On his website “pleasepress1.com” he has published the shortcuts for 130 firms and government departments which, he claims, can save up to eight minutes of listening to recorded options.

If, for example, you want to ask HMRC about a tax refund you dial the main number followed by 1-2-1-1 and you will get straight through to someone able to answer the question.

To find out about the government’s stance on EU membership, call Conservative Central Office then press 1-4-3-9-3-4-2-5-8-6-5-5-7-2-1922-27-4-6-15-304.

Yesterday evening it looked as though the Tory rebellion, which saw 130 voting against the Queen’s Speech in the House of Commons, might be damaging to sterling spread trading markets.

The pound dipped at the time and, against the US dollar at least, is nearly a cent down from yesterday’s high.

On the day, however, Cable is fractionally higher as a result of Thursday afternoon’s steady upward progress. Compared with Thursday’s opening levels, sterling is either steady or firmer across the board.

The pound’s biggest gains were against the commodity currencies, with the NZ dollar falling by 2%, the Australian dollar and the South African rand by more than 1% and the Canadian dollar by nearly that much.

A significant chunk – but by no means all – of their losses came after the People’s Bank of China withdrew the equivalent of £3.7bn of liquidity from the Shanghai money market.

The suspicion is that the PBC intends to tighten monetary policy further, a move which could rein in economic activity and reduce appetite for the commodity exporters’ produce.

The other major currencies were largely unaffected. Switzerland’s franc was the biggest loser, falling by just half a cent against the pound, while the euro, the Japanese yen, the US dollar and the Scandinavian crowns are virtually unchanged.

Thursday’s economic statistics dealt no surprises; Euroland and US inflation readings were on target at 1.2% and 1.7% respectively.

This morning’s NZ producer price data were higher than forecast, with manufacturers’ costs and factory gate prices both rising by 0.8% in the first quarter, but they had no visible effect on the Kiwi.

On today’s list the only figures from Europe are the wholly un-influential ones for Eurozone construction output.

The Canadian inflation numbers after lunch could conceivably affect the Loonie but probably won’t. Canadian wholesale sales would have to look very odd if they were to make a difference.

The only ecostat with any real potential is the University of Michigan’s preliminary figure for US consumer confidence.

The trends this week have been towards a higher US dollar and weaker commodity currencies but none of them has really moved far enough to guarantee a profit-taking reversal today.

With so little on the ecostat agenda it could be another quiet one.

Have a good weekend.

Contracts for Difference (CFDs), margined forex and financial spread trading come with high levels of risk to your investment. The leverage on these products means that you can lose more than your initial investment capital. When trading through these products, note that they may not be suitable for all types of investor. Ensure you only invest using funds you can afford to lose. Always ensure you fully understand the risks. Where appropriate, obtain independent advice.

Daily update by www.moneycorp.com, Foreign Exchange since 1979.

Civitas, a well respected think-tank, has published an article by John Mills, an entrepreneur and economist, insisting that sterling needs to devalue by a third to ‘unleash’ a manufacturing boom and kick-start the stuttering economy.

That would put GBP/USD around 1.05, near its all time low, and 0.80 against the euro, a level that doesn’t bear thinking about.

The report says this is the only way to get the manufacturing cost base down to make exports competitive and cure the trade imbalance. They maintain that weakening the pound would not result in more inflation than would occur anyway, would not reduce living standards, and it would be ‘very unlikely’ other countries would retaliate with similar measures.

Given that every industrialised nation is muttering about the massive devaluation of the Japanese yen and the US still wants to see the Chinese yuan lower, it’s unlikely that it would be taken lying down. Don’t hold your breath for a big sell-off just yet.

In fact yesterday saw sterling rise to an 11 week high after a report showed UK manufacturing fell less than expected. Factory output rose to 49.8 from a revised 48.6 in March against expectations of a 48.5 reading.

In general, the US dollar was on the back foot after an ADP report said private employers added fewer jobs than forecast in April. This is normally seen as a guide for the Non-Farm Payroll numbers, and after a disappointing report last month it doesn’t bode well for Friday’s release

With most of Europe off celebrating Mayday, the dollar fell to a 2 month low on a trade weighted basis, even losing out to the Japanese yen in what was a fairly quiet trading session.

The Federal Reserve produced no surprises and kept rates unchanged and maintained the $85bn monthly bond buying very much as expected.

