Employment Numbers Bring Australian Dollar’s Rally to A Halt

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 12, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) Financial markets must have had extremely optimistic expectations for Australia’s August employment numbers. Right after the release of the employment statistics on September 12th (Australian time), the Australian dollar (FXA) pulled … Read more

The Australian Dollar Strengthens In the Absence Of A New Catalyst for Rate Cuts

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on May 19, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) Time to swivel heads around on the Australian dollar (FXA) yet again. In “Australian Dollar’s Relief Rally Ends With The Latest RBA Meeting Minutes,” I concluded that the Reserve Bank of … Read more

May 2013 Was Fine As Expected; Now Brace for Summer Volatility

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on June 3, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) Average, median, frequency, and context. These are all measures to take into consideration when assessing the odds of an event and its potential impact. It is something almost always lost in … Read more

Another Strike Against Canadian Dollar As the Public Sector Continues to Lead Job Growth

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on May 15, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) Friday’s employment report from Statistics Canada demonstrated once again how the public sector is leading the way in job growth in Canada: {snip} So, jobs in the private sector are stagnant, … Read more

Poor Employment Report Only Slows Australian Dollar’s Breakout

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on April 12, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) Last week, we learned that the Australian trade balance for February was much better than expected, -178M AUD versus expectations for -1B AUD and -1.2B AUD for January. Additionally, retail sales … Read more

Fresh Unemployment Records Help To End The Rally In The Spain Index Fund

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 25, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} Last month, Spain’s unemployment rate reached Depression-like levels when it hit a record 26% and projections are for it to increase to 27% this year. {snip} EWP is up an … Read more

Stronger Take Home Pay and A Productivity Puzzle Tug on the U.K.’s Economy

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 15, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Bank of England’s latest Inflation Report (August 8th) included two items that I found particularly interesting: The Bank of England (BoE) expects the squeeze in take home pay in the … Read more

Yellen’s Case for More Easing Primes Fed to Act Sooner Than Later

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on June 15, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip}…I decided to summarize the last two speeches from U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet L. Yellen given her strong advocacy for pro-active intervention on behalf of the U.S. economy…{snip}… I … Read more

Bernanke Describes A Critical Juncture Where Economic Prospects Pivot On Long-Term Unemployment

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 27, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) As conditions ripen for a bottom in housing in 2013, I am more frequently reviewing the on-going dynamics of the unfolding recovery in employment. The rates of unemployment and under-employment, and … Read more

Not Yet Useful to Correlate the Unemployment Rate to the Outcome of Presidential Elections

I keep hearing the ominous statistic that no sitting U.S. President has ever won an election with unemployment over 7.2%. I finally decided to look more closely at the numbers after I read another version of this statistic that said no U.S. President since the 1930s has ever won an election with unemployment over 7.2%. … Read more