Conservatives yield to critics on controversial EI changes

The Conservative government is dialing back a controversial change to employment insurance after weeks of being criticized by the opposition.

The changes left some low-income recipients worse offthan they were under the previous system.

In a late Friday afternoon news release, Human Resources Minister Diane Finley's office backtracked, now offering claimants the choice of opting to return to the old system if the new one wasn't to their benefit.

“We have listened to those concerns and today I am announcing our intent to make adjustments to the new pilot program,” Finley was quoted as saying in the release.

But Rodger Cuzner, Liberal MP for Cape Breton – Canso, N.S., told CBC News on Saturday that the devil is in the details and that this now creates "two classes" of workers who are on EI while working part-time.

According to Cuzner, this will create "needless hurdles and excessive delays."

"The fact still remains that low-income Canadians who do not have the option to revert to the old program will still be worse off under the new one," Cuzner said in a written statement to CBC News.

In early August, Finley announced changes to the "working while on claim pilot program" for EI recipients who find part-time work while still collecting benefits.

It replaced the previous system that clawed back claims once the part-time wages exceeded 40 per cent of their benefits, or $75 a week, whichever was greater.

The government felt the old system discouraged Canadians from accepting more available work to earn wages beyond that threshold.

The new pilot program reduced the clawback on new earnings to 50 per cent. But it kicked in with the first dollar earned, not at 40 per cent.

The effect was that claimants who found only a little part-time work wound up penalized by the new system, while those who worked longer hours and at higher pay could keep more of their earnings.
Disincentives under both old and new systems

Opposition MPs argued the change hurt the most vulnerable and took away any incentive even to start to work while collecting EI.

For example, a person receiving benefits of $330 a week and earning an extra $150 at a part-time job would bring in $405 under the pilot system, compared to $462 before the change.

Friday's reversal allows those EI recipients who qualify to keep the first $75 they earn in benefits while working part-time, as they could under the old system. Above the 40 per cent threshold, benefits would be reduced dollar for dollar.

Claimants who qualify must now decide whether they would be better off under the new system or the old – but they have to make a request with Service Canada to revert to the previous system, otherwise the new rules apply.

Claimants can't switch back and forth between the two systems week to week, but must choose one or the other.

The changes come into effect Jan. 6, 2013, but will be applied retroactively to Aug. 5, 2012, the day the pilot program took hold.

Starting in January, claimants must request to revert to the old pilot program's regulations within 30 days of their last EI benefit payment. For claims that have already ended, claimants will have 30 days from the introduction of this option.

The working while on claim pilot program is set to run until Aug. 1, 2015.

Earlier this week, New Democrats introduced a motion for debate in the House of Commons that said the pilot project was "not benefiting the vast majority of EI recipients, creating a disincentive to part-time work and leaving low-income Canadians worse off than before." The motion called on the government to take steps to fix it immediately.

On Wednesday evening, the Conservative caucus voted against the motion. Two days later, Finley's office announced the reversal quietly in a late-afternoon news release just as MPs were heading back to their ridings for a one-week Thanksgiving break.

Canada surprises with 52,000 new jobs in September

Canada's economy added 52,000 jobs in September, but the unemployment rate ticked higher to 7.4 per cent because more people were looking for work.

The gain was more than the roughly 10,000 new jobs that economists polled by Bloomberg were expecting.

U.S. surprise

Canada's jobs data beat expectations, but was blown away by news from the U.S. also released Friday which showed that country's unemployment rate has ticked below 8 per cent for the first time in almost four years.

Statistics Canada said Friday that full-time work made up most of the gains, with a net 44,100 new positions added.

"We’re encouraged to see 52,000 more Canadians working in September and 820,000 net new jobs created since July 2009," Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in a statement.

An increase in 34,000 retail jobs and 29,000 new construction workers was more than enough to offset declines in other sectors. "The two big movers last month were the very sectors that had displayed pronounced weakness previously," BMO economist Doug Porter said after the release of the data.

LABOURUnemployment rates in Canada

Provincially, Ontario and Manitoba led the way, while the jobs number declined in Saskatchewan, where 3,600 jobs were lost — the first notable drop there since November of last year.

There was little change in either direction in all other provinces and territories, Statistics Canada said.

"The underlying trend in Canadian employment is surprisingly stable," Porter noted.

