Forex Fundamental Analysis

Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone behind Germany and France. It also has a very significant public debt burden and has seen many years of torpid economic growth.

Data just released shows that French industrial output increased by an unexpected 1.1% in the month of November. What does this mean for your Forex trading?

The end of the first trading week of 2012 saw data being published that highlighted the stark contrast between the economies of the Eurozone and the US and offered a good indication for many as to why, at this point in time, the USD looks a much wiser investment than the EUR.

Friday marked the first trading session of the New Year and was a mixed affair for the world’s major markets. With respect to the Euro crisis, it was business as usual.

The shared currency of 17 EU member states, the Euro has fallen to fresh lows against the Yen and to recent lows against Sterling and the Dollar. The New Year’s brief flirtation with optimism in Europe (such as it was) has come to an end, to the surprise on none.

One of the tools economists and market watchers use to read the tea leaves is the survey. One of the most important surveys is the Markit Eurozone services purchasing manager’s index (PMI).

Maintaining the attempt to keep these pieces upbeat for a full week, today we are happy to announce that the level of unemployment in Germany has fallen to its lowest level in the nation’s modern history.

The New Year is the traditional time for economic pundits and politicians to make projections as to the course of the fledgling year. This year, they seem to be united in their unremitting gloominess with warnings that Europe stands on the brink of a further recession.

Friday marked the final trading session for the week, the month the quarter and the year for 2011. In this summary, we’ll see how things stand compared to 2010.

The Nikkei 225 index managed to end its final trading session of the year with a modest 0.7% rise, closing at 8455.35. Japan has endured one of its most tragic years in living memory following the devastating earthquake and tsunami which struck the nation in March.

During the Thursday session, the EUR/USD pair finally broke down below the 1.29 level as the fears over European debt issues continued.

Tis the season of low trading volumes which may account for the fact that the Euro has slipped to a ten-year low against the Yen and is at a one-year low against the US Dollar.

While it certainly can be said that the Europeans are not the only ones guilty of a little “creative accounting” or even a game of financial “Three card Monty”, the situation in Italy and some of the other countries in the European Union is rapidly becoming somewhat of a game in the recent months.

The Case-Shiller Index charts the value of US property stock in a ten and a 20 city sample. It is designed to give a national snapshot of what prices are doing in this key sector of the US economy.

Today, most major currencies are readily inter-convertible, but not all. If companies in China and Japan wish to do business, Yens and Yuans must first be converted into US Dollars and the Dollars converted into the target currency.