Category: Foreign Exchange Market

Gold Will Continue to Shine

The U.S. consumer price index rose 0.5% in February from the month before, pushed higher by food and energy costs. The price index for all items climbed 2.1% over the past year.

But many think government-reported inflation numbers don’t present an accurate price picture. Some economists estimate the true rate of inflation is closer to 8% or 9%. And those numbers could rise higher as the U.S. Federal Reserve continues to pump billions of dollars into the financial system.

Inflation, coupled with political turmoil in the Middle East, has pushed many investors out of stocks and into commodities. Gold rose to a record $1,445.70 an ounce on March 7. Market uncertainty from the Japan disaster pushed the metal down to $1,380.70 on March 15, but it gained again this week to hover around $1,400 an ounce.

Japan Continues Hold the Yen currency

The Japanese government will continue hold the yen after the earthquake and tsunami for some time ago. The measure is on the market, Japan noted the development of its currency and trade with partners in the G-7 if necessary.

At a time when overall response times for the first time since 2000, a group of seven countries to sell the yen on Friday, March 18, 2011, reached unprecedented levels after the currency reform. Conditions that exports from Japan and other trade agreements, which could jeopardize the success of the Japanese economy after a disaster.

Pound Vs. Euro

While I’m fondest of analyzing all currencies relative to the Dollar (after all, it’s what I’m most familiar with and is involved in almost half of all forex trades), sometimes its interesting to look at cross rates.

Take the Pound/Euro, for example, arguably one of the most important crosses, and one of a handful that often moves independently of the Dollar. If you chart the performance of this pair over the last two years, however, you can see the distinct lack of volatility. It has fluctuated around an axis of 1.15 GBP/EUR, never straying more than 5% in either direction. In fact, it’s sitting right at this level as I compose this post.

Buy, Sell or Hold

Sometimes the market offers investors a rare chance to buy shares of a great company on a dip. That’s precisely the opportunity we’re getting right now with Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX).

The current market volatility is giving investors with an eye toward long-term investments a great chance to buy shares in a world-class company.

FCX is one of the best-run global mining companies and a great way to gain exposure to gold and copper. So it’s time to “Buy” Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) (**).