Dollar, yen drop after U.S. home sales, Bernanke

The dollar and yen fell on Friday after a strong U.S. housing sales report and upbeat comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reduced the safe-haven appeal of the U.S. and Japanese currencies.

At an annual Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Bernanke gave his clearest signal yet that a recovery is at hand, although he warned that growth would be sluggish.

In addition, U.S. existing-home sales rose in July for a fourth straight month, and a euro zone service sector and manufacturing survey showed more improvement than expected. The data bolstered optimism about the global economy and lifted the euro to a two-week high versus the dollar. [ID:nN21378170]

"We've hit a bottom in the housing market. I think you're going to see further dollar and yen declines on that outlook," said Fabian Eliasson, vice president of currency sales at Mizuho Corporate Bank in New York.

"As conditions improve both here and in Europe ... there's less need for safer-haven currencies as the yen and dollar have been in the past year. The market moves into riskier assets."

In late New York trading, the euro rose 0.6 percent at $1.4333 EUR= after hitting a session peak of $1.4375, the highest since Aug. 7, according to Reuters data. It was also up 0.7 percent at 135.18 yen EURJPY=R.

"Both (Bernanke and housing data) were more bullish than what the market was looking for. The market is just taking those headlines as extreme positives for the outlook both in the U.S. and globally," said Jacob Oubina, currency strategist at Forex.com in Bedminster, New Jersey. "It's back to the whole risk-on trade."

The dollar was up 0.1 percent at 94.29 yen JPY=, off a session high of 94.71 yen, after trading as low as 93.40 yen.

Dollar Hits August High Vs Euro, Low Vs Yen

The dollar rose to it highest level this month against the euro on Monday but fell to an August-low versus the yen, as investors sought the safety of lower-yielding assets amid a drop in global stock indices.

The appetite for risk retreated after disappointing U.S. data releases last week and another U.S. bank failed over the weekend.

This has dragged down world stocks and sent traders back to the currencies in which they typically use to fund riskier bets - the dollar and yen. As a result, the euro declined to $1.4045 - its lowest level since July 30. The dollar fell to Y94.19, its lowest rate since July 29.

"The market's overwhelming bet of late that the seemingly straight-line path to economic prosperity would continue is now being drastically unwound as dollar bears are squeezed out of their highly-leveraged currency positions," said Mark Frey, head foreign exchange trader at Custom House.

The latest U.S. Treasury flows data are also dollar supportive, although they had little market impact Monday morning. Foreign demand for long-term U.S. financial assets grew in June much more than expected.

"Many were concerned that in recent months there was much more interest in the short end than long end," said Marc Chandler, head of global foreign exchange strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York. "This big jump in the long end is a mind-blowing number, like almost five times more than the market expected."

"This could help dollar sentiment," he added.

Other higher-yielding currencies that have attracted a large amount of speculative positioning, such as the Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and Mexican peso, are also under pressure versus the greenback Monday.

Chris Turner, head of foreign exchange strategy at ING Financial Markets in London, said that the correction in the Aussie dollar could be used as a guide for the euro. The Australian dollar was recently trading at $0.8197.

"Below $0.8080/$0.8100 risks a sharper sell-off," said Turner.

However, analysts question whether this paring of risk is anything more than a blip of profit-taking.

"[Thin] summer markets imply a lack of desire to push crosses too far in either direction," said Stuart Bennett, a senior foreign exchange strategist at Calyon in London. "Hence, it is difficult to see the week's events producing any fresh direction for the foreign exchange markets."

Late Monday morning in New York, the euro was at $1.4080 from $1.4190 late Friday, according to EBS via CQG. The dollar was at Y94.32 from Y94.83, and the euro was at Y132.82 from Y134.53. The U.K. pound was at $1.6295 from $1.6537, and the dollar was at CHF1.0794 from CHF1.0730.

Regulators seized Colonial Bank on Friday after reaching a deal to sell its branches, deposits and most of its assets to rival BB&T Corp. in the fifth-largest bank failure in U.S. history. It was the latest sign that while large institutions may be stabilizing, tension remains for regional lenders.

Meanwhile, U.S. consumer confidence data last week, as well as retail sales, came in worse than expected.

Although euro-zone gross domestic product surprised to the upside, thanks to France and Germany, other countries in the region remain under severe pressure.

Japan growth data overnight was somewhat positive, but fell short of economist expectations. Japan's economy grew for the first time in five quarters in the April-June period, with real gross domestic product up 0.9% from the prior quarter.

Elsewhere, in another sign that China may be attempting to diversify from its reliance on the dollar, the government said Monday it will expand a trial in which cross-border trade transactions are settled in yuan to the northeastern part of the country, state television reported.

The Canadian dollar is down after falling to a four-week low overnight in line with weaker global equity markets and sustained risk aversion.

