General Finance

Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos announced that his country will do “everything possible” to reach target budget levels and to prevent Greece from being made a “scapegoat” for the global economic crisis. Venizelos, who is also the deputy prime minister of Greece, promised that his country will always remain a member of the Euro zone. In order to allay investors’ fears, he said that the debt crisis will not lead to Greece leaving the currency union. “Greece wants this and will do this,” he said during an address in Washington today after taking part in the IMF and World Bank’s annual meetings. “We are ready to take the necessary measures and pay any political price” to improve the economy, the minister summed up. Greece still hasn’t met the conditions for the second tranche of an international emergency line of credit since questions remain about whether it can meet the conditions. DT Trading economists believe that Greece will begin restructuring its debt...

In morning trading in Europe today, stock indices bounced back from a two-year low after the G-20 countries pledged to provide a “firm and coordinated” answer to the problems facing the world economy. American futures garnered support while Asian stocks fell. Adidas AG (ADS) went up 2.9% after its main competitor Nike Inc surpassed its predicted annual sales and reported that the company’s profit exceeded estimates. The Rio Tinto Group nevertheless took a fall among commodity producers after bronze prices dropped. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased by 0.6% to 216.2 as of 9:20AM in London, although just yesterday it was down 4.6%. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index increased 1% and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 1%. Despite the rebound, DT Trading analysts are anticipating the markets to drop further as long as the threat of rolling back into an economic recession exists on both sides of the Atlantic. The correction that began at the end of the week...

According to a report published by the UK Bureau of National Statistics, the level of inflation in the country rose in August. The Consumer Price Index went up 4.5% in annual terms compared with July growth of 4.4%, and inflation was up 0.6% in the monthly dynamic. This time, 34 analysts guessed right with their predictions on this figure. Last week, the Bank of England decided to leave the country’s interest rate unchanged. Experts believe that this was not an easy decision for the Bank’s leadership to make. On the one hand, the UK’s economy needs the support of a low interest rate, but on the other hand, inflationary pressure twice the amount of the target level is interfering. After the inflation figure was released, the British pound garnered support. The results of yesterday’s auction of Italian government bonds were quite obvious: investors are still very careful and are demanding even more profits. Demand for Italian bonds was as low as...

US stock marketswent up, European stock markets’ benchmark index rose from a two-year low, American treasuries fell after French banks put to rest rumors that they had no access to financing, and investors for their part detected signs of progress in efforts to curb the debt crisis in the Euro zone. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index went up 0.9% at 4:00PM in New York. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.9%. Shares of Societe Generale SA, which added 8.1% a day earlier, increased 15% while BNP Paribas SA added 7.2% after a 12% drawdown. What helped stocks go back up again were the announcements by these banks that they were able to finance their operations. Yields on 10-year American bonds immediately rose four basis points to 1.99% and oil futures rose 2.3%. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell, continuing its drop from its peak so far this year to 20%. German newspaper Rheinishce Zeitung reported that Germany’s Minister of Finance...

Friday was “black” for European stock markets – the leading indices crashed 3-4% while the Milan stock market fell almost 5%. The panic attack among investors was instigated by European Central Bank executive board member Jurgen Stark’s resignation, which reflects the conflict among the bank’s leadership over buying up obligations from the Euro zone’s most troubled countries. Differences of opinion among Europe’s politicians about how to cope with the crisis are growing stronger. Because of this, market players are dumping shares of banks since they would suffer first in the event of a default in Greece or any other Euro zone country.  Shares of the French bank Societe Generale dropped 10% in one session; the Euro rolled back to settle at $1.37. America is also bringing investors some additional disappointments: Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s address didn’t reveal any concrete plans for preventing the recession in the country’s economy. In response, oil dropped to its lowest level of the week - a barrel...

President of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet announced at a press conference on Thursday that the Euro zone’s economic development will move at a much slower pace than had been predicted, while inflationary risks weakened for the medium term outlook. ECB economists revised their predictions on the Euro zone’s GDP growth downward. At the moment, ECB experts are expecting GDP growth in 2011 to be 1.4%-1.8%, although in June they had predicted 1.5%-2.3%; predictions on GDP growth for 2012 are currently 0.4%-2.2% versus June’s forecast of 0.6%-2.8% growth. Market players immediately took these announcements into consideration and directed them against the European currency, which lost more than 150 points against the US dollar after the start of the press conference. RoyalMaxBrokers experts noted that, while Trichet didn’t tell the market what it wanted to hear, he also didn’t signal that the central bank would refrain from raising the interest rate in the future. Trichet noted at the monthly press conference that...

  Light Sweet Crude The CL contract rose rapidly on Wednesday as traders reacted to the relief of the stock markets as German courts ruled a bailout of Greece wasn’t illegal. This caused a massive relief rally around the world as stocks soared. Compounding that is the fact that several tropical storms are forming in the Atlantic and could threaten oil production out of the Gulf of Mexico for a while. The market stopped just at the $90 mark, an area we have been talking about for some time now. In order to go higher, we need to close above that level on the daily chart. We cannot sell this market currently as the lows are getting higher and higher, signaling strength. Brent The Brent markets rose again on Wednesday as well, and even broke above the most recent high, signaling a desire to rise yet again. The $115 level is where we currently sit, so a pullback at this level isn’t a major...

  The natural gas markets rose during the Wednesday session, but were quickly repelled by the $4 - $4.10 resistance zone as we had predicted. This area has been very resistive, and looks like it going to continue to be. The shape of the daily candle is a shooting star at the bottom of a down move, which is a very bearish signal indeed. It looks as if we are going to go lower and soon. If you didn’t short this market on the bounce like we suggested, a new low gets us selling as well.

  The gold markets fell on Wednesday as traders around the world decided to take on more risk in the various stock markets in reaction to the German high court allowing the bailout of Greece to continue. The pullback has been significant, falling as much as $60 at one point. The other thing to be aware of is the double top we formed at the $1,920 mark. Until this gets broken, we cannot suggest buying as this is starting to look more and more like a top of sorts. Granted, it isn’t the top for good – rather for just a while. The market is way overbought, and this market has a tendency to shake out the late traders which are almost always chasing performance. The area we like is the $1,700 area, and slightly higher. We feel this pullback has been a long time coming, and that it is vitally necessary for the long-term growth of gold to continue. We don’t...

  Light Sweet Crude The CL contract rose during the Tuesday session, but it should be noted that the “risk off” trade is starting to fall apart in other markets. We believe there is still a floor in the $80 area, but the chart does tell us that perhaps this isn’t the only mark to watch. The $90 mark is very important resistance as the market seems to be stuck in a range. Because of this, we like buying dips as long as we are above the $80 mark. We are also willing to take profits before $90 as this market has been choppy recently. Brent The Brent markets had a solid and positive day on Tuesday as traders continue to push the spread between the CL and Coil contracts around the world. The $110 area has held, and it appears that we are set to continue moving towards the $120 area. We are buyers on the dip at this point, and will not...