Euro showed early signs of technical reversal

The Euro showed early signs of technical reversal through an eventful week of trading, setting fresh yearly peaks versus the US Dollar yet finishing lower through Friday’s close. Strong rallies in the US S&P 500 and other key risk barometers led the single currency to impressive highs against most major counterparts. Yet a late-week breakdown in risk sentiment sparked a flight to safety across forex markets—much to the Euro’s detriment. Near-term Euro forecasts will very much depend on the trajectory of said asset classes, and a busy global economic calendar promises no shortage of volatility through the week ahead. The Euro remains in fairly well-defined 6-month uptrend, and we would hardly argue that several days of declines signal that it has set a major top. Yet it is undeniable that the EUR/USD lost much of its short-term momentum—having broken below short-term technical support and threatening further declines. Fundamentals will likely play a fairly significant role in the days ahead as the combination of German and US Employment figures will shed a great deal of light on economic conditions in both key countries. The reports may confirm recent waves of economic optimism or cut celebrations short. Reasonably steady improvements in fundamental data have made for lofty market forecasts across most economic releases, and a string of disappointments could easily force noteworthy corrections across major financial markets. Early-week German Consumer Price Index numbers and Euro Zone Consumer Confidence figures could produce surprises, but most traders look forward to market-moving German Unemployment Change figures due Wednesday. Previous results showed unemployment actually fell for the second consecutive month through August, but the numbers were clouded by government stimulus payments inducing firms to keep workers on their payrolls. Forecasts for September results call for a far less sanguine 20k jump in unemployment. Given that Germany is largely considered the bellwether for the broader Euro Zone economy, any disappointments could led to a noteworthy correction in the Euro exchange rate. Friday’s US Nonfarm payrolls result could likewise have a pronounced effect on Euro pairs. US and European markets have proven especially sensitive to major surprises in the monthly payrolls number. Consensus forecasts call for the eighth-consecutive improvement in the jobs release, and any disappointments could clearly make a dent in broader forecasts for growth out of the world’s largest economy. The critical question remains whether we can expect further equity market gains. Much like the Euro, the S&P 500 showed early signs of reversal through late-week trade. A continuation of said tumbles could easily force the Euro to move in kind.

Overall earnings plunged 85 percent to $98.9 billion

NEW YORK: Exxon Mobil Corp. unseated Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in the 2009 Fortune 500 list, shrugging off the oil price bubble and weathering what the magazine called the worst year ever for the country's largest publicly traded companies.Fortune's closely watched list, released Sunday, ranked companies by their revenue in 2008. Irving, Texas-based Exxon took in $442.85 billion in revenue last year, up almost 19 percent from 2007. The company also raked in the biggest annual profit, earning $45.2 billion.Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart had held the top spot for six of the last seven years but fell to No. 2 this year. Still, the retail giant's 2008 revenue climbed 7 percent to $405.6 billion, as the battered economy sent more consumers searching for bargains. The world's largest retailer took in $13.4 billion in annual profit, an increase of about 5 percent.Although it may have been a good year for Exxon and Wal-Mart, 2008 was far from rosy for most of remaining companies on the list. Overall earnings plunged 85 percent to $98.9 billion from $645 billion in 2007, the biggest one-year decline in the 55-year history of the Fortune 500 list."America is getting used to the sound of bubbles bursting," Fortune said.Energy companies continued to dominate many of the top positions, as last summer's skyrocketing oil and gas prices more than compensated for their plunge later that fall. Chevron Corp. held on to third place with $263.16 billion in revenue, up 25 percent. ConocoPhillips climbed one place to fourth, with $230.76 billion in revenue.General Electric Co., the diverse conglomerate whose troubled financial arm has been weighing on recent results, rose one notch to fifth. Battered automaker General Motors Corp. fell two spots to sixth, as revenue fell 18 percent and losses totaled $30.86 billion amid the imploding car market. Crosstown rival Ford Motor Co. followed, with $146.28 billion in revenue.Telecom giant AT&T Inc. moved up two notches to take eighth place, with Hewlett-Packard Co. and Valero Energy Corp. rounding out the top 10.Among the hardest hit in 2008 were financial services companies, Fortune said. Banks, securities firms and insurers took cumulative losses of $213.4 billion, accounting for almost 70 percent of the total dollar decline from the peak year of 2006, the magazine said. Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp., which were No. 8 and No. 9 respectively last year, each slipped a couple notches from the Top 10.Thirty-eight companies fell off this year's list, including financial firms Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Washington Mutual Inc. and Wachovia Corp., all of which have either gone under or been acquired by rival banks.Engineering and construction company URS Corp. moved the most up the list, leaping 185 spots to No. 264. But the title of "biggest loser" went to AIG Corp. The insurer, which has received more than $180 billion in government bailout aid since last fall, fell 232 spots to 245 in this year's ranking.

The SEC also proposed rules to ban "flash trading"

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said agencies must disclose more information on past ratings to help investors make informed judgements.
The agencies, which give firms ratings to determine how safe an investment they may be, have been criticised for their role in the financial crisis.
The dominant agency firms include Standard & Poor's, Moody's, and Fitch.
'Flash trading' moves
Head of the SEC, Mary Schapiro, said that investors' reliance on agency ratings "did not serve them well over the last several years".
Earlier this year, credit rating agencies admitted errors were made when assessing some of the financial instruments that have been blamed for the credit crunch.
The agencies have been accused of failing to spot the size and risk of the bad US housing debt that was resold around the world, causing multi-billion-pound losses.
They gave high ratings to sub-prime mortgage investment vehicles that later turned out to be incorrect.
The SEC also proposed rules to ban "flash trading" - the process where certain financial institutions gain access to trading information seconds before it is made public.

Execution and money management is automatic

FXDDAuto provides FXDD clients a fully automated trading system that executes signals and strategies from third party signal providers in an FXDD trading account.

With the FXDD Auto platform, traders have the ability to monitor, control and configure trades from signal providers. A trader's presence is not required to enter or exit trades. Execution and money management is automatic, and includes trailing stop losses, stop and limit orders and trade updates.
Trading the world currency markets were only available to large banks and institutions until recent times. Now thanks to the internet the same opportunity is now available to anyone with an internet connection. Currency trading can be very profitable and it is very easy to learn how to trade currency online.The currency markets or foreign exchange is often called the forex. One of the fastest ways to learn to trade the forex is to sign up with for a free demo account with a forex broker and dive in and start trading. Most forex brokers will provide free demo accounts loaded with play money that they will give you for practicing.With a demo you can start playing around with it and see first hand how the markets work. You can hit your buy and sell buttons and see what happens. At this point it doesn't matter if the demo makes or loses money since it's not real. But it works just like a real money account and will show you exactly how forex trading works.After you start to get a feel for how forex trading works then you can start searching for more information. Since you have some experience now the information you seek and find will have more relevance to you. There are many online courses that will teach you to trade but some can be quite expensive. Courses can be good but a lot of information can be found in books or free on the internet.Although forex trading is simple, it can take a while for many traders to develop the good trading habits and discipline that is most import to having success with trading. Be sure and give yourself plenty of time to practice on a demo and prove to yourself that you can make money before trading with real money.For most new traders it can take months or even a year or two before they get good enough to maintain consistent profits. But this doesn't mean you can't make money right away with forex trading. Automated forex trading is becoming increasingly popular and can bring you immediate profitable trading. Automated forex trading uses computer programs called expert advisors or robots to trade your account for you.Expert advisers can be bought inexpensively, are easy to set up and if you get a good one they can be much more consistent than most human traders. After they are set up they trade using a system and do it all on autopilot. You can host them on either your own computer or a remote server.If you want to learn how to trade currency online start with a demo where you can get some immediate real life experience on how the markets work. Be sure and give yourself plenty of time to go through the learning curve before using real money. If you want to make money now with forex trading use an expert adviser to trade your account for you.