In FX spread trading, the Aussie fell after a Chinese government report showed manufacturing PMI declined to 50.6, down from 50.9 last month. Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar rose to its strongest level since February after GDP increased 0.3% in February, the fastest quarterly growth since 2011.

Today is all about the European Central Bank (ECB) and the odds are now on a cut in the refinance rate to 0.50%. It seems the catalyst has been a sudden weakening in the data out of Germany, and that has sent a chill around the rest of the euro countries.

The fact that unemployment in Europe has now reached a record 19.2m people out of work, and inflation has fallen to a 3 year low of 1.2%, down from 1.7% in March will also make the decision a little easier.

Not that an expected rate cut was reflected in yesterday’s rates as the single currency pushed up against the dollar.

A rate cut already looks priced in so don’t expect the single currency to fall too much if rates do fall, but keep an eye out for the press conference at 1.30pm as Mr Draghi might surprise with some more measures.

The only data out of the UK is Construction PMI, with most analysts expecting a slight improvement on last months 47.2.

In Europe there are some manufacturing PMI’s (nothing too good is expected) while in the US it is the weekly unemployment claims plus Trade Balance. Canadian Trade data is also out. Eyes down for the ECB at 12.45pm.

Contracts for Difference (CFDs), margined forex and financial spread trading come with high levels of risk to your investment. The leverage on these products means that you can lose more than your initial investment capital. When trading through these products, note that they may not be suitable for all types of investor. Ensure you only invest using funds you can afford to lose. Always ensure you fully understand the risks. Where appropriate, obtain independent advice.

Daily update by www.moneycorp.com, Foreign Exchange since 1979.

A US Energy Information Administration report on Thursday showed total domestic gas inventories rose last week by 31 billion cubic feet to 1.704 trillion cubic feet.

Most commodities trading investors viewed the build as supportive for prices, noting it came in below the estimate of 34 bcf and below the five-year average increase for that week of 39 bcf.

The season’s first injection, which came about three weeks later than usual, widened the storage deficit relative to the five-year average by 8 bcf, leaving stocks at 74 bcf, or 4 percent, below that benchmark.

Chilly weather this month is expected to continue to slow inventory builds and drive stocks further below the five-year average for the next couple of weeks.

Early injection estimates for next week’s report range from 24 to 48 bcf, versus a 43-bcf build during the same week last year and a five-year average rise for that week of 50 bcf.

The above is a review of the natural gas market for Monday 15 April 2013 – April 19 March 2013.

 
CFDs, FX and Spread Trading are leveraged products and carry a high level of risk to your capital. It is possible to lose more than your initial investment. These products may not be suitable for all investors, therefore ensure you understand the risks involved and seek independent advice if necessary.

Give in?

They are, according to America’s Time magazine, among the world’s 100 most influential people. To be fair, some of the folk on the list really are influential; Pope Francis, Angela Merkel, Beyoncé and Kung Fu Panda all made the cut.

But where is Doctor Who, the time-travelling guardian of humanity? Where is IMF head Christine Lagarde, who works tirelessly to promote austerity in small, powerless countries?

Where is ECB President Mario Draghi, who will do whatever it takes to preserve the euro? And where is Petros Clerides, who might put Sig. Draghi’s resolve to the test?

The attorney general of Cyprus insists parliament must give its approval to the bailout conditions handed down by the EU/IMF/ECB troika. That approval is by no means assured.

Of the 56 MPs in Nicosia, 25 have already declared their opposition. One of them, George Perdikis, said in a statement; “It is, in my opinion, a crime and wrong to deliver Cyprus into the hands of the troika and allow it to become a colony.”

With only 45% of parliamentarians openly opposed to the dea,l the chances are that it will go through but this latest development is evidence that a euro crisis is not over until it’s over.

But spread trading investors were broadly unconcerned by it yesterday. The euro lost little more than a dozen ticks to sterling and firmed by that much against the US dollar.

There were no Euroland ecostats to trouble it and auctions of three-, five- and ten-year bonds by Spain all allowed the government to borrow at lower interest rates than previously.

By contrast, when the UK government sold 30-year bonds it had to pay 17 basis points more than at the previous such issue.

The story did as little lasting damage to sterling as earlier news that retail sales, excluding fuel, had fallen more quickly than expected in March, down by -0.8% instead of the forecast -0.5%.