Currency strategists at TD Securities said Monday that the recent upward lurch for the U.S. dollar-Canada pair appears to have forced some market players to the sidelines to re-assess, adding to the illiquidity and erratic volatility for the pair.

They said that the U.S. dollar's rise to its recent high took place "with relative ease, and while this may reflect a lack of liquidity and interest as much as the stronger U.S. dollar tone, it does suggest that the main near-term risk is higher."

Dollar May Hold Strength From Friday's Rally

A full slate of U.S. economic data next week will test the freshly minted view that the dollar is beginning to benefit from signs of economic recovery, reversing a market tendency that has held over the past year of recession.

The dollar and stocks both rallied sharply on Friday when the U.S. employment report for July came in better than expected, igniting a fresh round of investor optimism.

The tide of funds into the dollar was driven by the notion that a reviving U.S. economy may be ready to spearhead a climb out of the global downturn, which would also mean a quicker return to higher U.S. interest rates. This emergent view derailed the previous trend of positive data surprises igniting a thirst for riskier assets at the expense of the safe-haven dollar.

"This was maybe a hint of things to come for the dollar," said currency strategist Sacha Tihanyi of Scotia Capital, even if the greenback's longer-term outlook remains murky at best. "We are eventually going to reach a point where the risk flow won't push things around as much, and we may be closer to that point now."

If so, there will be abundant opportunities to test that proposition in the U.S. data flow next week. It will also help ascertain if Friday's break higher for the dollar was only fleeting or marks a decisive trend reversal.

Key U.S. data include the goods and services trade balance for June on Wednesday, July retail sales and the latest jobless claims figures Thursday, followed by the July consumer price index, industrial production figures for the same month, and a key measure of consumer sentiment on Friday.

Other significant events are the announcement at the end of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, as well as the market reception given the Treasury's massive $75 billion quarterly refunding effort over the course of the week.

The Fed next week isn't expected to deviate from its commitment to hold its key policy rate at exceptionally low levels for a prolonged period nor to fine tune its $1.75 trillion asset purchase program.

But crucial for currency and other asset markets will be whether the Fed's updated economic prognosis together with next week's data stream advances the likelihood of a U.S.-led global recovery and more favorable yield spreads between U.S. debt instruments and competing foreign assets.

"If the U.S. economy begins to lead the global economy out of recession, the dollar could benefit as it did in the wake of the Southeast Asian crisis of 1997-98," when the greenback was the preferred currency in the subsequent period of recovery, said chief currency strategist Michael Woolfolk of Bank of New York-Mellon.

Currency strategists at Brown Brothers Harriman said a sustained turnaround for the dollar may have to await a more consistent flow of better data and upwardly revised projections for U.S. economic growth, coupled with a rise in short-term Treasury yields above euro-zone counterparts.

More in the near term, Scotia Capital's Tihanyi expects the dollar to at least consolidate at stronger levels against its major rivals next week, suggesting a range of about $1.4000 to $1.4350 against the euro and Y95.80 to Y98.50 against the yen.

Dlr, Yen Suffer Limited Losses; Pound Rises

Optimism over U.S. corporate earnings gave risk appetite an added fillip, leaving the dollar and yen lower in Europe Thursday.

But sentiment wasn't that strong and currency moves were limited.

Some analysts questioned how long the positive mood could last.

"Overall risk appetite is at its highest level since before the third quarter of last year and high-yield currencies are pressing against key resistance levels," said the team at Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC in its daily assessment of the market.

Nevertheless, optimism remains the key driver, with the market focusing on Wednesday's news that U.S. house prices rose 0.9% in April. The question now is whether existing home sales data later in the day also show some buoyancy in the housing market.

Poor results from Morgan Stanley as well as Wells Fargo & Co. helped to ensure that the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day 0.4% lower. But stronger-than-expected results from eBay after the close on Wall Street boosted sentiment once again and helped to give a lift to most Asian markets, with the Nikkei closing 0.7% higher.

The shift out of the more safe-haven dollar was encouraged by a report late in the day that the Central Reserve Bank of Peru could seek to lower the dollar's share of its reserves to 62% from 82%. The country has around $30 billion of reserves.

The yen, meanwhile, was coming under pressure from expectations that about Y700 billion of toshin issues could flood the market Friday. These are bonds issued in foreign currencies for Japanese buyers and indicates a growing appetite among Japanese investors for overseas assets.

The pound was the main gainer, roaring ahead on news that U.K. retail sales rose 1.2% last month and not just the 0.3% expected because of hot weather and discounting.

Yen Up On Risk Aversion After US Jobs Data

he yen extended gains to session highs against the euro and dollar Thursday after the release of a worse-than-expected June U.S. payrolls report, which sent U.S. stocks futures lower and risk aversion up.

The dollar fell to an intraday low of Y95.98 and the euro declined to Y134.82.

The safe-haven dollar also earlier hit a session high against the euro, which fell to $1.4014, but has since reversed that move.

