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Since the October 2008 lows of $682.50 the yellow metal has recovered its lustre initially moving up in conjunction with equity markets, as well as on the back of a weaker US dollar. This move higher also coincided with the move higher in the single European currency as markets stabilised on the...

ECB Intervention is inevitable, Gold set to catch down with other commodities & Aussie to way down under...

Last weeks EURUSD break below the 1.2700 area, if confirmed on a monthly close could have potentially bearish consequences for the single currency from a technical standpoint. Given the unprecedented size of the bailout from an EU perspective, as well as an IMF point of view, the market...

EURGBP and GBPUSD CLOSELY WATCHING THE LATEST behind-the-scenes negotiations between the British Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats, who are attempting to build a coalition and ultimately a majority in Parliament, an outcome whose impact will be an immediate positive for GBP and...

Germany proposed a funding facility of E500 billion with the help of the IMF, E60 billion of which will be in an loans from the European Commission and E440 billion in the form of government-backed guarantees from Eurozone nations. The E500 bln is an addition to the E110 bln announced last week by...

This weekends announcement of a 110bn aid package over the next 3 years for Greece has been a classic case of buy the rumour sell the fact as the markets doubt Greeces will to follow through on the severe austerity measures required to save the country from bankruptcy. Greek public sector...

ECB SPURNS CREDIT RATING AGENCIES BY ACCEPTING JUNK status bonds from Greece after suspending the minimum credit rating required for Greek government-backed assets used in ECB liquidity-providing operations. Until today, the ECB had required that Greek (and other) Eurozone govt debt to have an...

CHINA RAISED RESERVE REQUIREMENT on May Day Weekend by 50-bps to 17%, making its third tightening of the year. The last tightening was announced on February 19, on the eve of the Lunar Year Holiday. Although most Asian markets are closed for May Day holiday, JPY did spike higher across the board...

EURO GAPPED LOWER to $1.3310 in early Monday Asia before retesting 1.3390s on back-&-forth reports about EU/IMF confident on cementing a Greece deal, but traders cannot ignore the fact that it will take at least 2 weeks for any disbursement from individual Eurozone nations and IMF to take place....

EUROs CHART on REQUIRED UPSIDE TARGETS http://chart.ly/dhxw4q THIS WEEKEND will see a cacophony of statements about Greece and aid during the World Bank/IMF meetings in Washington starting today going into Monday. But watch out for remarks any further conditions imposed on Greece activating the...

GREEK AID TALK FUELS EURO: Greek PM confirms that Greece WILL ask for EU/IMF aid. More volatility to come in the next 2-3 hours as markets set for a POSSIBLE BUY THE RUMOUR-SELL THE NEWS. EURUSD rallied 1.5 cent to $1.3346 on the news, but is failing to act as PM Papandreou begins his live...

Watch Ashraf's VIDEO MARKET ANALYSIS on EUR, GBP, UK POLITICAL DEBATE, Gold, Oil. http://bit.ly/9sKamU Moodys downgrades Greece to A3 two weeks after Fitch downgraded. The Fitch downgrade didnt cause any negative EUR reaction matter as the IMF/WB deal took place that weekend. But today's...

Peaks in Baltic Dry Index has once again lead the tops in metals & fuel, while S&P500 and the Dow struggle at their latest barriers. ...

GREEk-GERMAN 10 yr BOND YIELD SPREADS shoot up to fresh record high of 462 bps EURUSD shed another half a cent to $1.3425. Volcanic ash is not only disrupting German air-space until Tuesday morning, but also delaying the arrival of the EU/IMF officials to Athens to discuss a 3-year policy program...

3-G MARKETOLOGY OF T|HE WEEK: Greece-Goldman-Growth(inChina); three major forces that could extend Friday's risk aversion play. EU/IMF will try to suppress the latest rebound in Greek bond spreads (from last week's 427 bps) with another teleconference this Monday to discuss the terms of a bail-out...

