Forex Fundamental Analysis

Last week was a mixed affair for the world’s major markets – a fitting end, perhaps, for a year reflecting mixed fortunes for them too.

Puerto Rico is deeply mired in debt and expects to be unable to meet its obligations to honour on $37 million worth of debt which is due to mature on the 1st of January 2016, just the first repayment due of an estimated $1 billion worth of debt interest payments due in the course of the coming year.

Biotechnology stocks are back in favor. The sector sold off in September but the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index has now rallied 18% since then and is now up 13% for the year.

According to the Nationwide Building Society, a provider of mortgages, house prices rose by 0.8% in December compared with an increase of 0.1% for November.

They say the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. But in 2015, it was the world’s richest that got poorer, losing a walloping $182 billion this past week alone.

At the end of 2014, the price of crude oil had slumped to a shade over $60, almost half of its March 2013 level. As of yesterday, the price of Brent crude tumbled further to below the $37 mark.

A year ago (and just two months before the shocking announcement ending the Swiss Franc's peg to the Euro which dramatically revalued the currency and led to massive FX losses around the globe and for the Swiss National Bank) the Swiss held a referendum on whether to demand that their central bank convert 20% of its reserves into gold, up from 7% at the time. The referendum failed dramatically.

Last week was the final week of December for the perspective of these summaries. With the exception of the Nikkei, all of the majors made gains. Get the Forex week in review fundamental analysis for December 28, 2015 here.

Everyone dreams of warm winters. Moderate temperatures, sunshine, sweet breezes and best of all, low heating bills. Most of American is experiencing mild weather systems and the people are loving it.

Concerns (rightly or wrongly) about anthropogenic climate change centre on the release of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels into the atmosphere which, believers claim, causes less heat to radiate into space, trapping it in the atmosphere and warming the planet up.

The question of a Brexit weighs heavily over Prime Minister David Cameron. Britain’s leader is already planning his moves in anticipation of an in-out referendum which he expects will be held not later than June 2016 and he is moving full steam ahead in his efforts to remain a member of the Eurozone.

By the end of 2017, if not next year, the UK government has promised to hold an “in/out” referendum on the UK’s continued membership of the European Union.

With the holiday season upon us, and in view of the anticipated slowdown in market activity for the next week or so, it seems like a good time to take a bit of a different look at world currencies and review how they performed against the dollar in 2015 when compared to 2014.

Spain has endured difficult economic conditions following the bursting of a property and construction bubble during the Global Financial Crisis. In common with all democratic nations, no mainstream political party has been able to produce a panacea for the economic difficulties; this has produced voter disenchantment and allowed new parties to emerge.

The holiday season is here and travelers filling up at the pump should be enjoying their first Christmas gift in the form of lower gas prices. AAA's Fuel Gauge Report shows that the average price of a gallon of gas was an even $2, lowest since 2009, compared to $2.48 on the same day last year.