The ongoing European Central Bank press conference now may be mitigating a more dramatic response to the data release.

Nonfarm payrolls declined 467,000 in June, the U.S. Labor Department said, a considerably greater decline than the 350,000 expected by economists in a Dow Jones Newswires survey.

In addition, the shortened holiday week in the U.S. is restraining some of the market's response. Alan Ruskin, head of international currency at RBS, said that's keeping the euro above a layer of support near $1.40.

However, this payrolls report "is definitely not good for risky assets, and this could actually help precipitate a pullback in risky assets," said David Woo, global head of foreign exchange strategy at Barclays Capital in London.

Rising Risk Appetite Pushes Dollar Lower

Risk appetite is on the way up again, pushing the dollar lower and the euro higher in Europe Friday.

The improved sentiment emerges at the end of a week in which the U.S. Federal Reserve appeared to have preserved its rather dovish view of the global economy and the European Central Bank poured fresh liquidity into the euro-zone economy through massive one-year loans to the banking system.

This along with some relatively positive economic news over the course of the week has convinced investors that central banks will continue to encourage the recovery and aren't likely to tighten monetary policy again anytime soon.

The need for further monetary accommodation was driven home earlier Friday by news from Japan that its consumer price index had fallen by 1.1% over the last year, the largest decline in the index since it was introduced 38 years ago.

See chart at

http://www.dowjoneswebservices.com/chart/view/2311

Nevertheless, optimism was feeding through in to equities with a strong 2.1% rally in the Dow Jones Industrial Average being followed by a 0.8% rise in the Nikkei in Japan and gains of as much as 0.8% on European bourses.

The crude oil market also reflected the better mood, with the price of the August contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gaining 75 cents from Thursday's close to trade at $70.98 a barrel.

The Swiss franc, which had come under two unconfirmed intervention attacks Thursday, was trading flat against the euro with market participants nervous that the Swiss National Bank will launch another exercise to drive the franc lower. Thursday's intervention, which is believed to have been carried out through the Bank for International Settlements, helped to lift the euro from close to CHF1.50.

Around 0930 GMT, the euro was still up at CHF1.5313, hardly changed from CHF1.5315 late Thursday in New York, according to EBS.

The dollar, however, fell to CHF1.0916 from CHF1.0947 as the U.S. currency suffered from the rise in risk appetite.

Elsewhere, the euro rose to $1.4026 from $1.3988 and to Y134.50 from Y134.01, while the dollar was nearly flat at Y95.89 compared with Y95.86.

The pound rose to $1.6461 from $1.6373.

Dlr Up Vs Yen; FOMC, Stocks Fuel Risk Appetite

Higher Japanese stock prices and a positive outcome from the Federal
Open Market Committee meeting overnight revved up players' risk appetite, lifting the dollar and euro up against the yen in Asia Thursday.

The U.S. currency will likely rise for the rest of this week, some dealers said, because the FOMC did not take additional stimulative measures such as boosting its Treasury purchase program.

Some investors had expected the FOMC might increase its future Treasury buying to support the U.S. economy, which is usually a negative factor for the dollar as the nation's interest rates decline.

"Reading market sentiment is fairly easy today: players are taking positive cues from the FOMC and stock prices to buy dollars and euros," said Jun Kato, a senior dealer at Shinkin Central Bank.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average stood at 9822.66 as of 0450 GMT, up 232.34 from Wednesday's close.

The pace of the dollar's climb, however, will likely be slow because players are unwilling to make aggressive bets ahead of non-farm payrolls data and business activity indexes from the Institute for Supply Management due next week, said Gaitame.com's senior dealer Tsuyoshi Ueda.

"Ahead of the data releases, the market lacks a decisive factor to make a strong, long-term trend in the currency market," he said.

Other dealers have similar views, saying Y98 is a cap for the dollar for the time being.

Later in the global day, market participants will turn their attention to U.S. weekly jobless data, and if the result shows an improvement and pushes up U.S. stock prices, the dollar may extend its climbs, dealers noted.

The data may record 605,000 claims, which is slightly better than the 608,000 claims in the previous period, according to a Dow Jones poll of economists.

The euro, meanwhile, rose against the dollar and yen. Dealers said the European currency is expected to keep rising unless European Central Bank officials say something surprising, dealers said. The bank's executive board member Juergen Stark will make a speech later in the day.

So far in Asia, Japanese importers and security firms and non-Japanese commodity trading advisors were seen selling the yen for the dollar, euro and Australian dollar, dealers said.

Swiss franc shaky, dollar steadies after Fed

The euro and the dollar rose against the Swiss franc on Thursday as traders remained jittery about possible intervention by the Swiss National Bank to weaken its domestic currency.

The dollar was underpinned after the Federal Reserve did not expand its programme of buying government and mortgage debt and said at the conclusion of its policy-setting meeting on Wednesday it saw signs the deep U.S. recession was easing.

