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Currencies Rally On Bad U.S. Data...

* Dollar rally is stopped! * FOMC meeting minutes... * Housing data you won't see on TV! * Sweden to sell Gold... ** Currencies Rally On Bad U.S. Data... Good day... And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! I'm back. I just couldn't answer the bell yesterday morning, as the night before was simply rough on your old Pfennig writer. I'm in my last week of treatment and it has been a tough row to hoe, and I feel bad that I was not able to stiffen the back and make it through the day. But, no biggie, I've got great people here to take care of things when I'm gone... When I finally dragged myself out of bed yesterday, I saw that the dollar was taking liberties with the euro and other currencies once again. It was another game of "your economy is worse than mine", as German Business Confidence took a ride on the slippery slope down. You should have seen the "bandwagon jumpers" falling all over themselves to write about how cool it was to own the dollar. I chuckled, no big laugh as that might upset my stomach! But, their claim to be cool, was quickly squashed like a bug, when the housing numbers printed, and then later in the day, with the latest FOMC meeting minutes... More on this in a minute.......

Published Wed, Aug 08 2008 9:02 AM by Chuck Butler

Filed under: Currencies, Dollar, Gold, Home Sales, Euro, European Central Bank, Sweden, FOMC

Dollar range bound...

* Dollar range bound... * German confidence falls... * Aussie and NZD continue to slide... * US to maintain pressure on Chinese... ** Dollar range bound... Good day... Chuck had a rough night, so he decided to stay home and try to get some rest. The Pfennig will be pretty short this morning, as I want to try and get it out as close to the regular time as possible. The currency markets were fairly calm yesterday, with the dollar staying in a pretty tight range before rallying some in early trading this morning. The Euro has lost some ground in European trading as German business and consumer confidence fell more than economists forecast. The Ifo institute's business climate index dropped to a three year low in July and consumer sentiment slumped to the lowest level in five years. Some currency traders pointed to these latest reports as further proof Europe is slipping into recession and that the ECB will need to cut rates before year end. It is obvious by now that the economies of Europe are weakening, and growth will not be able to match last years numbers. But I still believe Trichet and the other voting members of the ECB will continue their hawkish bias, and I don't expect any interest rate moves until sometime next year. This should keep the Euro from falling dramatically away from these current levels....

Published Tue, Aug 08 2008 9:36 AM by Chuck Butler

Filed under: Australia, Dollar, China, Home Sales, New Zealand, Germany, FOMC

More Awful Housing Data!

* Existing Home Sales fall... * Foreclosures spike! * Euro rebounds... * Aussie dollar sees some weakness... ** More Awful Housing Data! Good day... And a Happy Friday to one and all! Well... The touch of food poisoning I got ( I think) stayed with me most of the day yesterday. I did make it to my presentation with Addison Wiggin, but you should have seen me... I was a mess... But I got through it, stayed at the booth for an hour to talk to people and then headed back to the room to basically fall asleep until now... UGH! I have to say that I believe this conference to be the absolute best conference I have ever attended, and believe me, I've attended quite a few conferences in my time! We have talked to so many people that are genuinely interested, some that already completed their applications, and then there were the 100's of people that are already customers, wanting to know more! It has been a great conference!...

Published Fri, Jul 07 2008 8:55 AM by Chuck Butler

Filed under: Australia, Dollar, Home Sales, Euro, Foreclosures

RBNZ Cuts Rates...

* The dollar swings it mighty hammer! * Weekly Jobless Claims spike! * Exposing the debt in N.Z.... * The Fed's Beige Book is grim... ** RBNZ Cuts Rates... Good day... And a Thunderin' Thursday to you! It's not so Thunderin' for me this morning, as I must have eaten something that didn't agree with me last night... Therefore I was up most the night sick... This will be ever so short-n-sweet, and then I'm going back to bed, I've got a presentation this afternoon with Addison Wiggin, I've got to be in tip-top shape for that! The dollar swung its mighty hammer again yesterday, bringing the euro to the 1.56 handle, with all the other usual suspects falling in line behind the euro. The markets are ga-ga with news that leads them to believe the "worst is over" in the credit crunch... I beg to differ on that, but then, I'm just one guy, one voice, one letter......

Published Thu, Jul 07 2008 10:43 AM by Chuck Butler

Filed under: Dollar, Oil, Home Sales, Euro, New Zealand, The Fed, Jobs

More Awful Data For The U.S!

* Housing continues to rot... * Fed Officials warn the markets... * A new "junk bond" house... * David Galland's thoughts... **More Awful Data For The U.S! Good day... And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! A full day in meetings yesterday had me ready for the easy chair upon arriving home... The Celtics are NBA Champions for the 17th time, congrats to them and their fans, of which I was one as a kid, and through the Larry Bird era... Kind of lost track of the NBA over the years... Another full day of meetings on the docket for yours truly, can't wait! NOT! OK... The currencies really had a boring day yesterday... The bias was to sell dollars, but not by much. The euro gained a little, but has given it all back this morning. The data in the U.S. yesterday was weak if not awful, but the markets are still hanging by a moment on the Fed's rhetoric... Shoot Rudy, even the Financial Times is calling out the Fed and those that are getting carried away with thoughts of 75 BPS in rate hikes this year... The title of the FT article was... "Rate rise expectation overplayed, believe Fed officials"...

Published Wed, Jun 06 2008 9:15 AM by Chuck Butler

Filed under: Dollar, Oil, Home Sales, Euro, European Central Bank, The Fed, Junk Bonds, David Galland