India Clears Oil Debts To Iran

by javaid malik

The Iranian Ambassador to New Delhi Seyyed Mahdi Nabizadeh says India has cleared all its debt over crude oil imports from Iran.

“At this stage, we (Iran and India) managed to resolve the issues regarding money transfer between Iran and India by offering good solutions and despite European and particularly US sanctions,” IRNA quoted Nabizadeh as saying on Sunday.
He added that there exist problems in non-oil trade regarding opening Letters of Credit (LC) but the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have held negotiations, which can help remove these obstacles.
Nabizadeh also said India will pay for part of its oil imports from Iran in rupees. 

HSBC Has Contingency Plans For Greek Euro-Exit

by javaid malik

LONDON –  HSBC Holding PLC (HBC), Europe‘s largest bank, has set out contingency plans for its 15 Greek branches to cope with a return of the drachma, reports the Independent on Sunday newspaper, citing the bank’s Finance Director Iain Mackay.
The bank has made “preparations at multiple levels” to cope with the currency’s re-emergence from an 11-year hibernation should Greece leave the euro, said Mackay, who was speaking after the company’s recent investor day.
HSBC has already reduced its exposure to Greece but has also trained staff at its branch network to be ready should the worst happen. This includes work to manage Information Technology systems, branch funding, how to deal with customers and how to update ATM systems to dispense drachmas, according to the report.

Live Rates

http://fxinformer.fxcorporate.com/informer/grid_new/static.swf

The Australian dollar (AUD)

by javaid malik

Aussie (AUD) Approaching Resistance Vs. USD!

The Australian dollar (AUD) is probably the best proxy for risk appetite in the forex market as it is one of the most heavily carry-traded pairs because of the high interest rate in Australia.  One of the other reasons is because the Aussie dollar is also a de-facto proxy of Chinese growth as China is the largest importer of Australian goods and raw materials.

Forex Market Outlook 1/12/12

by javaid malik

Draghi’s speech today should be supportive of the EU economy.

Well it looks like we’re dodging bullets in the financial markets today as just about every possible risk event came in with a positive result for risk appetite so that’s exactly what we are seeing today. Yesterday I mentioned the volatility of the markets and how yesterday’s down day was really nothing more than fear as there was little new information to change sentiment.

Euro Close To A Double-Bottom?

by javaid malik

As the Euro approaches 1.265 vs. USD

There is a fine line between trying to pick bottoms and attempting to find support in a down-trending market.  Bottom-picking is generally a “no-no”, but using support to potentially find a market reversal is a time tested technique used by the pros.

However, the devil is in the details and the techniques used can be the difference between sound trading strategy and poor judgement.

Gold Higher Toward $1700!

Gold has traditionally been seen as a hedge against inflation

Gold is by far the most interesting and difficult investment to handicap and analyze from a fundamental perspective as it has dual properties that can sometimes be seemingly in conflict with one another.

Eyes Are On Greece

The G-20 Meeting
by javaid malik

Once again all eyes are on Greece this morning as we are running the gamut of Greek theater.  First we saw the drama unfold during the painstaking debt crisis resolution and now we’re watching the comedy of errors that is taking place with misstep after misstep.  Will we eventually see the tragedy?  And whom would it end up being tragic for: the Euro zone or Greece itself.

Gold Sells Off On German Court Decision!

Gold Sells Off On German Court Decision!

by javaid malik| September 7, 2011

The safe-haven properties of gold have been invoked by the market for some time now, but especially after Switzerland has attempted to close for business. As fewer safe-havens options become available, gold becomes the beneficiary.

Lousy Jobs Data

Stocks Tank On Lousy Jobs Data!

On Sep 2, 2011 01:29:42 GMT

Check out the volatility on the chart below of the CFD of the S&P 500 stock index!  Wow, when the awful NFP report showed ZERO jobs created, teh market initially spike higher on the hope that Bernanke and the Fed will be lauching QE3 shortly.

However, while that may be the case, no one is expecting that to occur this minute, so selling is in order and that’s what we’ve seen.  A 20-handle move in less than 5 minutes is extraordinary, and it is unlikely that this sentiment will change dramatically ahead of the long, holiday weekend.