Traders cited talk of the SNB selling francs for euros and dollars, possibly via the Bank for International Settlements, but both the SNB and BIS declined to comment [ID:nLP72272].

Market participants on Wednesday said that the SNB had been selling the Swiss currency for euros and dollars.

"In the wake of yesterday, people were always going to be nervous and we're in thinner summer markets and that always leaves potential for rumours or nerves to afflict markets," said Jeremy Stretch, strategist at Rabobank in London.

Renewed weakness in the Swiss currency helped the dollar reverse earlier declines against a basket of major currencies.

The euro, however, was little changed against the dollar, but held below a two-week high hit on Wednesday as the market digested the impact of the European Central Bank's massive injection of one-year funds into money markets at Wednesday's tender.

The ECB poured 442 billion euros of one-year funds into money markets on Wednesday with a record 1,121 banks taking up the offer.

"It's a marginal negative for the euro because of the sheer scale and breadth of the take-up but I don't think necessarily the markets are focusing on it too much at this point," Stretch added.

Traders brushed off data showing a sharp fall in euro zone industrial new orders in April, as it merely reinforced the market's view that the region's economy had been weak in the early part of 2009.

Dlr,Euro Hit Multi-Wk Low Vs Yen On Risk Aversion

The dollar and euro fell to their multi-week lows against the yen in Asia Tuesday
as a sharp fall in Japanese share prices increased players' demand for the safe-haven Japanese currency.

The dollar fell to Y95.11, its lowest level since June 1 and the euro dropped to Y131.60, a level unseen since May 26.

"Market sentiment recently has been dollar-bearish and today's sharp drop in Japanese stock prices prompted players to test the Y95-mark," said Shinichi Hayashi, a senior dealer at Shinkin Central Bank.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed 3.1% down at 9523.01 in the morning session - a three-week low. At 0505 GMT, the average stood at 9538.82.

Players are shying away from accumulating risk-sensitive units such as the euro, dealers said, because they believe risk-aversion movement may strengthen as market players correct their outlook on the U.S. and European economies toward a less optimistic side.

Investors are closely watching the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting which begins on Tuesday for clues on the fiscal health of the U.S.

"I'd like to pay attention particularly to the Fed's view of U.S. economic conditions and whether it announces a plan to increase Treasury purchases," Hayashi said.

As of 0450 GMT, the U.S. currency stood at Y95.28. If it falls below Y95.00, it could then drop at pace to Y94.50, said Yuji Saito, head of FX at Societe Generale.

Saito added the euro will likely keep falling because risk-aversion is the main theme of the market now. It declined against the dollar, to $1.3864 in Asia Tuesday from $1.3865 in New York overnight. Dealers said it may slip below Y131.50 and $1.3700 in this global day if stock prices in Europe plunge.

Euro Strength Persists With Rising US Stocks

The euro continues to stay strong against the dollar Friday, with rising U.S. stocks encouraging risk appetite.

The euro is a higher-yielding asset, which attracts investors when market sentiment is positive. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recently was up about 40 points on the day.

The dollar is also down against the yen, as it has recently outshadowed Japan's unit as the major funding currency for riskier bets.

A report that Standard & Poor's Ratings Services raised its opinion on Japan's banking sector and the country's ability to avoid a severe recession is also lending support to the yen

The euro's lead on the lower-yielding yen has waned since its release.

Late Friday morning in New York, the euro was at $1.3929 from $1.3894 late Thursday, while the dollar was at Y96.52 from Y96.62, according to EBS. The euro was at Y134.43 from Y134.22. The pound was at $1.6453 from $1.6341, while the dollar was at CHF1.0841 from CHF1.0868.

However, trading has been volatile and largely rangebound, indicative of the market's uncertainty ahead of next week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

Analysts say traders are looking for a new trading catalyst, now that it appears the global recession is ending, but growth is far off. Possible contenders next week besides the FOMC include U.S. housing data; a U.S. Treasury auctioning for $104 billion in two-, five-, and seven-year notes; and a one-year, longer-term refinancing operation by the European Central Bank.

Stronger risk appetite Friday also comes after U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he sees some signs of stability in the economy and healing in the financial system in an interview with PBS anchorman Jim Lehrer on Thursday.

Encouraging U.S. data Thursday also helped, including a rise in the Conference Board leading indicators index and the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing index.

"The problem is that the scope for large equity gains may be harder to find, because it is tough to keep producing positive surprises without some genuine recovery," said Stuart Bennett, a senior foreign exchange strategist at Calyon in London.

Elsewhere, the U.K. pound continues to rebound from lows this week off disappointing U.K. retail sales data. Many analysts say sterling is likely to outperform in the coming weeks, as traders saw its recent decline as an opportunity to buy.

Dollar drops as recovery hopes lift risk appetite

The dollar edged lower against major currencies on Friday, as a recent spate of upbeat U.S. data boosted expectations the global economy was reaching a bottom.