USD INDEX enters its 3rd weekly decline, which would be the longest losing streak since October 2009. USDX breaks below the 55-day MA for 1st time since Dec 4th, looking vulnerable for a breach below 79.15. The EU/IMF agreement as well new highs in equities have helped extended USD losses to EUR...

SHOW THEM THE MONEY is exactly and finally what the Eurozone and IMF did when Eurozone members agreed to provide 30 bln in standby loans to Greece this year, supplemented by IMF loans of reportedly as much as 15 bln. The interest rate would be at around 5% for a 3-year loan, less than 7.40%...

Ashraf's Interviews (English and Arabic) on CNBC-Europe, BNN and CNBC Arabia. Ashraf on BNN discussing the euro, greek debt, IMF and Canadian dollar http://bit.ly/9A2K5U Ashraf on CNBC Europe discussing the British pound and Bank of England Decision http://bit.ly/bruo1Q Ashraf on CNBC...

One of the surprises of the last month has been the robustness of the pound in the wake of a number of opinion polls indicating a possible hung parliament as the date for a general election approaches. Against a basket of currencies the pound has actually increased in value from its March lows...

GOVERNMENTS TO THE RESCUE and RENEWED SURGE OF RISK APPETITE deals a fresh blow to JPY and erases some USD gains due to (1) $9.5 billion injection in struggling Dubai World by Dubai Govt; (2) Talk of a 20 billion IMF rescue package to Greece (3) stronger than expected 2.1% increase in UK Feb...

EURUSD finally breaks below $1.35 over two consecutive sessions (US and Asia) for the first time since May 2009. CONGESTION STANDS between $1.3415 and $1.3465, with the former being the 61.8% retracement of the 1.2442-1.5129 rally, and the latter (more relevant support) being the 76.4% retracement...

Greek PM Papandreou's trip to Washington did not stop credit agencies from issuing cautious notes over Greek banks. Greece's austerity package was mainly designed to win some time and fend off the credit rating agencies. But if the aim of the austerity package is to serve as a bargaining tool...

CHINESE GOLD REMARKS overnight helped drag the metal lower when the head of State Administration of Foreign Exchange said China faced constraints in adding gold holdings, considering it already holds 3000 tons. SAFE said the long term yield of holding was not good, dampening speculation that...

European markets stall in Monday morning despite a 2% rally in Tokyo and Hong Kong, while Dow futures are unchanged. With equities have already rallied on Friday in response to US jobs data, the lack of US data today and tomorrow could allow the bulls to retest the mid Jan highs. AUDUSD breaks...

Bank of England keeps makes no statement at its interest rate decision. Preliminary demand orders for Greeces 10-year bond offering reached 16 bln. It is not clear when the bond offering will actually take place. France says a Franco-German aid for Greece is NOT on the agenda, which fuels...

EURO's UPCOMING resistance standing near $1.3820-30 in the event of improved risk appetite, SEE CHART http://chart.ly/d4mscs Neither tomorrow's BoE nor ECB interest rate announcements are expected to show anything new, but do allow for the small possibility of any dovish remarks from the BoE...

Todays equity sell-off is accompanied by the biggest daily decline in oil since Feb 4, pushing the fuel below its 55-day MA, Gold, however, recovers after 3-consecutive daily losses on reports that China will buy the IMFs remaining 200 tonnes on sale by the IMF. A close above 1109 in gold could...

The broken 5-day trendline support in $EURUSD likely to be become resistance near 1.3640s, which is especially enforced when adding the trend line resistance on the 4-hr chart. Our MED-TERM GOLD BEARISHNESS has been vindicated by todays IMF announcement that it would sell its remaining 191.3...

It has been a great decade for investors in commodities, but for those sticking to a traditional buy and hold equity strategy, good returns have been harder to find. #20100105-c1.gif# In the table above you can see that most of the major indices have performed poorly over the last 10 years....

This months rapid appreciation of a metal, that to all intents and purposes, has no real benefits other than a store of value, has been the major story so far this week, in the lead up to the year end. So far this month Gold is up over 10%, and since September its up over 20% with no sign of...