Search results matching tags 'Trichet' and 'Swiss franc'

All mixed up in the currency markets...

ChuckButler — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 13:57:00 GMT

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In This Issue..

* Mixed up currency markets...

* Canadian dollar off its highs...

* Swiss franc continues to rally...

* China to maintain their peg...

And Now... Today's Pfennig!

All mixed up in the currency markets...

Good day, it is a beautiful spring day here in St. Louis, and I was able to squeeze in a run first thing this morning before coming in. We had a busy day on the trading desk yesterday, as we had a couple visitors from our legal department in Jacksonville visiting us to give us some training. We also had a number of calls generated by a newsletter which highlighted our basket CDs. We will probably have another busy day, so I had better get right to the markets.

The currency markets were a bit mixed yesterday, with half the currencies higher vs. the US$, and half lower. The markets seemed confused, and didn't hold to 'normal' trading patterns. The three best performing currencies vs. the US$ were the Brazilian real, British Pound, and Japanese yen. That is an odd group! At the top spot, we have the Brazilian real which is a commodity based currency with some of the highest yields available; which would lead you to believe that the risk trades were back on. But the Japanese yen was the third best performer, and the yen is a currency which typically moves higher when the markets are nervous and reversing out of carry trade positions. And who in the world would be buying the pound sterling right now? Something just wasn't right in the currency markets yesterday. The overnight markets started to set things right, pounding the pound sterling lower; but the currency markets still don't seem to be able to agree on a direction to take the dollar.

The euro got a bit of relief from the constant selling pressure of late as European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said its legally impossible for Greece to leave the euro zone. Investors had worried that Greece's debt problems would force the euro to break up. But Trichet kept talking and eventually gave the market another reason to sell the euro. That is what has become the norm, as currency traders have a bias to sell euros and look for any reason to do so. Trichet gave them ammunition to sell when he spoke out against offering low-interest rate loans for which the Greek govt. has been pressing.

Many are still looking for more trouble for the euro. BNP Paribas issued a report which suggested investors take advantage of any euro strength to sell the currency as it remains 'extremely vulnerable'. Another research paper issued by Standard Bank suggests the euro will reach $1.25 in the short term. But markets are made by buyers and sellers, and there is always two sides of every trade. The Bank of Tokyo suggested investors should be buying the euro which has been the weakest performer of the G10 currencies since October. The report, written by a London based foreign exchange strategist, suggested the euro is 5.8% undervalued vs. the Canadian dollar at current levels, and will likely rally 5 percent in the near term. This trade uses the crosses between the euro and loonie; as he also believes the Canadian dollar is slightly overvalued.

The Canadian dollar was off just a bit vs. the US$ as technical traders sold the currency which they say is forming a 'shooting star' formation. Chuck would be all over 'Shooting Star' and give you all a couple of lines from this Kansas City band, but I'm just not that good. Back to Canada. The technical traders way this pattern as a reversal signal for the CAD$. They agree with the Bank of Tokyo research which shows the loonie moved too far too fast and is due for a sell-off. Lower crude oil prices also contributed to the sell off for the CAD$. While the short term doesn't look positive for the CAD$, a strong economy and rising inflation may force the Bank of Canada to move rates higher before their counterparts at the FOMC. If this occurs, the Canadian dollar should take another run at parity, and could trade through $1.00. This is still on of the better currencies to own, and any sell off should be seen as a buying opportunity.

I did stir it up a bit mentioning the Health Care reform passed by the house yesterday; Chuck warned me against bringing it up, but like a kid, sometimes I have to learn things the hard way. The point I was trying to make was that I am against deficit spending no matter what that spending is for. We have to get a handle on the spending, and the health care reform threw another level of spending on top of the existing mountain of red ink. I realize we need healthcare reform, and I also realize that we are already paying for the uninsured through higher premiums for those who have insurance. But where is tort reform in all of this? And how about all of the backdoor deals which were made in order to get this bill through? I better stop there, as I am slipping down the slippery slope again.