Forex trading systems should be on your list of consideration

If you looking for a way to increase your income in a relatively short period, Forex trading systems should be on your list of consideration. In the past decade since they were first introduced there dependability and reliability has improved significantly. Presently there are over one hundred systems available for public use.Out of those one hundred currency trading systems, there are a select few that are very high quality. From that select few, there are two products that I think are exceptional software systems and they currently dominate the sales figures within the industry. They are so successful because they deliver to the customers what they promise.Please don't misunderstand me, you simply can not upload a Forex software system to your computer today and begin to make money tomorrow. I wished it worked that way, unfortunately it doesn't. These are TOOLS to help you make money and you need to learn how to operate these tools.Each of these software products has numerous programmable options to allow its users the flexibility of managing there investments according to there individual risk tolerance level. In other words, one person might be willing to accept a higher risk if it means a corresponding larger reward. Where as the next person, might want a low risk factor and for that safety level they are willing to have smaller returns on there investment.Which ever type of investor you are the Forex trading systems I am recommending willing meet your needs. But, to ensure long term profitability I advice you to open a demo Forex account and practice until you are achieving the financial results you are expecting. The systems I use each day to make my living with are named Fap Turbo and Forex MegaDroid. When you have some time, why not review there websites and see what they can do for you if you dedicate yourself to learning how to operate the software?Perhaps the best advice that you will receive in your trading career is live to trade another day. Currency markets are volatile, brutal and unforgiving. You should learn to survive in the markets.The single most common factor that causes many traders to blow up their accounts is greed. When you get greedy, you start taking unnecessary risks. You will spend countless hours trying to discover the Holy Grail technical indictor or a forex robot that will make you rich. You believe that by discovering that secret of investing, you will become rich without losing a single trade.Unfortunately there is no Holy Grail for anyone in trading. You will win and you will lose. So you must learn not to risk more than 2% of your account on one trade. Grow your account incrementally over time. Never ever be tempted to risk big, making one single winning trade that can make you rich.Now, know how much you are willing to risk in a single trade. I have said 2%. But if you want to be aggressive you can go up to 5%. But stay between 2-5%. Don't exceed it. On the other hand, if you are conservative, you should consider risking between 1-2% only.Once you have decided on the risk you are willing to take, knowing the rest is simple. Suppose you have a $50,000 account and you decide on a risk of 2%. How much you can risk on a single trade? You can only risk (50,000) (0.02) =$1,000. This is the maximum you should risk on a single trade.However, if you are going to trade more than one position at the same time, the amount may become higher. Let's assume you are in 3 trades at the same time trading three currency pairs! You should risk only $1,000 per trade. So your total money at risk will be (3) (1000) =$3,000. Once you have calculated your risk, you are can determine the trade size.Trade size is the number of contracts you purchase in any one single trade. You need to first determine where you want to put your stop loss in order to determine the trade size. Let's use a simple example to make it clear. Suppose you are willing to risk $1000 on trading EUR/USD pair and you decide on a stop loss of 50 pips. Each pip on EUR/USD pair is equal to $10. So the number of contracts that you can trade are 2= (1,000)/ (50) (10).You have taken the guesswork out of your trading once you have determined your risk level and calculated the trade size. You can sleep well now knowing how much of your money is at risk. You are going to be able to trade tomorrow, no matter what happens today.Using these common and simple money management rules will help you avoid the pitfall of losing almost all the money in your account. Never ever take more than 2-5% risk in any single trade. Learning to survive the markets and trading another day is the essence of trading. This can help take your trading to the next level of profitability.Rollovers occur when a transaction continues for more than two days, and the Forex trading order is automatically rolled over to the next day.Because the Forex trading market is a spot market, where trandsaction are made instantaneously, trades must settle in two business days. But don’t worry… You don’t have to sell everything after two days! This is exactly why we have the option for Forex trading rollovers.In Forex system trading you have the option of a rollover, so that your transaction will remain relevant for two more days. Forex trading Rollover can happen every two days, so your investment stays indefinitely.Rollover Charges and Interest RatesEvery rollover has a certain transaction cost, which is set according to the Forex site and software you are using. This information needs to be looked over before you invest, so there won't be any surprises.Rollover charges are different according to the currency you invest in, and this should also come into account when deciding how to trade.Forex trading Rollovers occur when the NY trading market closes at 17:00 ET. Traders sometimes earn interests on rollovers. US interest rates, for example, are higher than Japan's, so if you are holding a long USD/JPY you will be able to accumulate interest for the rollover. On the other hand, holding the JPY will means paying interest on the rollover.When the rollover is made, the currency can also move up or down for a few pips, so also take that into account when you notice changes in the Forex currency the day after.