Others were less enthused. Canadian Labour Congress president Ken Georgetti noted there are now five unemployed workers for every job opening across the country. "Our economy is sluggish and there is very little prospect on the horizon for real job growth," Georgetti said in a release.

India trading crash briefly erases $58 billion

India’s stock market regulator launched an investigation Friday into a sudden plunge in shares that briefly erased $58 billion US in value on the S&P CNX Nifty Index.

The index of 50 stocks fell by almost 900 points, or 16 per cent, during the morning session, halting trading on the National Stock Exchange of India for about 15 minutes.

The Mumbai-based exchange blamed what it said were 59 erroneous orders placed by stock broker Emkay Global.

After the orders were cancelled, trading resumed and the index ended the session down 0.84 per cent at 5,738.70.

The NSE, Asia’s fourth largest market and India’s largest, handles three quarters of stock trades in the country.
Drop follows 'flash crash' episodes

The incident renewed concerns about the effects of electronic trading on the functioning of financial markets.

It happened two days after Nasdaq and other exchanges cancelled some trades of Kraft Foods Group Inc. following an unusual spike after the market opened.

Kraft's shares opened at $45.55 before surging to $58.54 in the first minute of trading. Nasdaq attributed the glitch to a broker error, although it did not name the broker involved.

High frequency trading was also blamed for deepening a so-called “flash crash” in May 2010 which briefly erased $862 billion in market value in U.S. stocks.

And in May of this year, the Nasdaq was so swamped by orders it delayed the first day of trading after Facebook’s initial public offering.

European Investment Bank grants Morocco 43-mln-euro loan for agriculture

RABAT, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted Morocco a loan of 43 million euros (about 56 million U. S. dollars) to develop its agriculture and improve the efficiency of irrigation, a local radio reported Saturday.

The loan aims to reinforce Morocco's water-saving facilities for irrigation in the regions of Gharb, Haouz and Souss Massa, with a goal of modernizing the irrigation system for a better productivity.

The agreement on the loan will accompany the country's policy for agriculture, a key economic sector that represents an average of 13.5 percent of GDP between 2006 and 2011 and employs around 40 percent of the country's workforce.

The EIB has already financed major irrigation projects in Morocco, mainly the irrigation project in Doukkala for 60 million euros (about 78 million dollars).

Press Release: Gold forecast of US$2,200 per oz in 2013 — Explor Resources Inc. Growing Gold Resource with 30 Million oz Potential

Analysts at German-based Deutsche Bank this week forecast gold to rise above $2,200 per oz in 2013, supported by central bank stimulus action. With gold forecast to rise, Market Equities Research Group has noted that astute investors would do well to look at gold focused junior mining equities for superior returns as they are inexpensive relative to the gold price and to historical trading multiples. Equities of select junior miners are by far the best vehicles for wealth creation, the risk reward ratio on the junior miners are very significant and if you are willing to take the risk and diversify accordingly the orders of magnitude are there. This understanding of the risk-reward potential was the reason why Larry Feinstein, Equities Research Director – Mining MarketWatch Journal, has identified Explor Resources Inc. as one of the best vehicles for investors seeking serious strong growth prospects in precious metals in a proven and safe mining friendly jurisdiction.

New York, NY (PRWEB) October 06, 2012

Explor Resources Inc. with over 100,000 meters drilled to date, has proven its exploration model at its Timmins Porcupine West (TPW) gold deposit in the prolific Abitibi Greenstone belt of Ontario and is building ounces. The current resource at the TPW deposit is 212,800 oz gold Indicated (at 4.83 g/t) + 814,800 oz gold Inferred (at 3.56 g/t) and that is expected to rise dramatically over the near-term; by the end of 2012 Mining MarketWatch Journal forecasts the resource to be advanced to ~1.5 million ounces gold, and by the end of 2013 advanced to ~3 million ounces gold — that would represent only 10% of the deposits potential.

Explor Resources is the subject of a Mining MarketWatch Journal Review offering insight and opportunity afforded investors; the full Mining Journal review may be found at http://www.miningmarketwatch.net/exs.htm online.