The consolation was that overall sales fell only by -0.7% rather than -0.8%. They were far from great figures but they were not bad enough to prevent sterling taking, almost by accident, the lead among major currencies.

Its gains against the euro, the Canadian dollar and the Australian dollar could only be seen with a magnifying glass. Its progress against the US dollar amounted to less than half a cent but it did rather better against the NZ dollar and the northern Scandinavian crowns.

There are no UK or US data today and nothing of any consequence from continental Europe beyond German producer prices and Italian industrial orders. The importance of this afternoon’s Canadian inflation data is diminished by the Bank of Canada’s decision two days ago to keep its 1% interest rate target unchanged.

In the FX world, very little has changed in the last 24 hours. Today’s uninspiring agenda suggests that the next 24 will be similarly aimless.

Have a good weekend.

Contracts for Difference (CFDs), margined forex and financial spread trading come with high levels of risk to your investment. The leverage on these products means that you can lose more than your initial investment capital. When trading through these products, note that they may not be suitable for all types of investor. Ensure you only invest using funds you can afford to lose. Always ensure you fully understand the risks. Where appropriate, obtain independent advice.

Daily update by www.moneycorp.com, Foreign Exchange since 1979.

The yen’s bounce, however, should prove to be temporary given the Bank of Japan’s aggressive monetary easing to fight decades-long deflation.

Most market experts contend it’s only a matter of time before the dollar rises above the 100-yen mark, a key psychological and technical level.

The dollar has gained about 6 percent against the yen since the BoJ last week pledged to inject about $1.4 trillion into the Japanese economy in less than two years. But the rally has slowed near the psychologically important 100 level, with traders citing hefty option barriers and dollar selling pressure from Japanese exporters.

Currency speculators decreased their bets in favor of the U.S. dollar in the latest week, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday.

Sterling steadied near a seven-week high against the dollar on Friday, helped by demand for higher-yielding alternatives to the yen since the Bank of Japan unveiled its radical stimulus programme last week.

The pound also traded within sight of the previous day’s 3-1/2 year high against the yen, having risen more than 9 percent versus the Japanese currency since the bold easing steps were announced. Against the dollar, the euro was down 0.2 percent, weighed by concerns about Cyprus.

Cyprus said its financing needs under its international bailout have risen to around 23 billion euros, from 17.5 billion euros originally.

The above is a review of the forex market for 8/04/13 to 12/04/13.

 
CFDs, FX and Spread Trading are leveraged products and carry a high level of risk to your capital. It is possible to lose more than your initial investment. These products may not be suitable for all investors, therefore ensure you understand the risks involved and seek independent advice if necessary.

He believes that posting and twittering instead of talking to one another could trigger marital disharmony. Could? That’s like saying a North Korean missile attack on the South could trigger a disagreement between the two countries.

It has not happened yet, and even though a rocket is apparently ticking over on the launch pad, investors appear not to be unduly concerned. They have gone through it all before; stamp and bluster, a few million dollars of Pyongyang’s limited wealth fired into the sea, and show over – nothing to see here, move along now, move along.

Nothing to see, that is, except the US dollar rally which traditionally follows such demonstrations.

FT traders could have done with a North Korean rocket or something similar yesterday to get things moving. As it was, the few economic data and the lack of any alternative stimulus left exchange rates becalmed and directionless.

The day’s biggest movers were the Swedish and Norwegian crowns, which moved in opposite directions.

The Swedish krona strengthened by 0.9%, closely followed by the NZ dollar while the Norwegian krone weakened by -0.4%, leading the Japanese yen by a head. As for the other major currencies, there was nothing to chose between the pound, the euro, the Swiss franc and the US, Canadian and Australian dollars.

According to a raw average (not a scientific way of assessing a currency’s performance but a quick and dirty reality check), the pound was unchanged on the day against the majors.

It will be heartening to those with a preponderance of sterling assets to see that the pound is ahead by an average of 0.6% on the week and 1.6% on the month.

Wednesday’s economic statistics were irrelevant to exchange rates.

The minutes of last month’s Federal Open Market Committee, which revealed several members to be in favour of winding down the asset purchase programme by the end of the year, had similarly little impact.

This could be because several banks had received copies of the minutes the previous day.