A lot of people who plunge into the forex trading

"I realized several years back the FOREX is the best opportunity available to every day people like me to build a sound financial future. See you in the trade rooms.""2006 is the year of financial freedom for me - "I can feel it in my bones." I know it's coming and I know that forex trading is the key. Once I learn to master this skill my life never be the same - none of our lives will.""I'm 18 years old, and im interested in doingcurrency trading. I have no previous experience in FX training, trading, or any other type related to this, but i hope to catch on quickly. I've wanted to invest in real estate since I was 14, and have studied it on and off since then, but I think this is agreater financial and career establishing opportunity, and im trying to learn as much as I can.""I have no experience in the financial world I don't even balance the check book! BUT I do know that I can do this and so can you!! So far I have been successful...I promise its not hard.""I come into this enterprise with miniscule experience as a trader and just enough knowledge about fx to lose my shirt in 5 minutes or less. I’m here to learn a workable system for foreign exchange trading. I like the concept of being ableto make money from anywhere I can take my laptop.""I am new to forex trading. My expectation in this course is to build a base of understanding and knowledge of the forex exchange. My goal is to learn how to trade effectively to retire from my 9-5 within the next three years if not sooner. My challenge is to leave emotions out and follow the fundamental rules to become a successful trader.""I have been with FXT since February 2005 and have enjoyed the program very much. My wife and I have been busy learning how to be successful traders over the last few months. Our goals are to become financially successful so we can provide more for our church and spread the Lord's word acorss the world. May God bless us all abundantly through this wonderful program.""I am new to Forex Trading. I've played the HYIP game and I look forward to learning a skill that will provide me the opportunity to be successful based on how I apply what I have learned. Success is a choice and I plan on being successful.""I am a retired airline pilot who has done a little commodity trading in the past, however, have always been very intrigued by the FX market. Now that I have completed the beginner's and advanced training from FXT, I am doing a review with the new Interactive Training Modules. I'm pleased to report that I am already having success in live trading, and am VERY excited about the FX market and the FXT products and business!What a fantastic opportunity!""I am looking forward to learning and trading the forex market. Some years ago, I traded options with some success, but discovered the forex market could be more rewarding. So looking forward to learning.""I joined one month ago and have been in corporate chat rooms. I am up over 130 pips and really just learning! I spent over $7000 on other systems and training and couldn't make money. FXT is FANTASTIC!""I found out about forex while looking for a new career. I have bookkeeping experience but thats about it! I love the concept of this type of trading and look forward to learning the skills and "enjoying the game"."I'm very excited to learn about Forex. I want to build my skills so that I can generate enough from Forex to raise my kids and sustain a nice life style as well as have time to help others.""I started with FXT about 3 weeks ago and I am excited to have an opportunity to learn how to be a FX Trader the right way. At 58 I feel like I am going to college for the first time, but my mentor has made me feel quite comfortable here. I feel I have finally found a home with FXT and working in the FX currency market.""I am looking forward to opportunity and education that is offered by FxT. The interaction that the business provides through this learning center and the potential for positively changing your life is exciting."The global Forex market which is widely known as the foreign exchange or the currency trading market has become one of the most popular markets to deal with in the last few years. With the increase in the global economy, a lot of people have started trading in Forex. Prior to this, the economy was not spread over all the countries. It is now possible for people to convert large sum of money into different currencies. This market is the largest in the world and includes all kinds of investors including banks, other financial institutions and other individual investors. The daily volume of trade in the forex market exceeds four trillion dollars and hence it appears to be quite a lucrative market to venture in.There are quite a few things that would separate the forex trading from the conventional markets. The trading volume differs greatly and then follows the other factors such as the exchange rates and lower profits. Hence a lot of people are turning towards the global foreign exchange market to beat the competition and this market has a demonstrated track record of its increase since 2001.The other way in which the forex market differs from the traditional market is that here the inter-bank market is at the top of the pyramid. Unlike the stock options, the investors to not have a same access to all the prices. It differs greatly. As the level of access is decreased, the difference between the asking price and the bidding price also increases. Hence it is still possible for someone with lower access to earn large amounts of money.At the same time as there is no central market involved in forex, there are no specific regulations that control the exchange. Global trading system in forex includes quite a lot of countries and hence compiles an intertwined market. Therefore there is not much of the single trading system here considering the scores of different prices and rates. These differences in the exchange have a direct effect on the gross domestic product, the inflation rates as well as the trade and the budgets of the economic transactions.There are a lot of people who plunge into the forex trading market in order to invest large sum of money and with the intention of making more money from it. This financial market is still on a rise, despite the recessive economy all around the world. A lot of new invest"I realized several years back the FOREX is the best opportunity available to every day people like me to build a sound financial future. See you in the trade rooms.""2006 is the year of financial freedom for me - "I can feel it in my bones." I know it's coming and I know that forex trading is the key. Once I learn to master this skill my life never be the same - none of our lives will.""I'm 18 years old, and im interested in doingcurrency trading. I have no previous experience in FX training, trading, or any other type related to this, but i hope to catch on quickly. I've wanted to invest in real estate since I was 14, and have studied it on and off since then, but I think this is agreater financial and career establishing opportunity, and im trying to learn as much as I can.""I have no experience in the financial world I don't even balance the check book! BUT I do know that I can do this and so can you!! So far I have been successful...I promise its not hard.""I come into this enterprise with miniscule experience as a trader and just enough knowledge about fx to lose my shirt in 5 minutes or less. I’m here to learn a workable system for foreign exchange trading. I like the concept of being ableto make money from anywhere I can take my laptop.""I am new to forex trading. My expectation in this course is to build a base of understanding and knowledge of the forex exchange. My goal is to learn how to trade effectively to retire from my 9-5 within the next three years if not sooner. My challenge is to leave emotions out and follow the fundamental rules to become a successful trader.""I have been with FXT since February 2005 and have enjoyed the program very much. My wife and I have been busy learning how to be successful traders over the last few months. Our goals are to become financially successful so we can provide more for our church and spread the Lord's word acorss the world. May God bless us all abundantly through this wonderful program.""I am new to Forex Trading. I've played the HYIP game and I look forward to learning a skill that will provide me the opportunity to be successful based on how I apply what I have learned. Success is a choice and I plan on being successful.""I am a retired airline pilot who has done a little commodity trading in the past, however, have always been very intrigued by the FX market. Now that I have completed the beginner's and advanced training from FXT, I am doing a review with the new Interactive Training Modules. I'm pleased to report that I am already having success in live trading, and am VERY excited about the FX market and the FXT products and business!What a fantastic opportunity!""I am looking forward to learning and trading the forex market. Some years ago, I traded options with some success, but discovered the forex market could be more rewarding. So looking forward to learning.""I joined one month ago and have been in corporate chat rooms. I am up over 130 pips and really just learning! I spent over $7000 on other systems and training and couldn't make money. FXT is FANTASTIC!""I found out about forex while looking for a new career. I have bookkeeping experience but thats about it! I love the concept of this type of trading and look forward to learning the skills and "enjoying the game"."I'm very excited to learn about Forex. I want to build my skills so that I can generate enough from Forex to raise my kids and sustain a nice life style as well as have time to help others.""I started with FXT about 3 weeks ago and I am excited to have an opportunity to learn how to be a FX Trader the right way. At 58 I feel like I am going to college for the first time, but my mentor has made me feel quite comfortable here. I feel I have finally found a home with FXT and working in the FX currency market.""I am looking forward to opportunity and education that is offered by FxT. The interaction that the business provides through this learning center and the potential for positively changing your life is exciting."The global Forex market which is widely known as the foreign exchange or the currency trading market has become one of the most popular markets to deal with in the last few years. With the increase in the global economy, a lot of people have started trading in Forex. Prior to this, the economy was not spread over all the countries. It is now possible for people to convert large sum of money into different currencies. This market is the largest in the world and includes all kinds of investors including banks, other financial institutions and other individual investors. The daily volume of trade in the forex market exceeds four trillion dollars and hence it appears to be quite a lucrative market to venture in.There are quite a few things that would separate the forex trading from the conventional markets. The trading volume differs greatly and then follows the other factors such as the exchange rates and lower profits. Hence a lot of people are turning towards the global foreign exchange market to beat the competition and this market has a demonstrated track record of its increase since 2001.The other way in which the forex market differs from the traditional market is that here the inter-bank market is at the top of the pyramid. Unlike the stock options, the investors to not have a same access to all the prices. It differs greatly. As the level of access is decreased, the difference between the asking price and the bidding price also increases. Hence it is still possible for someone with lower access to earn large amounts of money.At the same time as there is no central market involved in forex, there are no specific regulations that control the exchange. Global trading system in forex includes quite a lot of countries and hence compiles an intertwined market. Therefore there is not much of the single trading system here considering the scores of different prices and rates. These differences in the exchange have a direct effect on the gross domestic product, the inflation rates as well as the trade and the budgets of the economic transactions.There are a lot of people who plunge into the forex trading market in order to invest large sum of money and with the intention of making more money from it. This financial market is still on a rise, despite the recessive economy all around the world. A lot of new invest"I realized several years back the FOREX is the best opportunity available to every day people like me to build a sound financial future. See you in the trade rooms.""2006 is the year of financial freedom for me - "I can feel it in my bones." I know it's coming and I know that forex trading is the key. Once I learn to master this skill my life never be the same - none of our lives will.""I'm 18 years old, and im interested in doingcurrency trading. I have no previous experience in FX training, trading, or any other type related to this, but i hope to catch on quickly. I've wanted to invest in real estate since I was 14, and have studied it on and off since then, but I think this is agreater financial and career establishing opportunity, and im trying to learn as much as I can.""I have no experience in the financial world I don't even balance the check book! BUT I do know that I can do this and so can you!! So far I have been successful...I promise its not hard.""I come into this enterprise with miniscule experience as a trader and just enough knowledge about fx to lose my shirt in 5 minutes or less. I’m here to learn a workable system for foreign exchange trading. I like the concept of being ableto make money from anywhere I can take my laptop.""I am new to forex trading. My expectation in this course is to build a base of understanding and knowledge of the forex exchange. My goal is to learn how to trade effectively to retire from my 9-5 within the next three years if not sooner. My challenge is to leave emotions out and follow the fundamental rules to become a successful trader.""I have been with FXT since February 2005 and have enjoyed the program very much. My wife and I have been busy learning how to be successful traders over the last few months. Our goals are to become financially successful so we can provide more for our church and spread the Lord's word acorss the world. May God bless us all abundantly through this wonderful program.""I am new to Forex Trading. I've played the HYIP game and I look forward to learning a skill that will provide me the opportunity to be successful based on how I apply what I have learned. Success is a choice and I plan on being successful.""I am a retired airline pilot who has done a little commodity trading in the past, however, have always been very intrigued by the FX market. Now that I have completed the beginner's and advanced training from FXT, I am doing a review with the new Interactive Training Modules. I'm pleased to report that I am already having success in live trading, and am VERY excited about the FX market and the FXT products and business!What a fantastic opportunity!""I am looking forward to learning and trading the forex market. Some years ago, I traded options with some success, but discovered the forex market could be more rewarding. So looking forward to learning.""I joined one month ago and have been in corporate chat rooms. I am up over 130 pips and really just learning! I spent over $7000 on other systems and training and couldn't make money. FXT is FANTASTIC!""I found out about forex while looking for a new career. I have bookkeeping experience but thats about it! I love the concept of this type of trading and look forward to learning the skills and "enjoying the game"."I'm very excited to learn about Forex. I want to build my skills so that I can generate enough from Forex to raise my kids and sustain a nice life style as well as have time to help others.""I started with FXT about 3 weeks ago and I am excited to have an opportunity to learn how to be a FX Trader the right way. At 58 I feel like I am going to college for the first time, but my mentor has made me feel quite comfortable here. I feel I have finally found a home with FXT and working in the FX currency market.""I am looking forward to opportunity and education that is offered by FxT. The interaction that the business provides through this learning center and the potential for positively changing your life is exciting."The global Forex market which is widely known as the foreign exchange or the currency trading market has become one of the most popular markets to deal with in the last few years. With the increase in the global economy, a lot of people have started trading in Forex. Prior to this, the economy was not spread over all the countries. It is now possible for people to convert large sum of money into different currencies. This market is the largest in the world and includes all kinds of investors including banks, other financial institutions and other individual investors. The daily volume of trade in the forex market exceeds four trillion dollars and hence it appears to be quite a lucrative market to venture in.There are quite a few things that would separate the forex trading from the conventional markets. The trading volume differs greatly and then follows the other factors such as the exchange rates and lower profits. Hence a lot of people are turning towards the global foreign exchange market to beat the competition and this market has a demonstrated track record of its increase since 2001.The other way in which the forex market differs from the traditional market is that here the inter-bank market is at the top of the pyramid. Unlike the stock options, the investors to not have a same access to all the prices. It differs greatly. As the level of access is decreased, the difference between the asking price and the bidding price also increases. Hence it is still possible for someone with lower access to earn large amounts of money.At the same time as there is no central market involved in forex, there are no specific regulations that control the exchange. Global trading system in forex includes quite a lot of countries and hence compiles an intertwined market. Therefore there is not much of the single trading system here considering the scores of different prices and rates. These differences in the exchange have a direct effect on the gross domestic product, the inflation rates as well as the trade and the budgets of the economic transactions.There are a lot of people who plunge into the forex trading market in order to invest large sum of money and with the intention of making more money from it. This financial market is still on a rise, despite the recessive economy all around the world. A lot of new invest"I realized several years back the FOREX is the best opportunity available to every day people like me to build a sound financial future. See you in the trade rooms.""2006 is the year of financial freedom for me - "I can feel it in my bones." I know it's coming and I know that forex trading is the key. Once I learn to master this skill my life never be the same - none of our lives will.""I'm 18 years old, and im interested in doingcurrency trading. I have no previous experience in FX training, trading, or any other type related to this, but i hope to catch on quickly. I've wanted to invest in real estate since I was 14, and have studied it on and off since then, but I think this is agreater financial and career establishing opportunity, and im trying to learn as much as I can.""I have no experience in the financial world I don't even balance the check book! BUT I do know that I can do this and so can you!! So far I have been successful...I promise its not hard.""I come into this enterprise with miniscule experience as a trader and just enough knowledge about fx to lose my shirt in 5 minutes or less. I’m here to learn a workable system for foreign exchange trading. I like the concept of being ableto make money from anywhere I can take my laptop.""I am new to forex trading. My expectation in this course is to build a base of understanding and knowledge of the forex exchange. My goal is to learn how to trade effectively to retire from my 9-5 within the next three years if not sooner. My challenge is to leave emotions out and follow the fundamental rules to become a successful trader.""I have been with FXT since February 2005 and have enjoyed the program very much. My wife and I have been busy learning how to be successful traders over the last few months. Our goals are to become financially successful so we can provide more for our church and spread the Lord's word acorss the world. May God bless us all abundantly through this wonderful program.""I am new to Forex Trading. I've played the HYIP game and I look forward to learning a skill that will provide me the opportunity to be successful based on how I apply what I have learned. Success is a choice and I plan on being successful.""I am a retired airline pilot who has done a little commodity trading in the past, however, have always been very intrigued by the FX market. Now that I have completed the beginner's and advanced training from FXT, I am doing a review with the new Interactive Training Modules. I'm pleased to report that I am already having success in live trading, and am VERY excited about the FX market and the FXT products and business!What a fantastic opportunity!""I am looking forward to learning and trading the forex market. Some years ago, I traded options with some success, but discovered the forex market could be more rewarding. So looking forward to learning.""I joined one month ago and have been in corporate chat rooms. I am up over 130 pips and really just learning! I spent over $7000 on other systems and training and couldn't make money. FXT is FANTASTIC!""I found out about forex while looking for a new career. I have bookkeeping experience but thats about it! I love the concept of this type of trading and look forward to learning the skills and "enjoying the game"."I'm very excited to learn about Forex. I want to build my skills so that I can generate enough from Forex to raise my kids and sustain a nice life style as well as have time to help others.""I started with FXT about 3 weeks ago and I am excited to have an opportunity to learn how to be a FX Trader the right way. At 58 I feel like I am going to college for the first time, but my mentor has made me feel quite comfortable here. I feel I have finally found a home with FXT and working in the FX currency market.""I am looking forward to opportunity and education that is offered by FxT. The interaction that the business provides through this learning center and the potential for positively changing your life is exciting."The global Forex market which is widely known as the foreign exchange or the currency trading market has become one of the most popular markets to deal with in the last few years. With the increase in the global economy, a lot of people have started trading in Forex. Prior to this, the economy was not spread over all the countries. It is now possible for people to convert large sum of money into different currencies. This market is the largest in the world and includes all kinds of investors including banks, other financial institutions and other individual investors. The daily volume of trade in the forex market exceeds four trillion dollars and hence it appears to be quite a lucrative market to venture in.There are quite a few things that would separate the forex trading from the conventional markets. The trading volume differs greatly and then follows the other factors such as the exchange rates and lower profits. Hence a lot of people are turning towards the global foreign exchange market to beat the competition and this market has a demonstrated track record of its increase since 2001.The other way in which the forex market differs from the traditional market is that here the inter-bank market is at the top of the pyramid. Unlike the stock options, the investors to not have a same access to all the prices. It differs greatly. As the level of access is decreased, the difference between the asking price and the bidding price also increases. Hence it is still possible for someone with lower access to earn large amounts of money.At the same time as there is no central market involved in forex, there are no specific regulations that control the exchange. Global trading system in forex includes quite a lot of countries and hence compiles an intertwined market. Therefore there is not much of the single trading system here considering the scores of different prices and rates. These differences in the exchange have a direct effect on the gross domestic product, the inflation rates as well as the trade and the budgets of the economic transactions.There are a lot of people who plunge into the forex trading market in order to invest large sum of money and with the intention of making more money from it. This financial market is still on a rise, despite the recessive economy all around the world.