Explor Resources has a market cap under $29 million and is poised for considerable share price appreciation as the reality of the accomplishment underway is appreciated by the market. The exploration model Explor has developed for the deposit is named after the nearby Hollinger and McIntyre gold mines that have a similar porphyry and produced 30 million ounces of gold. The porphyry is the heat engine that pushes the gold into weak adjacent (sedimentary and mafic volcanic) rocks — the bigger the porphyry the bigger the potential deposit; Explor Resources' TPW porphyry is 5 times bigger than the Hollinger-McIntyre porphyry and all evidence to date has shown the exploration model to be accurate. The gold mineralization is concentrated in two mineralized limbs of syncline and so far Explor has, for the most part, concentrated its efforts only on the top portion of the south limb, the north limb is believed to be as equally rich. The north limb was recently the recipient of a 2,403 m stratigraphic (study of layers) diamond drill hole which further proved the model, it also found some gold to build on in the process, and it affirmed the overall structure is large enough to contain the 30 million ounces of gold that the model is based on.

The strike length of the gold mineralization to date is greater than 2000 meters, with the structure still open on strike and at depth. Depth-wise, area mines have successfully mined for high-grade gold to ~2,000+ metres, double the depth currently established on the south limb; the current resource established on the south limb was based on drilling to ~600 m, and recent drilling not yet incorporated into the resource is proving up high grades to ~1000 m (i.e. Jan. 31, 2012 release '14.8 g/t gold over 7.8 m', Feb. 23, 2012 release '7.36 g/t gold over 13.5 m', May 15, 2012 release '28.46 g/t gold over 3.30 m').

In excess of 100,000 m of diamond drilling has been completed by Explor Resources to date. Recent drill programs (including August 21, 2012 "Explor intersects 7.65 g/tonne Au over 33.2 meters on Timmins Porcupine West") has affirmed the continuity of mineralization and quality grade from hole to hole with increasing width as Explor Resources goes to depth and are very significant in terms of establishing a potentially large mineable gold resource. A new updated resource calculation is expected to be prepared for the end of 2012.

Mining MarketWatch Journal sees a comparison, exit strategy wise for shareholders benefit, to the scenario that unfolded for Virginia Gold Mines with its sale of its Eleonore gold deposit to Goldcorp for close to half a billion dollars plus the retention of a rich sliding royalty. Virginia Mines proved up ~3M ounces and sold to Goldcorp which carried the ball for many times that. Explor Resources has a very real similar potential outcome in store as the porphyry system at the TPW gold deposit is 5 times the size of the 30M ounces gold Hollinger-McIntyre, the exploration efforts to date support the exploration model, and a readily achievable target of 3 million ounces by the end of 2013 represents just the tip of the iceberg.

Shares outstanding: 147,671,992 (~187.5M fully diluted). It appears the time to buy EXS.V is now while it is trading under 20 cents and poised for significant upside share price revaluation to reflect the inherent value of its properties and immense potential. The full Mining Journal review may be found at http://www.miningmarketwatch.net/exs.htm online.

For those looking to establish a long position, near-term stock price catalysts include pending assay results from Explor Resources prolific south limb of the TPW gold deposit and an updated resource calculation expected this Q4 2012.

This release may contain forward-looking statements regarding future events that involve risk and uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual events or results. Articles, excerpts, commentary and reviews herein are for information purposes and are not solicitations to buy or sell any of the securities mentioned.

Forex Weekly Outlook October 8-12

The US dollar retreated after two strong weeks. Some optimism about global growth (thanks to the NFP) and some new hope for Europe lowered the attraction for the safe haven dollar and yen. ECB President Mario Draghi’ speech, US Federal Budget Balance, Trade Balance and PPI are among the highlights of the week. Here is an outlook on the main market movers coming our way.