That has made investors comfortable buying higher-yielding currencies such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars as they pared back holdings of the safe-haven U.S. dollar.

"There's a bit of risk appetite with the S&P 500 bouncing off its 200-day moving average yesterday, and this has carried over to today," said Shaun Osborne, chief currency strategist at TD Securities in Toronto. "That's good news for the Aussie, Kiwi (New Zealand dollar), and Canada but bad news for the yen and U.S. dollar."

The positive outlook stemmed from Thursday's data showing the number of people staying on jobless benefits fell for the first time since January, while manufacturing in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region shrank much less than expected in June.

Moves in the foreign-exchange market were limited, however, with investors awaiting a Federal Reserve policy meeting and economic data next week for more clues about the health of the global economy.

"The markets ... are in a holding pattern," said Gareth Sylvester, senior currency Strategist at HiFX in San Francisco. "There's no real consensus to drive the U.S. dollar fundamentally weaker or stronger. Overall, the market is still trying to second guess whether or not we're in a long-term bull market for equities."

In late New York trading, the euro was up 0.3 percent against the dollar at $1.3947 EUR=, after hitting a session peak of $1.4011, according to Reuters data.

The euro has lost momentum above $1.40, and analysts said the currency is still beset with Europe's economic outlook after the European Central Bank said this week that European banks may face another $283 billion in losses by the end of next year.

The dollar fell 0.4 percent to 96.22 yen JPY=, while the euro was down 0.1 percent at 134.21 yen EURJPY=R.

HIGHER-YIELDING CURRENCIES

Adding to recent optimism, International Monetary Fund First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky on Friday pointed to signs the decline in global output has moderated and said the IMF is likely to revise up its 2010 economic growth forecasts.

Dollar Bounces Back Ahead Weekend

The U.S. unit found additional support on a decline in risk appetite that sent traders

from higher-yielding currencies, such as the euro, pound and Australian dollar.

This was also a function of profit-taking after the dollar declined to one-week lows a day earlier against the euro, U.K. pound, Swiss franc and Australian dollar.

Currency markets have been very volatile over the last week on conflicting signs of economic stabilization and fears over the U.S. Treasury auctions.

Comments reported Friday from Japanese Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano swung the pendulum in favor of the dollar.

Yosano said Japan, the world's second-largest foreign owner of Treasurys, would keep buying the securities, easing worries that foreign investors may turn their back on U.S. debt.

The dollar also found some buyers on a Wall Street Journal report suggesting the Federal Reserve is unlikely to expand its purchases of Treasurys and other assets at the June 23-24 policy meeting.

Friday afternoon in New York, the euro was at $1.3995, down from $1.4107 late Thursday. The dollar was at Y98.39, up from Y97.59, according to EBS. The euro was at Y137.75, up slightly from Y137.68, and the U.K. pound was at $1.6436, down from $1.6589. The dollar was at CHF1.0807, up from CHF1.0707 late Thursday.

Data out of Europe earlier Friday also weighed on the euro. It showed euro-zone industrial production slumped by the sharpest annual rate on record in April. The outcome was much weaker than anticipated, and the data suggested the recession is far from being over.

"As the global economic tide rises, some ships look in better shape than others," according to a research note from Barclays Capital. "Europe remains the laggard."

U.S. data Friday had little impact on currencies. U.S. import prices rose 1.3% in May, the biggest monthly rise since July 2008 and close to economists' expectations for a 1.5% increase. A Reuters/University of Michigan survey on consumer sentiment showed a modest rise in June from May.

Germany's deputy finance minister said foreign exchange won't be an issue at this weekend's Group of Eight meeting, but currency traders are nonetheless watching for any surprise announcements or comments by officials on the sidelines.

Why choosing Online

Credit Crunch Britons Switch to Online Trading to Beat Recession Blues

In the face of rising taxes, pay freezes and unemployment, many Britons are taking matters into their own hands to stave off the credit crunch. As the recession has bitten, online payments expert Moneybookers says it has seen a big increase in the number of people setting up their own internet businesses as a way to provide an extra source of income.

The number of start ups integrating the Moneybookers payments module began to rise dramatically during the latter months of 2008 as the realities of redundancy figures and pay freezes kicked in.

Growth in registrations compared to January 2008 was 250% in September as the reverberations following the collapse of Lehman Brothers were felt across the world. Numbers continued to rise, peaking at 512% growth in December compared to January. Moneybookers is still seeing a sustained increase in start up businesses as more and more people turn to online trading to supplement - or replace - their existing income.

"A growing number of people are realising that setting up in business online could be a clever way to beat the recession," said Martin Ott, co-CEO of Moneybookers. "The flexibility of lifestyle an internet business gives you means it's ideal to fit around your current job to help supplement your income in cash-strapped times or even take over from a job you've recently lost. We've been seeing everything from tee-shirt retailers to online plumbing merchants set up shop on the internet. The online world is one area that is proving relatively resilient in the face of a global downturn."

