February 8th

February 8th 

Results:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59373564@N08/5429847880/lightbox/

Today was a good day for most of the European Exchanges, most will be recovering to previous 2007-2008 highs before the world recession hit. However any breaking news can hit the markets hard so every day is different, still talks of double dip recession in the UK looming.

Germany’s DAX 30 index (DX:DAX 7,323, +39.62, +0.54%) gained 0.5% to 7,323.24, and France’s CAC 40 index (FR:PX1 4,108, +17.47, +0.43%) rose 0.4% to 4,108.27, with both ending at new 2011 highs.

In Frankfurt, shares of BMW AG (DE:BMW 61.49, +2.72, +4.63%) rallied 4.7% after the company said its global car sales surged 28% in January from the same period a year ago.

The FTSE 100 index(UK:UKX 6,080, +28.62, +0.47%) gained 0.7% to 6,091.33.
Shares of engineering and satellite group Inmarsat PLC(UK:ISAT 711.00, +23.00, +3.34%) rose 3.6% after
Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the firm to buy from neutral.

The currency € is rallying against the $ after suffering last Friday due to good news from USA that the Unemployment Rate was reduced to 9% down from 9.4% the previous month. Although this hurt the €'s exchange rate compared to $, Europe is quickly recovering with talks of increasing the bailout fund and the European Central Bank increasing its interest rate which at the moment remains on 1%.

I am looking to go long on Euro (buy) until Thursday when the next major news will be released, the position will be closed and will be looking to re-enter depending on the movement and the market reaction.
Crude Oil has been slowly declining from its high on Friday at $103.32 a barrel, so I took a small opportunity within 13 minutes during price fluctuations.

Gold has rose 150% in 2 years to $1362 an ounce. If you feel your economy is going to collapse, and your currency is going to be worthless, or not worth as much, you turn to precious metals such as silver/gold which retain their value. Gold has been rising since the protests in Egypt began, also the same as Crude Oil. Whether this is a direct correlation due to 1 country? I am not sure... Egypt’s proven oil reserves stand at 4.4 billion barrels, which is nothing compared to its neighbours Libya/Saudi Arabia/Algeria.

News to look out for tomorrow:
7:00am German Trade Balance
9:30am UK Trade Balance
3:30pm USA Crude Oil Inventories


Goodnight for now :)