Futures Trading Market Analysis for January 16, 2012
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Each day you can find real-world analysis of currency futures, energy futures, financial futures, grain futures, stock futures, cattle, pork & meat futures, metal futures and softs (cocoa, coffee, cotton, frozen concentrated orange juice and sugar).
The US Dollar has been in an uptrend since August 29th when it hit $73.90. Just yesterday, we had reached a high of $79.40 attributed to the US sluggish growth, the potential Euro Zone default fears and this week’s Fed’s announcement. The US T-Bonds have also benefited by the global uncertainty reaching a high today of $147^00. This clearly confirms that the US Dollar still is the choice currency after the downgrade by Standard & Poor’s from AAA to AA+ and the debt ceiling raise. After all, this is a global economic crisis at this point.
The safe-haven products are typically the Treasuries, US Dollar and the precious metals. In this case, traders had perhaps sold off the precious metals either for fear of market risk or to meet the margin calls for the stock portfolios. Even the stronger economies such as China and Germany have experienced slack growth. It is a matter of a global chain with now many weakened links. - Read More
If one thing is certain in our forex markets, it is that they will continue to fluctuate, but the direction of prevailing trends will always be dictated by the market’s interpretation and assessment of numerous economic variables. Some factors obviously carry more weight than others in these minute-by minute valuations, but analysts and investors must go one step further when pricing forex futures by extending their best guesstimates over a subsequent period of time.
The recent pronouncements by Bernanke that QE2 is now concluded and that a QE3 program has a low probability of ever happening will undoubtedly revise our visions for the future for currency markets. Back in April, many of the best currency forecasters opined on the impact of this very topic. Most agreed that there would be little reason for the Dollar to improve. The Fed would maintain its low interest rate posture, as long as inflation was in check, which Bernanke claimed in his recent speech. Based on a survey of more than 70 economists, the Fed is also expected to keep its target rate at 0.25 percent or lower for the balance of 2010. - Read More
This Eastern Asian currency is one of the most widely traded currencies in the foreign exchange market, second only to the US Dollar and Euro, according to trading surveys. The official national currency of Japan, the name yen means "round object". The following contract specifications will refer to the Japanese Yen/US Dollar contract from the foreign exchange futures listings from the CME Group.
Find out contract sizes, trading hours, exchanges and a historical view of the Japanese Yen by reading more in this article. - Read More
Named in 1995, and introduced in 1999, the euro is the official currency of more than half of the member countries of the European Union. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the euro zone may represent the second largest economy in the world, a likely driving force behind the apparent interest in the exchange of this currency. The following contract specifications will refer to the Euro/US Dollar contract from the foreign exchange futures listings from the CME Group. - Read More
Have you noticed recently that every Futures Trading Firm seems to be marketing their Managed Futures services? Claims of unique and alternative investment opportunities, diversification, CTA rankings. You name it, and there is marketing material around it. So what are Managed Futures Accounts?
The idea of managed futures is very much what it sounds like… You’re allowing someone else to manage your trading account. That someone is referred to as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA), and that trading account is made up of futures and futures options – much like a mutual fund would be. The difference in the managed futures fund would be that it’s made up of commodities, interest rate contracts, equity contracts and currencies. - Read More