Responding to this growing interest in setting up an online business, Moneybookers has put together its top ten tips based on its market-leading experience of working with internet companies:

1) Think about using Open Source shop software from providers such as osCommerce or Magento

These shop systems provide you with software to build your online shop for free and have a helpful community which you can fall back on in case of problems. You can also download the Moneybookers payments system from here. Once activated it offers you a comprehensive spectrum of payment methods accepted worldwide, proven to improve your conversion rates.

2) Make sure your domain name can be found easily

Many internet businesses have failed because potential customers could never find the right website address. The address is also one of the major factors for Search Engine Optimisation. Make sure yours is memorable and reflects the name of the company, and that you keep the registration renewal up-to-date. Think of some of the best known companies' names like directferries.com - you can't forget their web address.

3) Identify your USPs - and use them for Search Engine Optimisation

As for every successful business, think about what will make your online store stand out and be different - product range, price, target market, etc. You can then use this to create your keywords and website description, so Google will acknowledge it and display your site on the top search results for these USPs.

4) Don't economise on your website design

If you are using an open source shop system they will offer you certain proven layouts and designs which are often ready-optimised in terms of usability. If you are building your own shop, think about spending some money on getting your website designed professionally. Having a structured, professional website will attract people to your store and give them the confidence to shop there. A good designer will also make sure that your site is compatible with all browser types so all potential customers will be able to access it.

5) Make sure your customers can navigate around your site easily and are able to checkout quickly and securely

It's important to have as good a conversion rate as possible, right from the product search stage up until final payment. Difficulties in navigation and usability or slow systems encourage shoppers to abandon a transaction, as do insecure-looking payment mechanisms. Ensure that the "checkout" is easily visible so your customers know where to go, or implement an "eWallet" where your customers can pay easily with their user name and password without always having to enter their credit card details. As always, make sure you test this on all browser configurations.

6) Make sure your payment module matches the customer base you want to target

While credit cards seem the most obvious choice of payment to offer, they may not be the most wide-reaching, especially if you're targeting the European market where credit card penetration is low and payment methods such as ELV are much more common. Using a system like Moneybookers means you automatically have access to a global payments network of more than 60 payment options accepted in over 200 countries. By using this you will immediately offer the payment option and you'll make sure that they can pay for your products.

Forex Market Flactuation

WORLD FOREX: Dlr Rout Extends, A$ Tops $0.8000 To 8-Mo Highs

The concerted global move against the dollar Friday has been underpinned in the most immediate sense by optimism about incipient economic recovery generated by a series of economic data reports from around the world.

These have included strong April industrial production figures out of Japan, positive retail sales figures for the same month from Germany, and revisions to first quarter U.S. gross domestic product estimates to show a moderating pace of economic decline.

Amid this suggestion of global economic regeneration, prices for oil and other key commodities have risen sharply Friday, with crude oil topping the $66 per barrel mark for the first time in over six months and gold and industrial metals prices also substantially higher.

This has accentuated the bid for commodity-linked currencies such as the Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian dollars against the greenback, with all of these units powering to their highest levels since early October 2008.

The Australian dollar poked above the $0.8000 mark against the dollar for the first time since Oct. 1, while the Canadian currency is similarly in eight-month high territory with a move as far as C$1.0941, according to EBS.

Complementing the commodity price rally for these currencies is an ongoing portfolio shift out of the dollar toward more diverse and riskier assets, "as investors look for relatively liquid, 'hard' currency alternatives to the U.S. dollar," said chief currency strategist Shaun Osborne of TD Securities in Toronto.

Jack Spitz, managing director of foreign exchange at National Bank in Toronto, said the greenback also remains dogged by fears that the sacrosanct triple-AAA U.S. credit rating may be in jeopardy from the massive amounts of fresh deficit financing the Treasury is unleashing to combat the recession.

This, he suggested, is leading investors to accelerate their various programs "to diversify reserves from the historical 'dollar trap' to a more trade-weighted euro, pound sterling, and Japanese yen-friendly mix."

Midday Friday, the Australian dollar has moved off its intraday high at $0.8008 to trade at $0.7995, while the Canadian dollar is also off its intraday high and sits at C$1.0958.

The euro is at $1.4129 from $1.3945 late Thursday and Friday's intraday high at $1.4167, while the dollar is at Y95.52 from Y96.96, according to EBS. The euro trades at Y134.98 from Y135.19. The pound is at $1.6154 from $1.5935, while the dollar is at CHF1.0689 from CHF1.0852.

Cost of Trading

Forex Trading — Understanding Commissions, Spreads and Trading Costs

The forex market is quickly becoming one of the most popular markets for trading.

Not only are the experienced traders looking to this market to maximize their trading returns, but many new, individual investors are now able to trade the Forex market — just as they do stocks and futures.