Early this morning, the Australian dollar took a half-cent hit from a report that unemployment went up from 5.4% to 5.6% after the loss of 36k jobs. The figures were considerably worse than spread trading investors had been expecting.

Ahead of London’s opening, inflation data from Germany (1.4%) and France (1.1%) were roughly in line with forecast.

The only other ecostat from Greater Europe today is Greek unemployment, which is sure to be nasty. North America has very little to add, just US weekly jobless claims and the Canadian new housing price index.

So it looks as though, once again, FX traders will be hoping for a bit of rocket action on the Korean peninsula. In its absence, they will probably be in for another tedious day.

Contracts for Difference (CFDs), margined forex and financial spread trading come with high levels of risk to your investment. The leverage on these products means that you can lose more than your initial investment capital. When trading through these products, note that they may not be suitable for all types of investor. Ensure you only invest using funds you can afford to lose. Always ensure you fully understand the risks. Where appropriate, obtain independent advice.

Daily update by www.moneycorp.com, Foreign Exchange since 1979.

Japan’s yen also extended its downward slide, hitting its worst levels against the dollar since June 2009 and a two-month trough against the euro.

As trading volumes dried up heading into the weekend, the euro, at one point, was up more than 2 percent on the Japanese currency.

FX trading investors continued to dump the yen in the aftermath of the Bank of Japan’s massive stimulus announcement on Thursday, which should keep its downward trend intact.

The yen fell 3.4 percent last week against the dollar, its worst week since December 2009. Against the euro, the yen slid 4.95 percent, its worst weekly performance since November 2008.

The BoJ unleashed the world’s most intense burst of monetary stimulus on Thursday, promising to inject about $1.4 trillion into the economy in less than two years, a radical gamble that sent the yen reeling and bond yields to record lows.

New Governor Haruhiko Kuroda committed the BoJ to open-ended asset buying and said the monetary base would nearly double to 270 trillion yen ($2.9 trillion) by the end of 2014, a dose of shock therapy officials hope will end two decades of stagnation.

The policy was viewed as a radical gamble to boost growth and lift inflation expectations and is unmatched in scope even by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s own quantitative easing programme.

The weak US jobs number was the market’s focus on Friday. The employment report along with downbeat economic indicators in the manufacturing and service sectors earlier last week should ensure that the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing policy will be in place for some time, analysts said.

US Labour Department data showed that the economy added just 88,000 non-farm jobs last month, well below the consensus forecast for a gain of 200,000. In a separate survey, the unemployment rate inched lower to 7.6 percent from 7.7 percent the previous month, while January and February readings were revised upward to show that 61,000 more jobs were added.

The above is a review of the forex market for 1/04/13 to 5/04/13.

 
CFDs, FX and Spread Trading are leveraged products and carry a high level of risk to your capital. It is possible to lose more than your initial investment. These products may not be suitable for all investors, therefore ensure you understand the risks involved and seek independent advice if necessary.

He departed yesterday to be replaced by Charis Georgiades, the former minister of labour. It is not yet clear how Mr Georgiades came to be selected for the position: the suspicion is that he did not do as good a job as his colleagues of hiding himself.

Haruhiko Kuroda, the new governor of the Bank of Japan, has a similarly thankless task.

When Shizo Abe was re-elected as prime minister in the autumn he pledged that he would direct the BoJ to achieve 2% inflation (at the moment prices are falling by 0.7% a year). Kuroda San is the man who must attain that objective.

On several occasions since his appointment he has said he will do “whatever it takes” to make it happen but, like his opposite number in London, the governor of the BoJ does not have autocratic power.

He must operate – like the head of any other Japanese organisation – with the consensus of his committee. And the last time out, they were not inclined to go along with his desire for massive quantitative easing.

The committee is meeting again and a decision is due tonight. There are two schools of thought among spread trading investors.

One is that Kuroda San will have done his groundwork to get the committee onside and there will be an announcement of a major bond-buying programme that will justify the bears who, in anticipation of it, have sliced 10% off the yen’s value since November.

The others believe reactionary old-school central bankers will find themselves unable to support a plan deliberately to encourage inflation. To complicate the matter, nobody is sure what would be the market reaction to either outcome.

What does look likely is that the yen will not be steady tomorrow morning; it will head off in one direction or the other.

The only currency heading in any direction on Tuesday was sterling. It was the day’s weakest performer, losing one and a half US cents and two thirds of a euro cent. The punishment was not entirely deserved.