The US gained 114K jobs in September in line with expectations following an upwardly revised reading of 142,000 jobs in August, suggesting a modest growth in the job market. The real surprise was the sharp decline in unemployment rate dropping to a near four year low of 7.8%, though mainly attributed to seasonable adjustments. Will the recent figures support Obama in his campaign? How will this impact the US dollar? Let’s Start
Mario Draghi speaks: Tuesday, 7:30. Mario Draghi, president of the ECB is scheduled to speak before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, in Brussels. His words will cause volatility in the market. Draghi might release more comments concerning Spain, after he clarified that the OMT is ready for immediate use.
Australian employment data: Thursday, 0:30. Unemployment in Australia dropped in August to 5.1%, beating expectations of a 0.1% rise, while the Australian job market lost 8,800 jobs in the month. This unexpected decline was contrary to analysts predictions of a 5,100 rise. Nevertheless the increase of full-time positions in July spurred the decline in the unemployment rate. The mixed labor market figures suggest that the RBA may cut rates in a few months’ time. An addition of 5,300 jobs is expected with a rise to 5.3% in unemployment rate. The Aussie is under huge pressure of late.
G7 Meetings: Thursday. - Finance ministers from 7 the United States, Japan, Canada, Germany ,France, Italy and Britain will meet on October 11 in Tokyo. Exchange rate developments is one of the topics be discussed. Japan’s new finance minister is expected to discuss the yen at the G7 meeting in hope to encourage foreign exchange intervention.
US Trade Balance: Thursday, 12:30. The United States trade deficit expanded to $42 billion in July, amid fewer exports to Europe,India and Brazil that offsetting a sharp drop if oil imports. Analysts expected deficit to widen further to $44.2 billion. The deficit is expected to widen more significantly in light of the global slowdown taking a toll on US exports. A further expansion to a deficit of 43.9 is forecasted.
US Unemployment Claims: Thursday, 12:30. The number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment benefits increased less than predicted last week, up 4,000 claims to a seasonally adjusted 367,000. Analysts expected claims to reach 371,000. The four-week average was unchanged at 375,000. ADP reported better than expected private sector job gains of 162,000 in September despite the hovering threat of budget cuts probable in 2013. A small drop to 366,000 is anticipated this time.
US Federal Budget Balance: Thursday, 18:00. The US Federal budget deficit increased by $191 billion in August, beating expectations for a $160.0 billion deficit. The high figure is due to calendar adjustments without which the deficit would have been considerably lower than the $160 billion expected. The end of the US fiscal year is getting closer with an annual deficit of more than $1tn making it the fourth consecutive year deficit crossed the $1tn line. The Federal budget deficit is expected to drop to $4.0 billion.
US Producer Price Index: Friday, 12:30. The Producer Price Index climbed 1.7% in August, more than the 1.1% rise predicted by analysts, following 0.3% rise in July. The big jump came amid a surge in energy prices. The core PPI increased 0.2%, in line with predictions. A gain of 0.8% is expected now.
US UoM Consumer Sentiment: Friday, 13:55. The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index final reading for September reached 78.3, below the preliminary level of 79.2. Nevertheless the US consumer sentiment has improved suggesting better market conditions. A small decline to 77.9 is anticipated.

Forex: GBP/USD free-fall hits 1.6130

(San Francisco) - GBP/USD continues to decline after testing offers above 1.6200 and stalling out at a 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level at 1.6215.

The market has dropped sharply from the mentioned highs and last trades around the 1.6130 mark, set to end the week practically unchanged as price develops below the 200-day EMA after the break higher in September.

Fundamentally speaking, “Industrial production data and trade figures are set for release early next week, and the medium term focus remains on the economic outlook driving BoE policymakers’ tone ahead of the coming expiry of QE,” explains Eric Theoret, Currency Strategist at Scotiabank.

Forex: EUR/USD is likely to remain stronger - TD

(San Francisco) - Despite the late decline, the Euro closed on Friday its four of five positive day this week with around 270 pips advance since Monday October 1st low of 1.2802 to 2-week highs at 1.3070 reached in the early Friday's American session.
EUR/USD finished the week at 1.3027 and the TD securities team sees the the near-term bias for EUR/USD as "likely to remain stronger." In the short term, the charts "suggest steady accumulation of EUR on dips through late September and early October, forcing the EUR out of the topside of the bear channel that guided the market down from the high 1.31 zone." And that looks "like a bull flag break-out (550-600 ticks of upside potential implied)."
"Trend momentum studies are EUR-bullish across a range of time frames, which suggests more upside and (possibly very) limited downside for EUR/USD in the near future."

