US Unemployment Rate Tops 10 Percent
The Nonfarm Payroll Report for October 2009 showed a loss of (only) 190k jobs in the US with the unemployment rate spiking to 10.2 percent from 9.8 percent.
So, the two sides of this coin are less jobs being lost, but more people unemployed.
The report appears to have sparked some risk aversion in the forex markets with the US Dollar staging a very minor rally initially and the Yen pairs selling off.
Fed To Market: Dollar Carry Trade Continues
The Federal Reserve released their monthly rate setting statement after their FOMC meeting for October 2009.
The key statement of the release was: Read more...
RBA Hikes to 3.5 Percent
The central bank cited continued return to growth for the Australian economy and moderated inflation. Read more...
CIT Files Bankruptcy Forex Markets Jittery
The CIT Group (not to be confused with CitiGroup) filed for a prepackaged bankruptcy protection before the markets opened this week.
So far reaction has been restrained and direction-less, however it’s worthwhile to note that volatility is going up as evidenced by the rise in the VIX over the past week.
Read more...
Why Do Forex Traders Lose Money?
Markets React to US GDP
US GDP came in showing gains of 3.5 percent. The markets took this as wonderful news with the stock market reversing it’s losses from the past few days and the dollar turning around and heading downhill as risk taking came back into focus.
Read more...US Dollar Attempts Turn Around
Read more...
FXCM UK Micro Raises Margin Requirements
FXCM UK has issued a press release stating that they plan to raise margin requirements on Nov 22nd.
The details can be obtained on the press release page of their web site.
FXCM stated that based on their business experiences in Hong Kong that they believed that traders are better off working with less leverage in the long term.
I thought this would be a good opportunity to remind people about some issues that can occur with trading on margin.
For more information on trading on margin see the following articles:
Bank of Canada Rate Decision
They also went as far as to say that they tenatively expected to keep that rate until at least the second quarter of 2010.
Read more...
Market Sentiment
Market sentiment can work for you or against you. You have to learn to recognize different variations of it. It’s one of those things that is simple, yet complicated. It can take some real experience to get a handle on it.

