March 21, 2006

The dollar rose from a recent seven-week low versus the euro and firmed against other currencies on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered upbeat comments on the U.S. economy.

Bernanke said late on Monday the economy should keep growing at a brisk pace even if the housing market slows, but the dollar failed to receive a significant boost as Bernanke offered few new clues on how much more the Fed would raise rates.

"Bernanke was balanced. The Fed is trying to keep its options open and the rest of the (tightening) cycle is dependent on data," said Jim McCormick, head of foreign exchange research at Lehman Brothers.

"But the market is not looking at an isolated tightening cycle from the Fed. We have a much more coordinated global tightening cycle. You can see from the price action in the past 24 hours that the market lacks conviction with what to do in the G3 currencies and we are bouncing in ranges."

March 13, 2006 

The euro rose against the dollar on speculation a report on German investor confidence will add to the case for the European Central Bank to raise interest rates.

Europe's common currency extended its rally to 1.8 percent since the region's central bank Dec. 1 lifted rates for the first time since October 2000. Signs of growth are fueling speculation borrowing costs will rise this year to at least 3 percent, which would be the highest since December 2002.

March 10, 2006

As a trader I have learned never to envy anyone’s profits and never to brag about my own. Most common mistake made by novice traders is to pay attention to someone else’s profits instead of his or her own P/L and by doing so a trader becomes a danger to him or herself, because if another trader is doing better, that where greed takes over the trader and he or she feels compelled to catch up. As trader tries to match someone else’s profits, he or she will start taking unnecessary risks with trades, too much size and overtrading as the most common one’s, and as number of mistakes mount due to the loss of self-control and trader simply “blows up” the account due to greed and completion. In order to become successful a trader must understand that the only profit and loss he or she must be concerned with are the one in his or her account, not someone else. Someone else’s profits should not be a source of envy, because that leads to greed and competition, and that in turn leads to ruin, instead pay attention to your own account and P/L and you will be successful. REMEMBER A TRADER WHO PAYS ATTENTION TO SOMEONE ELSE’S PROFITS WILL NEVER RECOVER FROM HIS OR HER OWN LOSSES.

March 8, 2006
 

The Bank of Canada boosted its trend-setting interest rate yesterday to 3.75 per cent but the dollar still dropped dramatically amid concerns that rates have almost peaked.

The quarter-point hike in the central bank's overnight rate, its fifth consecutive increase, had been widely expected by financial markets.

But uncertainty about when the bank might next raise interest rates took some shine off the high-flying dollar, which dropped by 0.81 of a cent during the day to close at 86.92 US.

That was quite a dramatic change from last week, when the loon soared as high as 88.49 cents US -- its highest level since November 1991.

Since then, however, weaker crude oil prices and the uncertain outlook for Canadian interest rates have weighed on the loon.

March 1, 2006

TORONTO - Higher energy stocks the helped the Toronto stock market recover from deeper losses Tuesday, but the market ended negative after key economic reports were released and the Canadian dollar closed at a 14-year high.

Wall Street indexes fell sharply, with the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average sustaining triple-digit losses, as investors digested earnings from Staples Inc. and H.J. Heinz Co., while crude-oil prices rebounded to a slightly higher close.

Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index was down 18.13 points to 11,688.34 as energy stocks offset declines in financial and information technology issues. Tech heavyweight Research in Motion saw its shares drop $1.38 to $80.42.

The TSX Venture Exchange fell 11.52 points to 2,531.81.

The Canadian dollar settled at 87.98 cents US, up 0.29 of a cent, after hitting an intraday high of 88.09.

The last time the loonie closed at 87.98 cents US was on Nov. 27. 1991. The dollar's climb followed a Statistics Canada report that gross domestic product grew 2.9 per cent in 2005, the same as in 2004, as personal spending jumped four per cent.

February 27, 2006