Gold Bull Market Opposing Forces

What accounts for gold's strong performance since the initial rebound in July? That's the question that many analysts are (belatedly) trying to answer. The first and most obvious answer is stimulus; specifically the stimulus provided by the world's leading central bank in the U.S. The Federal Reserve's latest bond-buying scheme known as QE3 is to date the biggest stimulus aid that has had an impact in boosting the gold price.
As we all know, gold loves inflation and any increase in monetary liquidity in the global financial system will be reflected in an increasing gold price sooner or later. Analysts have noted that the gold price has recently increased in, Euro, Swiss Franc and Indian Rupee terms, which indicates monetary stimulus particularly benefits gold. As bullion broker Sharps Pixley observed, "This is not just a weak dollar story."

On a more technical level, the explanation you've heard me repeat since earlier this summer is that gold was oversold on a multi-year basis. According to the 10-month price oscillator for gold, gold reached its most sold out reading in at least 10 years a few months ago and this preceded the run-up in the gold price that has occurred since July. I've incorporated the 10-month oscillator in this report since at least 2003 and it has proven its merit as an intermediate-term gold price indicator time after time. Although it isn't used as a short-term turning point indicator, it has an unparalleled record for accuracy when it comes to predicting critical junctures in the gold price performance on a multi-month basis.



Another reason that some experts attribute to gold's strong performance lately involves China's economic outlook. According to Bloomberg, the August Chinese year-on-year industrial profit net income fell for the fifth month by 6.2 percent. As Sharps Pixley pointed out, "With the prospect of not hitting its 2012 growth target, the Chinese government may announce further stimulus and rate-cutting measures and IPO reforms to boost growth and rescue the stock market." The firm observed that such speculation has boosted gold prices in recent days.

It should also be pointed out that China, as a leading consumer of gold, would be likely to increase its gold consumption if its economy is revived through the monetary stimulus route. It's possible that gold's rally is, at least in part, an anticipation of this eventuality.

Despite all of this, gold's latest outperformance isn't merely a response to central bank stimulus. One of gold's primary roles in times of core economic deflation, which we've been experiencing in recent years, is that of a financial safe haven. Simply put, investors flock to gold in times of monetary chaos and economic uncertainty which gives gold a "fear premium." Gold feeds off fear in deflationary times since the "hot money" which flows from investors leaving the dollar helps to create sustained forward momentum on a longer-term basis for the yellow metal.



The latest round of global fear has been sparked by Spain and its refusal (to date) of the terms for a sovereign bailout. The bailout that Europe seeks to impose upon Spain is intended to help solve the country's debt crisis. As it turns out, Spain's refusal to seek the bailout is holding up the stimulus for the rest of the troubled euro zone. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi stated recently that the ECB won't start intervening in bond markets until Spain requests a bailout and agrees to the conditions imposed by the central bank.

Moreover, an ECB news release stated that request for help is only one "necessary condition" for receiving a bailout, implying that other conditions might also need to be met before the ECB is ready to intervene. What this means is that the global financial system isn't fully benefiting from the promised stimulus yet. That's one reason why investors are still panicky about Europe and are still piling into gold in spite of the lack of a coordinated global stimulus.

The opposing forces of illiquidity, and the fear it's breeding in Europe, and the liquidity provided by QE3 has conspired to create the "perfect storm" for a gold price rally. Thus we find that gold is being driven by two contradictory forces, namely fear and greed. Regardless of which of these two motive forces ultimately prevails, gold should continue to benefit at least until the long-wave deflationary cycle bottoms in late 2014.

New York Times: Egypt still attractive for investments oil companies

The newspaper "New York Times" U.S. report Thursday that despite the financial difficulties faced by Egypt in paying the bill oil and debt higher for international oil companies operating out van this companies are able to withstand high levels of debt are still attracted to investment in the oil sector Egyptian gas is likely to detect.
She said NH For example, British Petroleum Company decided last September to invest $ 11 billion in a gas project in Egypt, which is expected to produce, when completed, 40% of the total natural gas production in Egypt.
The company agreed Apache American Petroleum last February to spend billion dollars in the development of Egyptian hydrocarbons during the next two years.
The newspaper pointed out that due to growing domestic consumption in Egypt accelerated the trend in Egypt ended the use of its share of production locally instead of earning more revenue necessary export as the country moved from export to import over the past decade.