About Forex trading

Forex trading also known as currency trading refers to a series of transactions on foreign exchange markets used by investors for speculative or hedging purposes. A basic forex transaction consists in the simultaneous buying and selling of one currency against another. Currencies are thus traded in pairs (majors or crosses) for instance: the Euro against the US Dollar (EUR/USD) or the British Pound against the US Dollar (GBP/USD). For example, buying the pair EUR/USD at 1.3305 means that you need 1.3305 USD to buy one euro.Trading forex can also be described as speculating on the direction of one currency against another. You make profit when the market moves in your favor and you lose if the market moves against you. For example, you'll buy EUR/USD if you think that the Euro will strengthen against the US Dollar. Conversely, if you think the Euro will weaken compared to the US Dollar, then you will sell EUR/USD.Although it may seem easy at first glance, there is much more to forex than meets the eye. Predicting market moves is a complicated matter and that's why Finotec has its own online forex Education Center where you can learn Forex. With Finotec, you may also practice online trading by opening a Forex Demo Account. The simulation platform will allow you to trade with virtual money in real market conditions. Once you have acquired the skills to trade, use our wide range of tools and indicators to make wise and informed decisions for successful online forex trading.Forex: the largest financial market!The investor's goal in Forex trading is to profit from foreign currency movements. Forex trading or currency trading is always done in currency pairs. For example, the exchange rate of EUR/USD on Aug 26th, 2003 was 1.0857. This number is also referred to as a "Forex rate" or just "rate" for short. If the investor had bought 1000 euros on that date, he would have paid 1085.70 U.S. dollars. One year later, the Forex rate was 1.2083, which means that the value of the euro (the numerator of the EUR/USD ratio) increased in relation to the U.S. dollar. The investor could now sell the 1000 euros in order to receive 1208.30 dollars. Therefore, the investor would have USD 122.60 more than what he had started one year earlier. However, to know if the investor made a good investment, one needs to compare this investment option to alternative investments. At the very minimum, the return on investment (ROI) should be compared to the return on a "risk-free" investment. One example of a risk-free investment is long-term U.S. government bonds since there is practically no chance for a default, i.e. the U.S. government going bankrupt or being unable or unwilling to pay its debt obligation.also known as currency trading refers to a series of transactions on foreign exchange markets used by investors for speculative or hedging purposes. A basic forex transaction consists in the simultaneous buying and selling of one currency against another. Currencies are thus traded in pairs (majors or crosses) for instance: the Euro against the US Dollar (EUR/USD) or the British Pound against the US Dollar (GBP/USD). For example, buying the pair EUR/USD at 1.3305 means that you need 1.3305 USD to buy one euro.Trading forex can also be described as speculating on the direction of one currency against another. You make profit when the market moves in your favor and you lose if the market moves against you. For example, you'll buy EUR/USD if you think that the Euro will strengthen against the US Dollar. Conversely, if you think the Euro will weaken compared to the US Dollar, then you will sell EUR/USD.Although it may seem easy at first glance, there is much more to forex than meets the eye. Predicting market moves is a complicated matter and that's why Finotec has its own online forex Education Center where you can learn Forex. With Finotec, you may also practice online trading by opening a Forex Demo Account. The simulation platform will allow you to trade with virtual money in real market conditions. Once you have acquired the skills to trade, use our wide range of tools and indicators to make wise and informed decisions for successful online forex trading.Forex: the largest financial market!The investor's goal in Forex trading is to profit from foreign currency movements. Forex trading or currency trading is always done in currency pairs. For example, the exchange rate of EUR/USD on Aug 26th, 2003 was 1.0857. This number is also referred to as a "Forex rate" or just "rate" for short. If the investor had bought 1000 euros on that date, he would have paid 1085.70 U.S. dollars. One year later, the Forex rate was 1.2083, which means that the value of the euro (the numerator of the EUR/USD ratio) increased in relation to the U.S. dollar. The investor could now sell the 1000 euros in order to receive 1208.30 dollars. Therefore, the investor would have USD 122.60 more than what he had started one year earlier. However, to know if the investor made a good investment, one needs to compare this investment option to alternative investments. At the very minimum, the return on investment (ROI) should be compared to the return on a "risk-free" investment. One example of a risk-free investment is long-term U.S. government bonds since there is practically no chance for a default, i.e. the U.S. government going bankrupt or being unable or unwilling to pay its debt obligation.

