Old man walking to the Stage

old-man1Old man walking to the Stage

I was attending a Motivation Seminar conducted by a well-known Insurance Company. There was one part where they called upon a veteran who has already retired to give a testimonial. He was sitting in the audience somewhere in the back. After his name was called, he stood up amidst the applause, made his way to the front. The auditorium was slanted forward and so there were steps along the side where he walked. Somewhere near the front seats, he toppled and felled. There was a huge commotion of shock from the audience but when they saw him get up and carried on walking, there was a smaller commotion of relief. Continue reading

Old man walking to the Stage

old-man1Old man walking to the Stage

I was attending a Motivation Seminar conducted by a well-known Insurance Company. There was one part where they called upon a veteran who has already retired to give a testimonial. He was sitting in the audience somewhere in the back. After his name was called, he stood up amidst the applause, made his way to the front. The auditorium was slanted forward and so there were steps along the side where he walked. Somewhere near the front seats, he toppled and felled. There was a huge commotion of shock from the audience but when they saw him get up and carried on walking, there was a smaller commotion of relief. Continue reading

Old lady With 165,000$ In bank – This Is Not Forex

482743_503615946363108_338274649_nA little old lady went into the Bank of Canada one day, carrying a bag of money. She insisted that she must speak with the president of the bank to open a savings account because,’ It’s a lot of money!’

After much hemming and hawing, the bank staff finally ushered her into thepresident’s office (the customer is always right!). The bank president then asked her how much she would like to deposit. She replied,’ $165,000!’ and dumped the cash out of her bag onto his desk. The president was of course curious as to how she came by all this cash, so he asked her,’ Ma’am, I’m surprised you’re carrying so much cash around. Where did you get this money?’ Continue reading

EUR/USD Down for the First Day in Three

EURUSD_2013-01-28EUR/USD retreated today after the two-day rally. The faster-than-expected growth of US durable goods orders increased traders’ confidence in the economy and the currency of the United States. At the same time, economists are worried that the report later this week may show an increase of the eurozone unemployment rate to the record 11.9%. Such worries weakened the euro.

Durable goods orders grew as much as 4.6% in December, beating the analysts’ forecast of 1.8%. The November growth was 0.8%. (Event A on the chart.)

Pending home sales dropped 4.3% in December from November, when they went up 1.6%. Experts have promised an increase by 0.5%. Still, the sales remained in an uptrend on an annual basis. (Event B on the chart.)

On Friday, a report on new home sales was released, showing that the sales were at the seasonally adjusted annual rate of 369k, below the forecast value of 387k and the November rate of 398k (revised from 377k). (Not show on the chart.)

EUR/USD Climbs to Highest Since 2011

EURUSD_2013-01-29EUR/USD was falling today, but later rebounded and touched the highest rate since December 2011. The Forex market is in the risk-on mode and that drives the currency pair higher. The US data was mixed today as the housing market continued to show signs of strength, but consumer sentiment dropped more than was expected. As for news from Europe, the German consumer climate was stable, indicating that the economic environment in Europe is improving. (Event A on the chart.)

S&P/Case-Shiller home price index rose from 144.08 in October to 144.99 in November. The annual growth was 5.5%, matching forecasts exactly. The year-on-year increase in October was 4.2%. (Event B on the chart.)

Consumer confidence fell from 66.7 in December (revised up from 65.1) to 58.6 in January. Analysts have hoped for higher reading of 64.8. (Event C on the chart.)