She explained that under the financial and economic conditions faced by new Egyptian government estimates indicate the government by between 6 to 7 billion dollars for the benefit of foreign companies for oil and natural gas produced by these companies and handed over to the company Egypt General Petroleum owned by the state.
The newspaper "New York Times" on its website, citing oil executives that the Ministry of Petroleum in negotiations to reach a new pay deals with those companies that are among the largest investors in the country.
In this regard, the company noted Dana English Petroleum which has a branch in Masraly it received 78% of this late Madionat by last April but still looking "different forms to schedule the remaining amount with Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation.

The newspaper pointed out that Dana like the other companies involved in oil exploration in Egypt, including the BP British and Italy's Eni and Spain's Repsol are with Egypt General Petroleum joint projects to explore oil and natural gas system of partnership between the state and the company.

She said most expenses, government recede in providing support to keep natural gas prices without market rates as it Egypt by cheaper fuel prices in the Middle East and therefore it is not surprising that the value of an invoice Egypt for support in order to maintain fuel prices have jumped to nearly 16 billion a year.

Secret of OPEC basket of crudes to Friday

Friday said OPEC and said that the standard price of its basket of crudes may record low of 107.08 dollars on the previous day to 106.99 dollars a barrel on Thursday.
It is known that the OPEC basket of 12 crude is a mix deserts Algerian ore Angolan and Iranian crude and heavy Basra Light Iraqi export Kuwaiti Sidr Libyan and Bonny Light Nigerian maritime country and Arab Light Saudi Murban UAE and Mary Venezuelan and Orient from Ecuador.

Price of an ounce of gold on Friday

- In London in Friday trading price of gold in pieces morning session low of $ 1791.75 in the previous session pieces to $ 1790.00 per ounce
When the previous close in New York the price of gold at $ 1788.55 an ounce

Crude futures drop measurement European

Recorded crude futures Brent lower in Friday trading at more than $ 1 a barrel as a result of investors expected later on Friday negative data from the U.S. economy.
At 08:57 GMT, Brent reduced by 72 cents up at $ 111.86 a barrel.

Chinese gold couples haven after the resumption of higher gold prices

After a few days of low gold prices and is expected by many re gold prices to rise to up to 193 pounds to grams gold 24 carat and 171 pounds to grams 21 carat gold to disappoint citizens who had expected a decline gradually by the end of the current year and the advent of Eid Christmas.

Which gave the gold trade Chinese boost good for the prosperity of its market these days because of the lack of price and conforms great between him and the original gold and mastering industry and which they are made a lot of models high-end, in spite of the fact that jewelry gold Chinese mere accessories made ​​of copper and coated only with gold 18 carat making it approach in terms of shape and texture of the outer original, but it went out of some blockbuster couples and ladies who seek elegance.

It is strange thing is that some jewelers are giving certificates to ensure the piece that I bought for you are guaranteed the continuation of its luster bright and similarity with jewellry original for long periods of up to five years, and because there is something like a seal on some of these models offer some of the cases of deception and fraud because of the difficulty discrimination gold Chinese gold original.

Silver prices settle at $ 34 an ounce

In early trading European Friday prices on silver stability at 34 dollars an ounce and thus preserve the gains made this week despite the continuing investors awaited day for the jobs report U.S. over the past month, which is expected to show a rise in the number of jobs added to the economy exceptagricultural sector, the highest of the past month, and this improvement will be the beginning of a positive impact for the third round of quantitative easing the Fed. And became traders in a cautious due to a lack of economic data and awaited U.S. report
And silver today is trading around 34.86 dollars per ounce and recorded its highest at 35.08 and a low of $ 34.82 dollars.

Stocks Finish Mixed on Late Weakness

Equities were in positive territory for most of the session with investor sentiment
لمشاهدة المباراة اضغظ على احدى الصورة الموجودة بالصفحة
for clarity on a rescue program for Spain, strong quarterly results from homebuilder KB Home (KBH) and the global availability of Apple's (AAPL) iPhone 5, but selling pressure arrived in the final hour.
The Dow fell more than 17 points, or 0.13%, to close at 13,580. The blue-chip index, which was up nearly 50 points at its high for the day, snapped a three-session winning streak and was down 0.10% for the week.
Find out what stocks Link and Cramer are trading before they trade them
Decliners outpaced advancers within the Dow, 17 to 13. The biggest losers were Alcoa (AA), Cisco (CSCO) and Coca-Cola (KO).
Blue-chip winners included Exxon (XOM), General Electric (GE), and McDonald'

To watch the game Click on one of the image on the page

week down 0.41%. The Nasdaq was the lone winner, adding 4 points,
or 0.13%, to close at 3180. The tech-heavy index lost 0.12% on the week.
The strongest sectors in the broad market were health care and energy. Transportation, basic materials and consumer non-cyclicals were in the red. Volume totaled 4.75 billion on the New York Stock Exchange and 2.53 billion on the Nasdaq.