Developing heavy crude oil resources

The move comes shortly after Venezuela signed a similar agreement with Russia, which is estimated to be $20bn (£12bn).
President Hugo Chavez said the deals would boost oil production in Venezuela by about 900,000 barrels per day.
Investors in Venezuela's oil industry have complained for months that a lack of government investment in infrastructure has hurt production.
Multi-polar world
Speaking on state television, Mr Chavez said the deal with China was over three years and that the investment would go towards developing heavy crude oil resources in the Orinoco River belt.
For President Chavez it is part of a wider effort to increase his base of bilateral partners in the oil industry.
The socialist leader often speaks of what he calls a "multi-polar world" in which Latin American countries are less dependent on Washington.
However, US companies and the US government are still the mainstay of the Venezuelan energy industry.
The Venezuelan leader will hope that these multibillion dollar deals, signed with countries which are more friendly to his "21st Century Socialist Revolution", will give him further economic independence from Washington.

Uzbekistan has fallen five places this year

On September 8, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) presented its annual report Doing Business 2010: Reforming through Difficult Times. Of the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, this year’s leader in streamlining business procedures was Kyrgyzstan, ranked 41 out of the 183 countries by the IFC study. Kazakhstan ranked 63, Uzbekistan 150 and Tajikistan, 152nd. The report looked at reforms implemented by each country since June 2008.
One of the report's authors, Svetlana Bagaudinova, stated that "the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia are ahead of other regions in the number of reforms undertaken to facilitate business procedures."
This year, Kyrgyzstan jumped 27 places in the world rankings and was ranked the second most active reformer. According to Neil Gregory, advisor for Financial and Private Sector Development in the World Bank Group, "Kyrgyzstan has shown for the second year running that it can make great strides in a broad range of indicators analysed in the report." He points out that "this year's ratings jump is the result of strong cooperation between the government, representatives of the private sector and donor organisations."
Lagging behind in 63rd place, Kazakhstan only moved up one spot from last year's rank. Bagaudinova noted however, that "one of the country's significant reforms this year has been to improve the business climate by lowering tax burdens on private companies." She also noted new streamlined procedures to obtain building permits, the repeal of installation fees for new connections to the electricity grid and a drop in the price of building site surveys. "It's clear that the government has focused on improving the business climate, and reforms that are in the pipeline for next year will place Kazakhstan in a higher ranking," Bagaudinova said.
In contrast, Uzbekistan has fallen five places this year, while Turkmenistan failed to make the cut and was not included in the rankings.

That expression first caused controversy in March

"The rich countries are more to blame because they did not have any regulation for their financial system," he said in an exclusive interview with the BBC on the global downturn.
President Lula has positioned himself as a kind of informal spokesperson for the developing world since the beginning of the crisis.
He has been defending what he perceives as the interests of the poor in places such as Latin America, Africa and Asia and asking for changes in the global financial system.
President Lula told the BBC that the governments of rich countries "knew how to give their opinion about everything related to the economy of the developing countries.
"But, when they felt the pain, they did not know how to act."
It was the rich who were responsible for the crisis
President Lula
His criticism was also directed at the international economic institutions.
"The IMF didn't have a solution, it wasn't sure and didn't have an answer," he said.
"The World Bank didn't have a solution, it wasn't sure and didn't have an answer. And the governments also didn't!"
'Blue-eyed bankers'
President Lula also insisted that the crisis was the creation of "white, blue-eyed bankers" in the rich world.
That expression first caused controversy in March, when the Brazilian leader used it while standing next to Gordon Brown during the UK prime minister's visit to Brasilia.
He was criticised for using the expression, considered by some to be inappropriate and bordering on racism.
During his recent interview, however, he was unrepentant.
"What I wanted to say is more noteworthy today than it was then. What I wanted to say was that it wasn't the indigenous or the black population who should pay the bill [for the crisis] but those really responsible, the blue-eyed bankers.
"It was the rich who were responsible for the crisis. And we weren't going to allow them to put the blame on the poor people of the world, as always happens when there is an economic crisis", President Lula said.
The president, however, seemed confident that the leaders of the G20 group of developed and emerging countries could find solutions if they kept working together.
They will meet again to discuss the crisis in the US city of Pittsburgh on 24 and 25 September, and Brazil is hoping to influence the debate, calling for further changes to the financial system.
'No legitimacy'
President Lula defended the group, arguing that the G20 was becoming an important forum for debating and finding solutions for the economy.
But he also argues that the group should widen its goals and start implementing policies to speed up development.
"I hope... that the poor of the world, the emerging countries, are not only called upon to resolve the problem of the crisis and then, when the crisis is over, the G20 will be dissolved and we go back to the G8," he said.
According to the Brazilian president, the G8 does not have the credibility to deal with the global economic challenges.
He said the G8 was "a closed club" which had "no legitimacy" to debate the current crisis.

IFC analysts note

TASHKENT — A survey by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of no less than 1300 Uzbek companies reveals that the country's private sector spends US$184 million each year on book-keeping, which is an enormous sum for the economy. More is spent on tax reports in one year than the government has spent in the last three years on cotton processing facilities.
The book-keeping required by Uzbekistan's tax authorities consumes 0.7 percent of the country's GDP, notes Vsevolod Payevskiy, director of an IFC project to improve Uzbekistan's business environment. Although keeping track of a company's indicators is essential, the Uzbek process exacts a heavy toll from private enterprises.
Uzbek businessmen are required to submit up to a dozen financial reports to authorities each year, each of which requires an average of ninety-five hours to compile. Another 40 hours or so are spent on statistical accounting. Since the average Uzbek private company has seven employees, these requirements mean that one of these employees works full-time on nothing but tax filings, statistical reports and other tax documents.
IFC analysts note that financial reporting has become extremely time-consuming in Uzbekistan, partly because of shortcomings in the country's tax code. This spring, parliament was forced to adopt a new version of the code because of countless disparities between the Uzbek- and Russian-language versions of the tax laws. According to IFC analysts, however, the revised versions still contain at least 80 discrepancies. These differences allow officials to interpret financial reporting requirements arbitrarily, which is one reason why Uzbekistan’s government ranks186 in the world for transparency.
The IFC has prepared eleven recommendations for improving the Uzbek tax code and has invited more than 500 tax inspectors from seven of the country's regions to attend training sessions on current methods of processing company reports.

Financing fictitious deals

KAZAKHSTAN — Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov suggested at a cabinet meeting on Aug. 18 that “audits be conducted to prevent fraud by bank executives.”
He said confidence in the integrity of bank managers had been undermined by instances of fraud recently discovered at two large banks, BTA and Alliance Bank. “The top four managers of the banks were swindlers,” Masimov said, and asserted that they had submitted false information to regulators.
BTA Chairman Mukhtar Ablyazov left Kazakhstan soon after the government bought shares in the bank at the start of the year under a memorandum signed by the government and shareholders, due to the risk of default. After new managers representing the state were appointed, authorities brought charges against Ablyazov and several members of his team, accusing them of financing fictitious deals. The Prosecutor General also accused the banker of misappropriating US$550,000.
The Financial Regulatory Agency found a discrepancy in the books at Alliance Bank that offered the state the controlling interest at the start of the year for a symbolic price of less than one U.S. dollar. The bank provided guarantees for fictitious contracts worth $1.1 billion that were funneled into offshore accounts.
There have been no arrests in the Alliance Bank case, but the regulator accused former Chairman Zhomart Yertayev of providing the guarantees. Chairman of the Board Margulan Seisembayev explained that this was Yertayev’s method for raising shareholder capital, but Financial Regulatory Agency Chair Yelena Bakhmutova considered this activity illegal. The bank had not received the permission required by Kazakh law to provide guarantees for those amounts.
Bakhmutova said the agency knew which measures were needed to prevent fraud. “Bank decisions should not be made by one individual, but by a board, and naturally, banks and financial organisations must have normal risk management systems in place. And only people with flawless business reputations should be named to executive positions, not just the board of directors and management, but shareholders as well,” she said.