So what do the markets think of the US economy and all of the debt we are accumulating? Apparently not as much as they think of Berkshire Hathaway. Yields on two year notes issued by Warren Buffet's company are yielding 3.5 basis points less than US treasuries of the same maturity. US Treasuries are traditionally seen as the safest of all investments, and form the base of the yield curve. But in what is a very rare occurrence, bonds issued by quality corporations are trading at lower yields than US Treasuries. Investors apparently feel Procter & Gamble Co, Johnson & Johnson, and Lowe's Co. all are better credit risks than our Federal Government. I guess it was inevitable, as the US budget deficit swelled and the Treasury department issued record amounts of debt. But if this continues, US Treasuries will loose their 'save haven' status and the US dollar's position as the global reserve currency could also be in jeopardy.

The Swiss franc rose to a record high vs. the euro as investors continued to move allocations out of euros and into the Swiss franc. The Swiss National Bank tried to calm the appreciation by repeating that it will continue to act decisively to prevent excessive appreciation of the currency if needed. But traders aren't falling for the jawboning, and seem to be challenging SNB President Phillip Hidebrand to put his money where his mouth is. The franc appreciated to 1.4309 per euro, surpassing its previous record of 1.4315 per euro reached in October 208. The SNB was active in the currency markets over the past year to try and keep the franc from appreciating too quickly. But recently, they have seemed to back away from intervening, allowing the Swiss franc to appreciate vs. the euro and US$.

UBS AG, the world's 2nd largest currency trader, raised its forecast for the Swiss franc vs. the euro. The report which was released early this morning quoted SNB Governing Board member Jean Pierre Danthine who said last week that policy makers can't prevent the currency's advance indefinitely. Sounds like the SNB may be throwing in the towel, and currency traders are jumping back into the Swiss franc to see just how far the SNB will let it appreciate. As we suggested early in the Greek crisis, the Swiss franc may be a good place to move European allocations until the euro is back on solid ground.

Chinese officials signaled they would keep their currency pegged to the US$, in spite of all of the saber rattling coming out of Washington. Senator Schumer and his band of brothers have proposed legislation to punish China for manipulating their currency, but the Chinese officials don't seem scared. Pressure on China to strengthen the renminbi does "no good to anyone," according to Commerce Minister Chen Deming.

Currencies today 3/23/10: American Style: A$ .9152, kiwi .7058, C$ .9814, euro 1.3519, sterling 1.5012, Swiss .9431, European Style: rand 7.3314, krone 5.9574, SEK 7.2052, forint 195.33, zloty 2.8845, koruna 18.80, RUB 29.452, yen 90.40, sing 1.4017, HKD 7.7624, INR 45.56, China 6.8264, pesos 12.5425, BRL 1.7896, dollar index 80.852, Oil $81.59, 10-year 3.65%, Silver $16.90, and Gold... $1,100.50

That's it for today... I will thank everyone on Chuck's behalf for all of the nice birthday wishes you sent. The Cardinals split their team yesterday, with 1/2 the team traveling to Kissimmee to take on the Astros and the other half staying in Jupiter to take on the Red Sox. They gave Chuck a pretty good birthday present, with the home team beating putting a pretty good beatin on Boston beating them 13-8 and the traveling team beating the 'stros 6 to 4. Albert Pujols didn't play, and was given an anti-inflammatory shot in his back to loosen it up a bit. Today is Chachi's birthday, and sweet Christine brought in Starbucks for everyone. YAHOO!! Hope everyone has a Terrific Tuesday..

Chris Gaffney, CFA

Vice President

EverBank World Markets

1-800-926-4922

1-314-647-3837

Let's Pick Up From Where We Left Off...

ChuckButler — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:32:00 GMT

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In This Issue...

* Consumer confidence falls...
* Recession fears...
* Norwegian krone leads the way...
* Trichet speaks...

And Now... Today's Pfennig!

Let's pick up from where we left off yesterday...