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There was some optimism in early trading following a report that European Union officials are working to pave the way for a new rescue program for Spain. The Financial Times said an economic reform package for Spain is expected to be revealed next week.
The paper said the program will concentrate on structural reforms for Spain's economy instead of more taxes and spending cuts.
"With the decision-making process of the Euro area distilled down to a very small number of people, such stories are just speculative," noted Paul Donovan, global economist at UBS. "However, Spanish conditions relating to structural reform not fiscal targets would be helpful, as Spain stands a good chance of missing its fiscal targets."

Euro Slips against Dollar in Forex Trading

لمشاهدة الموضوع بالكامل اضغظ على احدى الصور التالية
Euro has changed direction and is heading lower today against the US dollar. Earlier, the 17-nation currency had the upper hand, but optimism is fading and the euro is slipping.
The latest economic indications for the eurozone aren’t particularly encouraging, and that is starting to weigh on the euro, especially against the US dollar. Business confidence in the eurozonedropped to a three-year low, and unemployment continues to rise in Germany, eurozone’s biggest economy. The news is not that great, and points to recession.
The ECB has promised to buy bonds to help embattled nations, and Germany is willing to endorse the ESM. Additionally, 
لمشاهدة الفيديو والصور اضغظ على احدى الصور التالية 
there are hopes that Spain’s 2013 budget, due to be released soon, will reflect austerity enough to qualify the country for the bailout that many think it needs. However, these hopes aren’t enough to maintain gains for the euro.
The eurozone is far from out of the woods, and the euro is far from completely stable right now. That is being reflected in the current trend for the euro, which is turning lower.
At 13:29 GMT EUR/USD is down to 1.2862 from the open at 1.2874. EUR/GBP has also turned lower, heading down to 0.7932 from the open at 0.7963. EUR/JPY is down to 99.9490 from the open at 100.0835.
If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Euro, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

Gold Prices

To watch the video and photos click on one of the following images
Gold prices may seem a little mysterious at first, but in fact they are no different than those of things you buy every day. Like everything else, gold originates with producers (mines) then travels down a distribution chain to the end consumer.
The top of the gold distribution chain is the over the counter (OTC) market, where prices are driven by supply and demand. Because gold is a commodity its price is independent of the source. On the OTC market principal buyers ‘shop’ producers for the best offered price, negotiate a contract with a producer, and then execute the physical exchange. From there gold passes down through various levels of
لمشاهدة الموضوع بالكامل اضغظ على احدى الصور التالية
View topic completely click on one of the following images
 

Forex and Gold

The foreign exchange (currency or forex or FX) market exists wherever one currency is traded for another. It is by far the largest market in the world, in terms of cash value traded, and includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and other financial markets and institutions. Retail traders (small speculators) are a small part of this market. They may only participate indirectly through brokers or banks and may be targets of forex scams.

The foreign exchange market is unique because of:
its trading volume,
the extreme liquidity of the market,
the large number of, and variety of, traders in the market,
its geographical dispersion,
its long trading hours - 24 hours a day (except on weekends).
the variety of factors that affect exchange rates,
Average daily international foreign exchange trading volume was $1.9 trillion in April 2004 according to the BIS study Triennial Central Bank Survey 2004

Exchange-traded forex futures contracts were introduced in 1972 at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and are actively traded relative to most other futures contracts. Forex futures volume has grown rapidly in recent years, but only accounts for about 7% of the total foreign exchange market volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe (5/5/06, p. 20).

Top 10 Currency Traders % of overall volume, May 2005 Rank Name % of volume
1 Deutsche Bank 17.0
2 UBS 12.5
3 Citigroup 7.5
4 HSBC 6.4
5 Barclays 5.9
6 Merrill Lynch 5.7
7 J.P. Morgan Chase 5.3
8 Goldman Sachs 4.4
9 ABN Amro 4.2
10 Morgan Stanley 3.9