The funds will be to develop new products and expand production by an extra 100,000 units in China.
Some 1.3bn euros of the investment will be used to raise output capacity in both Nanjing and Chengdu by 50,000 units to 350,000 each over two years.
Meanwhile, VW is also exploring the possibility of building cars in Malaysia with local automaker Proton
'Demand growing'
From 2012 Nanjing would also build three new models in addition to the Jetta and in Chengdu two new models on top of the Santana Vista.
The German carmaker, which sees China as its most important overseas market, also builds cars in Shanghai and in the northern Chinese city of Changchun.
"China is one of Volkswagen's most important markets worldwide," chief executive Martin Winterkorn said.
"Demand for our products is growing so fast that our capacity is no longer sufficient."

New calculations by the BBC

New calculations by the BBC, based on IMF data given to G20 finance ministers, shows these countries have spent a total of $10 trillion (£6tn).

The UK and US spent the most, with the UK spending far more, 94% of its GDP compared to 25% in the US.

That equates to £30,000 per person in the UK and $10,000 in the US.

Of course, most of this bail-out money was in the form of guarantees to the banking system, and as that system pulls out of the crisis, governments stand to recover most but not all of that money.

However, there are several other ways to measure the severity of the crisis which has led to the world falling into recession for the first time in 60 years.

They all show the extent of the damage and illustrate the point that the damage has been most severe for the rich countries - especially the US and the UK with their large financial sectors - who were at the heart of the crisis.

Private write offs

The private financial sector is estimated to have write-offs amounting to $4tn, of which two-thirds are losses suffered by the big international banks such as Citigroup or RBS.

nd although about half of these losses ($1.8tn) are write-offs of securities backed by sub-prime mortgages, the damage caused by the crisis has spread much wider to other banking assets, with big write-offs of commercial mortgages and company loans as well.

These big write-offs, which have wiped out about 10 years of banking sector profits, have also made it hard for the banks to rebuild capital in order to give themselves the security to resume lending.0

Many experts think it will take years, if not decades, before lending returns to pre-crisis levels, and reduced lending was one of the key causes of the economic slowdown, along with a massive collapse of confidence in financial markets.

World economy shrinks

The world economy is projected to shrink by 2.3% this year, or nearly $1tn, a loss of output shared by all citizens, but particularly affecting the rising numbers of the unemployed.

If you take into account the fact that the world economy normally grows by more than 2% per year, then the loss of output caused by the recession is almost $2tn - although some of that may be made up in future years.

However, in order to try to boost growth, governments have borrowed billions of dollars in stimulus funds.

Over the next five years, UK government debt is expected to rise from £600bn to £1.4tn, while the US national debt could double to $10tn.

This extra government debt will have to be paid by future taxpayers, whose ability to spend money on government services like health and education will be constrained. The interest on the UK government's debt in 2014 could be bigger than its entire education budget.

Wealth effect

Finally, individuals are also feeling less wealthy as a result of the drop in the value of their assets. Not only are their homes worth less, but their financial assets, such as stocks and shares, have also declined in value in the last 12 months.

The BBC, in conjunction with the Halifax, estimates that in the UK national wealth held by individuals has dropped by £815bn in the past year (comparing end 2007 with end 2008), with a 15% drop in the value of people's homes and a 9% drop in the value of their other financial assets. These figures do subtract the value of debts, such as mortgages, from the overall valuation.

Of course, wealth is distributed very unevenly, and those who are not homeowners and do not have a pension will not be feeling the effects as much - unless they are finding it hard to get a job.

But there is no doubt that it is curbing people's overall spending plans, and thus exacerbating the recession (the so-called "wealth effect").

It may be some time before we return to an era where people were borrowing against the notional value of the increase in the value of their home to buy holidays and big-screen televisions.

And, as these figures make clear, we will all be paying the price of the collapse of Lehman Brothers for some time to come.

The federal government is unlikely

WASHINGTON - The federal government is unlikely to recoup all of the billions of dollars that it has invested in General Motors and Chrysler, according to a new congressional oversight report assessing the automakers' rescue.
The report said that a $5.4 billion portion of the $10.5 billion owed by Chrysler is "highly unlikely" to be repaid, while full recovery of the $50 billion sunk into GM would require the company's stock to reach unprecedented heights.
"Although taxpayers may recover some portion of their investment in Chrysler and GM, it is unlikely they will recover the entire amount," according to the report, which is scheduled to be released Wednesday.

The report also recommended that the Treasury Department act with more transparency and provide a legal analysis justifying the use of financial rescue funds for the automakers. The report was prepared by the Congressional Oversight Panel, which is overseeing the federal bailout programs.
In all, the government has invested $74 billion in the nation's auto industry, including $12.5 billion into auto financing giant GMAC and $3.5 billion into auto suppliers, according to the report.
Catastrophe averted?The panel said the government may have averted economic catastrophe by taking on the rescue. The automotive industry represents about 6.5 percent of the manufacturing jobs in the United States.
"Preserving portions of Chrysler and General Motors might have resulted in savings for the government in other ways," the report said.
GM issued a statement Tuesday night saying that it was a stronger company than it was before its bankruptcy filing and government rescue. "We are confident that we will repay our nation's support because we are a company with less debt, a stronger balance sheet, a winning product portfolio and the right size to match today's market realities," it said.
The panel also addressed complaints that the government-led bankruptcy proceedings for the two automakers set precedents that could make investors wary. In each case, many investors were wiped out or took substantial losses. But the panel said it is difficult to predict what effect the bankruptcies may have on investment decisions.
"Academics and practitioners with whom the Panel's staff have spoken seem to believe that it is both too early and, given the number of variables, perhaps not possible to conclude one way or another as to what effect the government's involvement in the Chrysler bankruptcy will have on credit markets going forward," the report said.

Similarly, it said it was difficult to determine whether, as critics have charged, the bankruptcies were unusually abrupt or punishing to creditors.
"Because there is no one-size-fits-all bankruptcy for multi-billion dollar companies, it is difficult to categorize the Chrysler and GM bankruptcies as being either typical or atypical," it said.
The panel adopted the report on a 2 to 1 vote. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex), the lone member of Congress on the panel and a staunch opponent of the auto industry rescue, voted against the report's findings. He accused the Obama administration of using the auto bailout, which began under the Bush administration, "to orchestrate the bankruptcies of Chrysler and GM so as to promote its economic, social and political agenda."
"By making such an unprecedented investment in Chrysler and GM, the Administration by definition chose not to assist other Americans that are in need," he said in a statement. "With the economic suffering the American taxpayers have endured during the past two years one wonders why Chrysler and GM merited such generosity to the exclusion of other taxpayers."

