

Oil prices are moving strongly higher today following a government report that showed inventories dropped dramatically last week.

Today's report from the Energy Department indicated that oil inventories fell by 8.4 million barrels last week, in stark contrast to the increase of 1.2 million barrels that analysts had been expecting to see for the precious crude.

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Currency traders ask: Anybody have any dollars?

Joseph Lazzaro — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:48:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Recession, Financial Crisis

U.S. stock markets appear to be in free-fall (at least short-term), the federal budget deficit will exceed $1 trillion for at least the next two years, and Congress will likely have to raise the national debt ceiling above $13 trillion -- all negative developments for the dollar.

So what does the greenback do Monday? Of course, it continues to rise -- strengthening about one-half cent versus the euro and more than 2 cents versus the British pound, to $1.2581 and $1.4034, respectively.

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How are the emerging markets of Eastern Europe doing?

Connie Madon — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:35:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Eastern Europe, Financial Crisis

When we say Europe, the countries of Germany France and Britain immediately come to mind. When we say emerging markets we often think of India and China. Yet in the heart of Europe we have a group of European emerging markets. Included here are the countries of Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland.

Like the rest of Europe, these countries are suffering from the worldwide economic downturn. However the extent of the damage to their economies has been much worse than the rest of Europe. Much of the growth in these economies has come from foreign investment, thereby creating large foreign exchange debts.

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