Consumer credit was above forecast, as was net lending to individuals.

The manufacturing sector purchasing managers’ index (PMI) was half a point higher on the month at 48.3 and the weaker mortgage approvals figure should have been rendered obsolete by the Chancellor’s new Help To Buy and the Mortgage Guarantee schemes.

But it was sterling’s turn to take an early bath and it spent most of the day on the slide.

Sterling should have an easier ride today, with only the construction PMI and the BoE’s credit conditions survey to get in its way.

The only Euroland statistic is the provisional inflation figure. From the States come the services sector PMI and ADP’s employment change report, allegedly a guide to Friday’s official payrolls number.

Contracts for Difference (CFDs), margined forex and financial spread trading come with high levels of risk to your investment. The leverage on these products means that you can lose more than your initial investment capital. When trading through these products, note that they may not be suitable for all types of investor. Ensure you only invest using funds you can afford to lose. Always ensure you fully understand the risks. Where appropriate, obtain independent advice.

Daily update by www.moneycorp.com, Foreign Exchange since 1979.

Thursday’s gas storage report from the US Energy Information Administration showed domestic gas inventories fell last week by 95 billion cubic feet, above Reuters poll estimates for an 87 bcf draw.

It was the fifth time in six weeks that the weekly withdrawal was above expectations.

Domestic gas inventories are now at 1.781 trillion cubic feet, nearly 27 percent below last year’s record high level, but still nearly 4 percent above the five-year average.

Stocks will likely end the heating season near the 1.73 tcf average, or 30 percent below last winter’s record high finish of 2.48 tcf.

A Reuters poll in mid-January showed most analysts expected stocks to finish the winter at about 2 tcf. While the EIA recently lowered its growth forecast for 2013, it still expects marketed gas production to hit a record high for the third straight year.

The above is a review of the natural gas market for Monday 25 March 2013 – Friday 29 March 2013.

 
CFDs, FX and Spread Trading are leveraged products and carry a high level of risk to your capital. It is possible to lose more than your initial investment. These products may not be suitable for all investors, therefore ensure you understand the risks involved and seek independent advice if necessary.

Finance ministers of the 17-nation Eurozone held talks on Sunday on the bailout crisis in Cyprus. The meeting was scheduled as Cypriot leaders said they were closing in on a deal to raise enough money in return for a bailout and as the country reached a deal to spin off the Greek units of its debt-ridden banks.

The EU has given Cyprus until Monday to raise the 5.8 billion euros it needs to secure a 10 billion euro international lifeline. Without aid, the European Central Bank will cut funds to Cypriot banks and the country may be forced to exit the euro.

Cypriot leaders are discussing with their international lenders the adoption of a levy of more than 10 percent on bank deposits over 100,000 euros ($130,000), a ruling party official said.

Even though the crisis in Cyprus has sparked fears of bank runs in other troubled Eurozone economies, bond yields in Spain and Italy have been stable, suggesting little signs of market stress.

Strategists said the euro could struggle to break above $1.30 as recent data underscored a worrying outlook for the Eurozone economy.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday pressed forward with its aggressive policy stimulus despite improvements in the US economy, pointing to still-high unemployment, fiscal headwinds out of Washington and risks from abroad.

Meeting as turmoil in Europe took another turn for the worse, the US central bank appeared unfazed by concerns that its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases could disrupt financial markets or inflate asset bubbles.

The Fed’s policy-setting committee nodded to brighter economic signs in the United States.

But Chairman Ben Bernanke said he had not yet seen meaningful changes to the troubled labour market, and noted that tighter fiscal policy is one reason the central bank has been so aggressive.

Most Fed policymakers believe the purchases of Treasury and mortgage bonds are lowering longer-term borrowing costs and providing “meaningful support to economic growth and job creation,” Bernanke told a news conference after the central bank announced its decision.

The Fed cut overnight interest rates to near zero in 2008 and has bought more than $2.5 trillion in bonds to spur consumption, investment and hiring.

The above is a review of the forex market for 18/03/13 to 22/03/13.

 
CFDs, FX and Spread Trading are leveraged products and carry a high level of risk to your capital. It is possible to lose more than your initial investment. These products may not be suitable for all investors, therefore ensure you understand the risks involved and seek independent advice if necessary.