Dismal US vehicles sales numbers continue

Ford -30.6, Porsche -48.2, Toyota -33.9, Honda -31.6, GM -41.3, Hyundai -39.7, Mazda -31.3, Daimler (MB) -29.9. Still to come Nissan and Chrysler.

Will the offshore manufacturers with US plants be lining up next in Washington looking for handouts?

EUR/JPY moves higher in Asia

EUR/JPY has moved higher in Asian trading, presently up around 137.80, having closed out last week in North America around 136.00.  The Nikkei has put on some 300 points and sentiment at the start of the week is, lets say, very slightly more confident but still cautious. The forex market will be looking for European stockmarkets to take up the baton and perform well in order for this current EUR/JPY rally to extend further.

A bit on the weekend Camp David Summit

NYTimes:

“Bush to Host World Economic Summit – The NY Times reports late Saturday that
George Bush has agreed to host a summit of world leaders soon to discuss the
global response to the financial crisis. The announcement was made at Camp David
where Mr. Bush is meeting French president Sarkozy and European Commission
President Barroso. Mr. Sarkozy said “we cannot continue along the same lines
because the same problems will trigger the same disasters”. Mr. Barroso said “we
need a new global financial order”. Early December is viewed as the earliest
time the meeting could take place.

From the Beeb:

“President George W Bush has invited world leaders to gather in the US by the end of the year to discuss reform of the global financial system.

The summit would be the first of a series announced after talks between Mr Bush, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and EU Commission chief Manuel Barroso.

But the agenda is unclear and differences are already emerging.

Mr Bush said any plan must not undermine free markets. Mr Sarkozy said “hateful practices” must be abandoned. “

Odd the NYT failed to make note of Bush’s admonition re “the hateful practice” of free market economics.

As I noted last week, I wonder how the US financial community contributors to and supporters of Mr Obama will appreciate being ordered about by a “New Global Financial Order” being administered by Euro-crat free market haters?

this is a test from over the pond

this is a test from over the pond

One of the least terrifying days in recent memory

I didn’t crawl under the desk once today…It’s a start. Stocks closed down less than 1.5% and the majors traded in pretty uneventful ranges. If this continues, liquidity should return and short-term trading opportunities will be worth the risk again. Credit markets appear to be thawing around the edges, a very positive sign for the global economy from a macro perspective and a likely dollar negative if risk-aversion recedes.

I’ll check in over the weekend to keep you apprised of the goings on at the big Bush/Sarkozy summit.

Closing levels for the big three: 1.3415, 101.45 and 136.10. Great weekend, all!

Afternoon rally fades on Wall St.; EUR/JPY fades as well

USD/JPY reached resistance at 101.80 and EUR/JPY faded at 137 and each have given back a chunk of their gains. EUR/USD is lower as well, along with the cross. We’re getting close to that fateful final trading hour of the week, which has been son volatile of late. An options expiry at today’s close will only add to the swings. Unless Stocks break much, much higher over this last hour (they are now up 50 Dow points) we’d doubt no ranges will be seen today.

New feature!

Here at FX Briefs we’re all about innovation. Our team of dedicated product specialists toil endlessly to bring you the very best in silly You Tube clips and incendiary British newspaper columns. Today we’ve added a new feature called Forex Jargon. It is on the navigation tab at the top of the page. We’ve defined some of the terms we use a lot in our commentary. If you have suggestions for more, drop me a line at jamie at fxbriefs.com.

Fed’s Evans: Economy sluggish into 2009, inflation receding

Chicago Fed president Evans is on the wires sound fairly dovish. He sees the economy staying fairly sluggish “well into” 2009. Forward looking assessments would put less weight on inflation now, he says.

Stocks continue their moderate Friday afternoon recovery, up about 2.5%. EUR/JPY is well underpinned as a result, now at 137.00.

USD/JPY eying resistance in 101.75/85/95 region

USD/JPY has resistance in the 101.75/85/95 region, so let’s say it has to clear 102.00 to excite the markets much. Stocks are enjoying a midday rally, up nearly 2%. EUR/JPY resistance begins around 137.20 and extends toward 137.45, a similar set up to USD/JPY. If stocks keep motoring, USD/JPY and EUR/JPY likely will too. Real sellers are not seen until 103.00 in USD/JPY and above 140 in EUR/JPY.

What’d we miss?

We lost internet connectivity here in suburban Boston. Judging by my inability to get through to Comcast, we were not alone. Looks as though we didn’t miss much as markets continue to waffle. There is an options expiry in equities today, so the last hour could be more volatile than usual (shudder…).