More and more individuals are seeing Forex not only as a new way to diversify their portfolio, but are also finding that it is becoming the most profitable component of their investments.

And that's because of the many advantages Forex offers over other markets like stocks or commodities. Here's what you will typically see advertized about Forex:

— Unparallelled liquidity. It is the largest financial market in the world by far. Almost $2 trillion being traded daily!

— Excellent leverage potential. Individual investors have access to leverage of 100:1 and even 200:1

— No Commissions (more on this later on)

— Low trading costs.

And yes, the Forex market really does offer all these advantages.

But the last two points above talk about costs, and that's what we'd like to focus on in this article.

Like any trading, there are costs involved, and, while these may be much lower than they used to be, it is important to understand what those are.

Let's start by looking at stock trading, something that most of us investors are pretty familiar with.

When trading stocks, most investors will have a trading account with a broker somewhere and will have investment funds deposited in that account.

The broker will then execute the trades on behalf of the account holder, and of course, in return for providing that service, the broker will want to be compensated.

With stocks, typically, the broker will earn a commission for executing the trade. They will charge either a fixed dollar amount per trade, or a dollar amount per share, or (most commonly) a scaled commission based on how big your trade is.

And, they will charge it on both sides of the transaction. That is to say, when you buy the stock you get charged commission, AND then when you sell that same stock you get charged another commission.

With Forex trading, the brokers constantly advertise "no commission". And, of course that's true — except for a few brokers, who do charge a commission similar to stocks.

But also, of course, the brokers aren't performing their trading services for free. They too make money.

The way they do that is by charging the investor a "spread". Simply put, the spread is the difference between the bid price and the ask price for the currency being traded.

The broker will add this spread onto the price of the trade and keep it as their fee for trading.

So, while it isn't a commission per se, it behaves in practically the same way. It is just a little more hidden.

The good news though is that typically this spread is only charged on one side of the transaction. In other words, you don't pay the spread when you buy AND then again when you sell. It is usually only charged on the "buy" side of the trades.

So the spread really is your primary cost of trading the Forex and you should pay attention to the details of what the different brokers offer.

The spreads offered can vary pretty dramatically from broker to broker. And while it may not seem like much of a difference to be trading with a 5 pip spread vs a 4 pip spread, it actually can add up very quickly when you multiply it out by how many trades you make and how much money you're trading. Think about it, 4 pips vs 5 pips is a difference of 25% on your trading costs.

The other thing to recognize is that spreads can vary based on what currencies you're trading and what type of account you open.

Most brokers will give you different spreads for different currencies. The most popular currency pairs like the EURUSD or GBPUSD will typically have the lowest spreads, while currencies that have less demand will likely be traded with higher spreads.

Be sure to think about what currencies you are most likely to be trading and find out what your spreads will be for those currencies.

Also, some brokers will offer different spreads for different types of accounts. A mini account, for example may be subject to higher spreads than a full contract account.

And finally, because the spreads really are the difference between bid prices and ask prices as determined by the free market, it is important to recognize that they are not "guaranteed". Most brokers will tell you that there may be times during periods of low demand, or very active trading when the spreads widen and you will be charged that wider spread.

These do tend to be rarer situations because the Forex market really is so large and demand and supply are generally quite predictable, but they do occur, especially with some of the lesser traded currencies. So it's important to be aware of that.

In summary then, when trading Forex, understand that the "spread" is truly your most important consideration for trading costs.

Spreads can vary significantly between brokers, account types and currencies traded. And small differences in the spread can really add up to thousands of dollars in trading costs over even just a few months.

So be sure to understand what currencies you are going to be trading, how frequently, and in what type of account and use those factors to help decide which broker can offer you the best trading costs.

Boost your Financial Status

Trading Forex To Advance Your Financial Position

Everyday, currencies are traded in an international foreign exchange market, otherwise known as the forex market, with the main marketplaces (otherwise known as bourses) existing in the world's financial centes New York, London, Tokyo, Frankfurt and Zurich. Historically, the only way to participate was from the trading floor of one of these bourses, but today, people can trade forex from anywhere through a secure internet connection and a PC.

Today's traders operate in a global network, taking positions in the market and making investment decisions based on either relative value between two currencies, or a particular currency's actual price. Currency value fluctuations are constantly renegotiated through trading activity, and this activity, and the corresponding currency values are also indicators of the levels of currency supply.

An example of market behaviour greater demand for the Euro might indicate a weakening supply. Low supply and increased demand will drive the price of the Euro up against other currencies like the dollar, until the price better reflects what traders are prepared to pay when short supply exists. Another way to look at this situation is this higher demand means it will cost more dollars to buy the Euro, which equates to a weakening of the dollar in comparison. Analysis of situations such as in this example forms the basis for a trader's investment decisions, and they will purchase or sell currency accordingly.