Good day...and a happy Wednesday to you...If action is what you were looking for, then yesterday did not disappoint:

It all started with the Icelandic central bank unexpectedly raising rates at an emergency meeting that I briefly touched on yesterday. At that point, it seemed like the dollar's fate was pretty much sealed for the day as the currencies were already in a lather. When US consumer confidence took a nose dive, the warm and fuzzies that some had on the economy were put in the back of the closet.

Consumer Confidence fell considerable more than expected in March as the outlook for the economy dropped to the lowest level since Richard Nixon was president back in December 1973. The Conference Board's confidence index fell to a 5 year low of 64.5 from a revised 76.4 in February. A pull back in consumer spending is what many feel will result, especially with a deteriorating labor market and income growth barely keeping up with inflation.

The second part of the one-two combination, the results of the January S&P/Case Shiller home price index, kept the dollar on the canvas for a ten count. The report showed a record drop of 10.7%, after a 9% year on year decrease through December 2007 and has seen 13 consecutive months of decrease confirming the housing recession is deepening.

The US currency dropped the most since January 2006 against the euro yesterday after the confidence report raising concern that the Fed won't be able to shake a recession. More economists are now looking for a .50% rate cut to 1.75% at its next meeting on April 30. With that being said, there are some looking for the euro to rise up to 1.6250 over the next few weeks.

Aside from Iceland's rise of near 5%, most of the other major currencies posted at least 1% gains against the dollar. The Norwegian krone rose about 2% as they enjoy a 3% interest rate differential over the dollar and represents the third highest rate among the Group of Ten, trailing only Australia and New Zealand.

The Norwegian economy remains strong and is one of those positive balance of payment currencies with strong fundamentals that Chuck has been talking about for a couple of years now. Given that Norway's central bank has signaled it will continue to raise rates in an environment of global rate cuts, is another factor for its continued potential rise.

The Swiss franc erased its losses, gaining 1.5%, as a gauge of Swiss consumption rose to the highest level in eight months in February on increased hiring and wages. Domestic spending is set to become the main engine of Swiss growth this year as a slowing international economy erodes demand for exports, according to the KOF Institute. With private consumption estimated to outpace last year's figure, chances of a Swiss rate cut are falling.

Getting back to the euro, we saw German business confidence unexpectedly rise for a third month in March, suggesting Europe's largest economy is coping with near record oil prices, a surging euro, and the global credit squeeze. We also had Trichet talking about inflation this morning and remaining on the hawkish side. He said that inflation will stay significantly above the ECB's 2% target for most of this year and the euro's economic fundamentals are sound. With expectations of continued growth, investors are starting to reduce their bets of a rate cut in the near future and pushing the currency back into the 1.57 handle today.

Japan's export growth unexpectedly accelerated in February as demand from emerging markets helped automakers ride out the US slowdown. Exports, which contributed more than half of the economy's expansion last quarter, climbed 8.7% from a year earlier as a result of increased Chinese demand.

As mentioned before, February's durable goods figures are to be released this morning and are expected to show a gain from January's numbers. If these figures disappoint and new home sales come in lower than forecast, we could see another tough day for the dollar, especially with the euro and Swiss franc up nicely this morning along with gold just under $950, silver over $18, and oil rising higher.

Currencies today: A$ .9228, kiwi ..8090, C$ .9897, euro 1.5736, sterling 1.9970, Swiss 1.0027, ISK 76.36, rand 8.0608, krone 5.1257, SEK 5.9748, forint 163.39, zloty 2.2438, koruna 16.2850, yen 99.11, baht 31.40, sing 1.3787, HKD 7.7819, INR 40.1425, China 7.0290, pesos 10.7049, BRL 1.7345, dollar index 72.276, Oil $102.48, Silver $18.14, and Gold... $948.89

That's it for today......It's finally nice to see regular season baseball on SportCenter as the Red Sox and A's opened the season in Japan last night. Spring has officially started in my book. I'm running a bit late this morning, so I keep it short. Have a Wonderful Wednesday.

Mike Meyer
Assistant Vice President
EverBank World Markets
1-800-926-4922
1-314-647-3837
EverBank.com