Oil prices finished higher

NEW YORK - Oil prices finished higher for a second straight day Wednesday on continued weakening of the U.S. dollar and as investors awaited the outcome of an OPEC meeting that is expected to result in no change in production levels.
Benchmark crude for October delivery rose 20 cents to settle at $71.31 a barrel trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after reaching as high as $72.52 earlier in the session.
On Tuesday, the contract jumped $3.08 as the dollar fell to a low for the year against the euro.
Because crude is priced in the U.S. currency, it essentially becomes cheaper when the dollar falls.
“This is all about the U.S. dollar,” Jim Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch and Associates said of the rising price of oil. “As the dollar stays weak, oil goes up.”
The dollar fell to its lowest level since last September against a basket of six major world currencies that includes the euro, yen, Canadian dollar, British pound, Swedish krona and Swiss franc.
Ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which produces about 40 percent of the world’s oil, seemed to be satisfied with current prices for crude. Instead, this week’s meeting in Vienna is more about persuading members not to sell more oil than the quotas permit.
Prices are about twice their levels from December, when OPEC announced its record 4.2 million barrel per day cut from September 2008 levels. The price rally has been welcome news for cash-hungry member governments, but also a temptation to sell more oil.
Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., said compliance with those cuts announced in December has been declining since April. The latest estimates show that the 11 OPEC members bound by quotas overproduced their 24.85 million barrel per day target by about 1.4 million barrels a day, according to Platts.
Kuwait’s oil minister, Sheik Ahmed Al Abullah Al Sabah, said OPEC’s markets monitoring committee would suggest to the group that output targets be held steady.
Even as oil prices have risen, demand for crude has continued to remain weak.
Gasoline consumption for the week ended Friday fell 2.4 percent from a year ago after Hurricane Gustav barreled into the U.S. along the Texas-Louisiana line and remains flat year to date compared with 2008, according to the MasterCard SpendingPulse report issued Wednesday.
MasterCard’s report is based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments network, coupled with estimates for all other payment forms, including cash and check.
Investors also are awaiting key data on Thursday that could drive prices for the rest of the week.
The Paris-based International Energy Agency will release its monthly report on global oil demand followed by the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly inventory data.
Analysts expect a decline in crude and gasoline stocks, but are looking for rise in distillates stocks used to make diesel fuel and heating oil, according to Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Prices at the pump fell 0.5 cents overnight to a national average of $2.573, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Prices are now 7.2 cents below where they were a month ago and $1.079 below the year ago average.
In other Nymex trading, gasoline for October delivery was unchanged at $1.8281 a gallon while heating oil rose 1.19 cents to $1.7944 a gallon. Natural gas rose 2.2 cents to $2.829 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude rose 42 cents to $69.84 on the ICE Futures exchange.

New York Mercantile Exchange

NEW YORK - Oil prices finished higher for a second straight day Wednesday on continued weakening of the U.S. dollar and as investors awaited the outcome of an OPEC meeting that is expected to result in no change in production levels.
Benchmark crude for October delivery rose 20 cents to settle at $71.31 a barrel trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after reaching as high as $72.52 earlier in the session.
On Tuesday, the contract jumped $3.08 as the dollar fell to a low for the year against the euro.

Because crude is priced in the U.S. currency, it essentially becomes cheaper when the dollar falls.

“This is all about the U.S. dollar,” Jim Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch and Associates said of the rising price of oil. “As the dollar stays weak, oil goes up.”
The dollar fell to its lowest level since last September against a basket of six major world currencies that includes the euro, yen, Canadian dollar, British pound, Swedish krona and Swiss franc.
Ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which produces about 40 percent of the world’s oil, seemed to be satisfied with current prices for crude. Instead, this week’s meeting in Vienna is more about persuading members not to sell more oil than the quotas permit.
Prices are about twice their levels from December, when OPEC announced its record 4.2 million barrel per day cut from September 2008 levels. The price rally has been welcome news for cash-hungry member governments, but also a temptation to sell more oil.
Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., said compliance with those cuts announced in December has been declining since April. The latest estimates show that the 11 OPEC members bound by quotas overproduced their 24.85 million barrel per day target by about 1.4 million barrels a day, according to Platts.
Kuwait’s oil minister, Sheik Ahmed Al Abullah Al Sabah, said OPEC’s markets monitoring committee would suggest to the group that output targets be held steady.
Even as oil prices have risen, demand for crude has continued to remain weak.
Gasoline consumption for the week ended Friday fell 2.4 percent from a year ago after Hurricane Gustav barreled into the U.S. along the Texas-Louisiana line and remains flat year to date compared with 2008, according to the MasterCard SpendingPulse report issued Wednesday.
MasterCard’s report is based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments network, coupled with estimates for all other payment forms, including cash and check.
Investors also are awaiting key data on Thursday that could drive prices for the rest of the week.
The Paris-based International Energy Agency will release its monthly report on global oil demand followed by the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly inventory data.
Analysts expect a decline in crude and gasoline stocks, but are looking for rise in distillates stocks used to make diesel fuel and heating oil, according to Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Prices at the pump fell 0.5 cents overnight to a national average of $2.573, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Prices are now 7.2 cents below where they were a month ago and $1.079 below the year ago average.
In other Nymex trading, gasoline for October delivery was unchanged at $1.8281 a gallon while heating oil rose 1.19 cents to $1.7944 a gallon. Natural gas rose 2.2 cents to $2.829 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude rose 42 cents to $69.84 on the ICE Futures exchange.

The Great Depression

But these two almost destroyed the US housing market and their downfall was the overture to the global financial crisis.
On 7 September 2008, these giants of the financial world had to be nationalised by the US government.
Fannie Mae was a child of the Great Depression.
The Federal National Mortgage Association was set up in 1938. A government agency, its job was to buy home loans from mortgage providers.
The mortgage providers would use the money they received from Fannie Mae to make more home loans. Freddie Mac, set up in the late 60s, did the same thing.
But once Fannie and Freddie held all these mortgages on their books they had to do something with them.
Slice and dice
The answer was "securitisation". It's a process which works a bit like a layer cake.
2008 CRISIS TIMETABLE

7 SEPT: Fannie Mae nationalised
15 SEPT: Lehman bankruptcy
18 SEPT: Lloyds takes over HBOS
19 SEPT: $700bn US bail-out plan
29 SEPT: Bradford and Bingley nationalised
5 OCT: Bail-out plan agreed by Congress
12 OCT: UK bails out RBS and Lloyds-HBOS
You stack up all the mortgages horizontally and then slice them vertically.
Each slice contains a little bit of all the mortgages in the "cake" and can be sold on the financial markets as a "security" - an investment like a share or a bond.
But there was a flaw in the model.
If a sufficiently large number of homeowners defaulted on the underlying loans, then the value of those mortgage-backed securities would collapse.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would also be landed with the - very large - bill for the mortgage repayments.
Turning bad
That's what began to happen when the US housing bubble burst in 2007.
Millions of people defaulted on their home loans. The value of mortgage-backed securities began to fall.
So too did the share prices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Both organisations were incurring massive losses - $14 billion in the 12-month period up to September 2008 - as they paid out the guarantees on millions of bad home loans.
It was the first in a series of crisis Sundays as the US government grappled with a cascade of financial disasters
This put them desperately in need of new capital to fill the hole in their balance sheets.
But Fannie and Freddie had lost so much in the housing market that private investors were unwilling to provide the new money they needed.
They were on the brink of bankruptcy.
Falling giants
That event had the potential to trigger a collapse in the global financial system.
Fannie and Freddie, by this time privately owned, were the two biggest financial institutions on the planet.

Hank Paulson said Fannie and Freddie posed a risk to the entire system
Their bonds and securities were held by investors around the world, including many governments.
Together they owned or guaranteed half the mortgages in the United States - a staggering $5 trillion in home loans.
Fannie and Freddie were then responsible for financing 80% of all new mortgages in the US.
If they went bust it would be almost impossible for anybody in the States to get a home loan.
Fateful weekend
This was the situation facing the government as it entered the weekend of 6 and 7 September a year ago.
By the Sunday, the fateful decision had been made and Hank Paulson strode down the steps of the Treasury Department building in Washington DC like some prophet of doom with his gaunt expression and whispering voice.
The condition of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac posed a "systemic risk" to the entire financial edifice, he told the nation.
They could not continue in the present state, so the government was taking them into "conservatorship".
In plain language, these twin pillars of the mortgage market were being nationalised.
It was the first in a series of crisis Sundays, as the US government grappled with a cascade of financial disasters in the hope of resolving them before the markets re-opened for business at the start of another fraught week.
The nationalisation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was supposed to draw a line under the financial crisis.
Instead, it merely acted as a prelude to the far more shocking events that were soon to unfold before an astonished world