This should be remembered, as while many see the foreign exchange market as the vehicle for converting their home currency while travelling abroad, many others choose to use the market to advance their financial position and secure their future.

Why Forex Only

Why Trade the FOREX?

My purpose for writing this article is to demonstrate to you the advantages of trading on the Forex market. However, there is one myth that I want to dispel before I go further. The myth is that there is a difference between trading and investing. To dispel that myth I quote from Al Thomas, President of Williamsburg Investment Company, who wrote "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It". He said "Everyone who invests is a trader, only the time period is different." It is a lesson that I took seriously after taking a beating in the stock market in 2000.

So now, let's compare features of currency trading to those of stock and commodity trading.

Liquidity — The Forex market is the most liquid financial market in the world around 1.9 trillion dollars traded everyday. The commodities market trades around 440 billion dollars a day, and the US stock market trades around 200 billion dollars a day. This ensures better trade execution and prevents market manipulation. It also ensures easily executable trading.

Trading Times — The Forex market is open 24 hours a day (except weekends) which means that in the US it opens at 3:00 pm Sunday (EST) and closes Friday at 5:00 (EST), allowing active traders to choose the times they want to trade. Commodities trading hours are all over the board depending on which commodity you are trading. Including extended trading times US stocks can be traded from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm (ET) on weekdays.

Leverage — Depending on your Forex account size, your leverage may be 100:1, although there are Forex brokers that offer leverage of up to 400:1 (not that I would ever recommend that kind of leverage). Leverage in the stock market can be as high as 4:1, and in the commodities market, leverage varies with the commodity traded but it can be quite high. Because the commodity markets are not as liquid as the Forex market, its leverage is inherently riskier. Although I was never shut out of a commodity trade by the day limit, the fear was always in the back of my mind.

Trading costs — Transaction costs in the Forex market is the difference between the buy and sell price of each currency pair. There are no brokerage fees. For both the stock and the commodity markets, there are transaction costs and brokerage fees. Even when you use discount brokers, those fees add up.

Minimum investment — You can open a Forex trading account for as little as $300.00. It took $5,000 for me to open my futures trading account.

Focus — 85% of all trading transactions are made on 7 major currencies. In the US stock market alone there are 40,000 stocks. There are just over 200 commodity markets, although quite a few are so illiquid that they are not traded except by hedgers. As you can see, the fewer number of instruments allows us to study each one more closely.

Trade execution — In the Forex market, trade execution is almost instantaneous. In both the equity and commodity markets, you count on a broker to execute your trades and their results are sometimes inconsistent.

While all of these features make trading the Forex market very attractive, it still requires a lot of education, discipline, commitment and patience. All trading can be risky.

How to Enter in Forex

Investing in Forex

Investing in foreign currencies is a relatively new avenue of investing. There are considerably fewer people are aware of this market than there are people aware of several other avenues of investing. Trading foreign currency, also known as forex, is the most lucrative investment market that exists. There are several factors that make this true among which, successful forex traders earn realistic profits of one hundred plus percent each month. Compared to some of the better known investment markets such as corporate stocks, this is an unheard of return on investment. It's very necessary to mention here that a person who invests in forex must, without exception, make it a point to learn the detailed, but simple strategies and information surrounding the market. This very fact is what makes the difference between successful forex traders and other traders.

A few additional points, which create such powerful leverage for investors within the forex market are: The amount of capital required to begin investing in the market is only three hundred dollars. For the most part, any other investment market is going to demand thousands of dollars of the investor in the beginning. Also, the market offers opportunities to profit regardless what the direction of the market may be; In most commonly known markets investors sit and wait for the market to begin an up trend before entering a trade. Even then, investors, as a rule must sit and wait some more to be able to exit the trade with a nice profit. Given that the forex market produces several up, down, and sideways trends in a single day, it can easily be seen that forex stands head and shoulders above other markets. Additionally there are trading strategies, which are taught that provide for compounded profits; these are profits on top of profits. In addition, free demo accounts are available within the industry of forex trading, which facilitate the sharpening of skills without the risk losing any capital. And the advantage regarding the time factor in trading foreign currency is a very attractive point for any investor. Compared to one of the most sought after avenues of investing, which often requires forty or more hours each week, namely in the real-estate market, the forex market requires a much smaller demand on the investor's time. Forex trading requires approximately ten to fifteen hours each week to earn a full time income. It's easy to see that the advantages and great leverage that exist in the forex market, make it among the most lucrative, time liberating, and easy to enter by far.

I hope this information gives you a clear understanding of how you can turn your investing into a true method of making your money work harder for you.

Forex Treding

Since its inception, CMS Forex’s VT Trader™ has been a
comprehensive and easy to use Forex trading toolkit and
a pioneer in the industry.

Easy access to powerful tools

Highly developed charting technology

Advanced customization

Reuters news and market analysis

Sophistication and convenience set VT Trader™ apart from other Forex trading software.