Forex Fundamental Analysis

Markets in Europe are up strongly the morning after an EU leaders meeting was held which aimed to put a bottom under the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and shore-up bank finances. But only time will tell if the measures can have the desired effect.

China is now the world’s second largest economy behind the USA. It has a population of 1.34 billion and is the most populace country in the world.

In the USA, 11 million homeowners have now earned the appellation “underwater borrowers”, meaning that the current value of the property they own is less than the value of the loan on them – in the UK, this situation is referred to as “negative equity”.

Last week was a mixed affair for the world’s markets. Markets have been volatile whilst waiting for firm news on European action to resolve the sovereign debt crisis, floating higher on positive sentiment only to retrench when contrarian views are given.

Government of the people, for the people, by the people… was the aspirational declaration made by President Lincoln during his famous Gettysburg address during the American Civil War.

If the Euro was a patient, there’d be a team of doctors dancing around its body with defibrillators in hand, earnestly trying to get a stable pulse out of its heart.

The market week started with a degree of optimism which sent stocks higher on the hope that political leaders within the EU would get together on Sunday and announce concrete measures to support the banking sector and shore up nations with sovereign debt problems: a line drawn in the sand, if you will.

Adversity likes company, so there is probably some comfort for the world’s major economies to know that China is not immune from the global slowdown.

Last week, with the exception of the Nasdaq, the world's major markets again managed to regain some ground. In Europe over the course of the week, the FTSE made 2.4% and closed at 5432.5; the Dax made 5.1% to close at 5965.5; the CAC climbed by 4.0% to end the session at 3219.5.

Slovakia has only existed as a country since 1993 when it emerged from the break-up of Czechoslovakia.

There has been a long running complaint in the USA and, to a lesser extent, in Europe and Japan that the value of the Chinese Yuan has been kept artificially low against the Greenback.

Economics is a cyclical beast. Any Bull Run will eventually peter out and turn into a Bear market. Periods of seemingly unlimited growth, where the only way is up, always end with a dose of reality as profits are taken and the market falls.

The financial crisis has seen the value of Dexia shares reduced by two thirds since November of last year.France and Belgium announced that they would step-in to prevent the bank’s collapse.

Last week, with the exception of the Nikkei, the world’s major markets managed to regain some ground. In Europe over the course of the week, the FTSE made 3.4% and closed at 5303.4; the Dax made 3.2% to close at 5675.7; the CAC climbed by 3.8% to end the session at 3095.6.

The Bank of England has maintained its policy of offering a record low of just 0.5% interest since March 2009.