(Reuters) - Financial traders have a new toy: Bitcoin, a digital currency variously dismissed as a Ponzi scheme or lauded as the greatest invention since the Internet.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Bitcoin, the City traders' anarchic new toy
(Reuters) - Financial traders have a new toy: Bitcoin, a digital currency variously dismissed as a Ponzi scheme or lauded as the greatest invention since the Internet.
Four Numbers Add Up to an American Debt Disaster
In plain English, the Treasury’s reliance on short-term financing serves a dual purpose, neither of which is beneficial in the long run. First, it helps conceal the depth of the nation’s structural imbalances: the difference between what it spends and what it collects in taxes. Second, it puts the U.S. in the precarious position of having to roll over 71 percent of its privately held marketable debt in the next five years -- probably at higher interest rates.
Euro-Doom Is Fantasy, Why the Currency Won’t Collapse
When the euro was being created, the economics profession split into three groups -- enthusiasts, opponents and realists -- that predicted wildly different costs and benefits for the project. By 2007, when the young currency was thriving, the enthusiasts declared a premature victory. Now it’s the turn of the opponents, and they are, of course, wrong.
USD/JPY weekly outlook: April 2 - 6
OTGFX - The yen weakened against the U.S. dollar on Friday, as safe haven demand was hit after euro zone finance ministers agreed to strengthen the region’s debt firewall, fuelling hopes that the euro zone’s fiscal crisis is abating. USD/JPY hit 81.82 on Friday, the pair’s lowest since March 9; the pair subsequently consolidated at 82.85 by close of trade on Friday, gaining 0.55% over the week. The pair is likely to find support at 81.82, Friday’s low and resistance at 83.46, the high of March 22.
EUR/USD weekly outlook: April 2 - 6
The euro rose against the U.S. dollar on Friday, paring some of the week’s losses as renewed hopes of progress in tackling the euro zone’s debt crisis supported the single currency after finance ministers agreed to strengthen the region’s bailout fund for indebted countries. EUR/USD hit 1.3251 on Thursday, the pair’s lowest since March 26; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3342 by close of trade on Friday, rising 0.54% over the week. The pair is likely to find support at 1.3251, the low of March 29 and resistance at 1.3384, the high of March 27.
Crude oil futures - Weekly outlook: April 2 - 6
Crude oil prices edged modestly higher on Friday, bouncing off a six-week low as risk sentiment was boosted after euro zone finance ministers agreed to strengthen the region’s debt firewall, while investors continued to monitor tensions between Western powers and Iran. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in May settled at USD102.97 a barrel by close of trade on Friday, dropping 3.53% over the week. Crude oil futures gained 4.2% in the first quarter, which follows a 25% increase in the fourth quarter of 2011. Prices fell to as low as USD102.12 a barrel on Thursday, the lowest since February 16 as ongoing speculation Western nations were considering the release of supplies from emergency reserves and fears over the global economic outlook weighed.
Grain futures - Weekly outlook: April 2 - 6
OTGFX - U.S. grain futures soared on Friday, staging their biggest rally of the year following the release of a pair of highly-anticipated reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA on Friday released two closely-watched reports, one detailing how much grain is in domestic storage as of March 1 and the other projecting how many acres farmers will plant this spring of major crops such as corn, soybeans and wheat. On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, soybeans for May delivery settled at USD14.0188 a bushel by close of trade Friday. On the week, prices rose 2.64%.
Natural gas futures - Weekly outlook: April 2 - 6
Natural gas prices ended the week sharply lower on Friday, falling to a ten-year low for the second consecutive day as the bearish sentiment on the heating fuel remained intact amid ongoing concerns over elevated U.S. storage levels. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in May settled at USD2.120 per million British thermal units by close of trade on Friday, tumbling 11.45% over the week. That's the lowest finish for the commodity since February 6, 2002. On the quarter, natural gas prices plummeted 29%, notching its five consecutive quarterly loss and its worst three-month period since the first quarter of 2010.
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