Risks

"The crisis will happen again but it will be different," he told BBC Two's The Love of Money series.
He added that he had predicted the crash would come as a reaction to a long period of prosperity.
But while it may take time and be a difficult process, the global economy would eventually "get through it", Mr Greenspan added.
"They [financial crises] are all different, but they have one fundamental source," he said.
BBC AFTERSHOCK SEASON
"That is the unquenchable capability of human beings when confronted with long periods of prosperity to presume that it will continue."
Speaking a year after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers, which was followed by a worldwide financial crisis and global recession, Mr Greenspan described the behaviour as "human nature".
He said the current crisis was triggered by the trade in US sub-prime mortgages - home loans given to people with bad credit histories - but he added that any factor could have been the catalyst.
If it were not the problem of these toxic debts "something sooner or later would have emerged", Mr Greenspan said.
Risks
Mr Greenspan, who when he ran the US central bank was hailed as a man who could move markets, also warned that the world's financial institutions should have seen the looming crisis.
"The bankers knew that they were involved in an under-pricing of risk and that at some point a correction would be made," he said.
Greenspan view on global economy
"I fear too many of them thought they would be able to spot the actual trigger point of the crisis in time to get out."
He also warned that Britain, with its globally-focussed economy, would be harder hit than the US by the current recession and collapse in world trade.
"Obviously we've both suffered very considerably but ... Britain is more globally oriented as an economy and the dramatic decline in exports globally and trade generally following the collapse of Lehman Brothers had dramatic effects in the financial system of Britain," Mr Greenspan said.
"It's going to take a long while for you [Britain] to work your way through this."
Road to recovery
In order to prevent the situation arising again financiers and governments should look to clamp down on fraud and increase capital requirements for banks, the former central banker said.
Regulations targeting the latter would mean banks would be forced to hold enough money to cover their normal operations and honour withdrawals.
However despite his belief in a brighter future, the former Fed chief did warn that the path to recovery should steer clear of protectionism as applying strict regulations could hamper recent developments that have opened up global trade.
"The most recent endeavour to re-regulate is a reaction to the crisis. The extraordinary impact of these global markets is making a lot of financial people feeling they have lost control.
"The problem is you cannot have free global trade with highly restrictive, regulated domestic markets."
Historic event
During the interview for BBC Two's The Love of Money series, the former Fed chief said the current economic crisis was a "once in a century type of event", and one that he did not expect to witness.
Blamed by some for not doing more to prevent the crisis, Mr Greenspan denied any responsibility for the problems gripping the global economy.
"It's human nature, unless somebody can find a way to change human nature, we will have more crises and none of them will look like this because no two crises have anything in common, except human nature."

Jobs in biotech

When General Electric (NYSE:GE - News) Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt delivered a speech at the Detroit Economic Club in June, he sounded more like a Midwestern governor than the leader of a $143 billion company whose ultimate responsibility is to his shareholders.
"We should set a goal to have manufacturing jobs be no less than 20% of total employment, about twice what it is today," Immelt said. "This is a national imperative." According to Susan Helper, chair of the economics department at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management, the speech turned heads. "GE had been a leader of offshoring, saying it was just too expensive to manufacture in the U.S., so to hear Immelt arguing that we need to rebuild our industrial base is significant," she says.
For those workers and communities hardest hit by the disappearance of manufacturing jobs in the U.S., Immelt's words offered a glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak picture. The July employment report released on Aug. 7 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while better than expected, showed that the sector had lost 52,000 jobs in July. That brings the total drop since December 2007 to 2 million jobs, or roughly 14.2% of that sector's employment. A report released Sept. 1 by the Institute for Supply Management showing that the manufacturing sector expanded in August -- a first since January 2008 -- suggested that the industry might have hit the bottom of this recession. But even before the current crisis, manufacturing faced immense challenges. The Alliance for American Manufacturing (which last month published a book, Manufacturing a Better Future for America, laying most of the blame for the current state of affairs on U.S. trade policy) estimates that more than 40,000 factories across the nation have closed in the past decade.
But how realistic is Immelt's claim that "good jobs can return to manufacturing centers across America," and what kinds of jobs would those be? What forces could reverse the decades-long trend of multinationals shipping low-value factory jobs, such as assembling circuit boards, to lower-wage regions? And if those jobs aren't coming back, will enough new ones be created in emerging sectors to realize his goal of manufacturing jobs making up 20% of all U.S. employment? Immelt thinks the bulk of new manufacturing jobs will be in clean energy and health care, not in more traditional, low-skill areas.
A Manufacturing Renaissance?
In the last six months, Wright Engineered Plastics, a small injection-molder in Santa Rosa, Calif., with clients in the medical and telecom industries, has signed three new clients that have decided to move production back to the U.S. "Their reasons ranged," says Wright President and CEO Barbara Roberts. "Higher transportation costs and rising wages in China are making it more cost-effective for some to manufacture here. Two, in particular, were having significant quality issues."
Some companies are moving production back to the U.S. simply to make their supply chains faster. "Companies these days want to keep their inventories lean, and they can't afford to let product sit for 30 days on a boat from China," says Richard Sinkin, a San Diego consultant who scouts manufacturing sites in the U.S., Mexico, and China for multinationals. "People used to talk about just-in-time manufacturing, but now we have just-in-time retailing and that changes the dynamics incredibly."
But don't expect a sudden return of low-skill jobs to the U.S. "This has been going on for a century with no sign that it is going to let up," says Ken Goldstein, an economist at the Conference Board, a business research group. "Low-value activities move elsewhere, and you replace those jobs with higher value-added activities. Jobs in biotech, high tech, and the energy field." But even counting in those higher-skilled jobs, Goldstein called Immelt's 20% goal "unrealistic," saying "that would be almost 30 million jobs -- we didn't even have that many manufacturing jobs in 1960."
Immelt's speech was not a nostalgic call for a reincarnation of America's 20th century manufacturing landscape. But he did admit that, in some areas, GE had outsourced too much and that it planned to "insource" some higher-value activities such as aviation component production and manufacturing-related software development. To that end, he announced plans to build a Manufacturing Technology & Software Center to develop next-generation manufacturing technologies for GE's leading renewable energy, aircraft engine, gas turbine, and other high-technology products. The $100 million, 100,000-square-foot facility in Wayne County, 25 miles east of Detroit, would create 1,100 jobs.
Pennsylvania Factory Park
A similar renewal may be starting to happen in Fairless Hills, Pa., 22 miles east of Philadelphia, where a sprawling industrial site, once home to U.S. Steel (NYSE:X - News), is active again. In 2006, Gamesa Corporacin Tecnolgica, a Spanish manufacturer and one of the world's biggest suppliers of windmills, expanded the plant to make nacelles, the covers that house the moving parts of turbines. Blades and towers are produced at the company's plant in Ebensburg, Pa.
And Gamesa isn't the only company that has moved to the 2,400-acre site, which is still owned by USS Real Estate, the steel company's property management arm, and has been renamed Keystone Industrial Port Complex. Dominion Generation's Fairless Energy plant, which produces power from natural gas-fired generators, is also a tenant, as are AE Polysilicon, which produces a substance needed for solar cells, and biodiesel producer Biofuel Advanced Research & Development.
In total, 18 companies -- roughly one-third of which are in the clean energy or recycling business -- are now operating at the complex, lured by a combination of industrial amenities, such as access to two railroads and a deepwater port on the Delaware River, and tax incentives. Gamesa, for its part, negotiated a package of approximately $10 million in state and local grants, loans, and tax credits for its Fairless Hills operation.
The windmill maker hasn't been left untouched by the recession. With demand for turbines slowing and credit tight, Gamesa USA has cut 150 jobs in Pennsylvania, though it hopes those will be temporary layoffs. Still, it employs 850 people and indirectly created manufacturing jobs in Pennsylvania through its efforts to build a local network of suppliers to produce the nearly 8,000 components of its turbines, 75% of which are now made oversees. "We've been working with U.S. suppliers and have also convinced some of our European providers to come here and set up shop," says Michael Peck, a Gamesa USA spokesman.
Providing Incentives for Expansion
While it's too early to count Pennsylvania's $10 million Gamesa gambit a success, it offers a model for rebuilding manufacturing through a combination of public incentives, research-and-development tax credits, and corporate investments focused on a burgeoning area like clean energy -- along the lines Immelt laid out in his speech. It's worth noting, too, that GE's planned Manufacturing Technology center in Michigan reflects the same public/private approach. The state will provide more than $60 million in incentives to GE over the next 12 years to support the center. Spurred by up to $17 million in state and local incentives, and a temporary wage freeze negotiated with the union, GE also recently decided to expand an appliances plant in Louisville rather than manufacture its new hybrid water heaters in China. "The Louisville team has committed to quality and productivity standards that make them competitive, and we can make the same profit," Immelt told his Detroit audience.
"Solving the clean energy challenge will create broad economic opportunity in this country," said Immelt, and he urged business and government to work together to that end.
Pennsylvania and Michigan's incentives are smart, says Sinkin. "But we need dramatic policies at the federal level. Obama (requiring) that every government building had solar panels, for example," he says. "Now that would stimulate jobs."