TODAY`S HEADLINES
UK final GDP lower than forecast
Euro maintains strength vs. USD
UK current account deficit –8.5B
Sterling touches 4 month high vs. USD
POUND
Sterling has moved off the four month high it recently achieved against the USD and has dipped slightly lower vs. the Euro. UK final gross domestic product (growth) recently out, was lower than the forecasted –0.2% at –0.3%, further highlighting the fragility of the UK economy. BoE governor Mervyn King said yesterday that the UK faces a long road back to growth levels seen before the financial crisis as banks continue to reduce their balance sheets. Further falls against the Euro are expected to be limited with the member state continuing to be plagued by debt concerns.
EURO
The Euro has strengthened slightly against the pound this morning and continues to trade well vs. the USD. An upward trend for the single currency against the USD in particular has been maintained by successful debt auctions from both Spain and Italy. This
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Larry Elliott is right to demand that UK monetary policy stay loose, and he is right to warn of the danger of monetary policy losing traction in a post-crisis environment (The US lesson is clear. It’s time for Osborne to invest, 19 March). At the same time, worries have recently been articulated that quantitative easing is hurting pensioners relying on interest income. Japan has demonstrated the dangers of the wrong type of monetary policy that creates zero interest rates and fat margins for banks, but hurts savers.
However, it does not have to be like this. When I proposed a policy that I called “quantitative easing” in 1994 and 1995 in Japan, I argued that interest rates do not have to be lowered – since I had predicted that interest rate reductions would not be helpful in post-banking-crisis recessions (see my article in the Nikkei, 2 September 1995). Instead, monetary policy stimulation switches from the price of money (interest rates) to its quantity. S
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Savers in the Cleveland and Pittsburgh areas can earn 1.50% APY with a FreeMONEY Savings account at Dollar Bank.
That beats the best nationally available savings deal offered by TIAA Direct by a quarter of a percentage point.
The one caveat is that you also must open either a FreeMONEY Checking account or a Rewards Checking account to accompany your savings account.
The FreeMONEY checking account is a better deal, charging no account fees and paying cash back for transactions.
It takes a $50 minimum deposit to open a savings account at the Pittsburgh-based bank (www.dollarbank.com), and there is no minimum balance requirement to earn 1.50% APY.
The offer is good on balances to $20,000. Balance portions above that earn a paltry 0.10% APY.
The FreeMONEY Checking account also requires a $50 minimum deposit but has no minimum balance requirement.
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Jauntaroo is offering a new Jauntaroo Gift Card Game called Super Vacation Tuesday for free Amazon gift cards, valid through March 9, 2012.
Jauntaroo is giving away free Amazon Gift Cards to everyone that tests out features on Jauntaroo, so you can receive at least a free $1 Amazon.com gift card just for participating.
When searching on Jauntaroo, you can read all sorts of information about different travel destinations, and you can then share your Dreamed About Vacation Spot with others via Facebook and Twitter.
How to Play the Game for $1 Amazon Gift Card
1. Use Jauntaroo’s Vacation Finder to search for any kind of destination you like (Beach, Casino, Mountains, City, etc.).
2. Select 1 Destination you have visited before and 1 Destination you want to visit.
3. Click the Facebook Share or Twitter Tweet logo just above the name of the destinations to post to your Facebook or Twitter page. Post it to your Facebook wall or Twitter feed.
4. S
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POUND
Sterling began to fall heavily against the Euro after the Bank of England minutes released yesterday. This fall has continued this morning with sterling reaching a low of 1.1772 and 1.5649 vs. the USD. The pound has also been weakened by a stronger than expected German ifo survey. The BoE minutes were the main catalyst for sterling’s decline, providing a very dovish reading for the market, with it now likely that further QE will take place after two members of the committee voted to pump an additional 25 billion sterling on top of the 50 billion that took place earlier this month. I personally feel the movements in the past 24 hours are a little over done so we should see some recovery in sterling’s value today.
EURO
The Euro is trading strongly against the pound and USD after a better than expected German Ifo survey helped renew confidence in the region and the single currency. The data which measures business sentiment has raised expectations that the euro zone’s largest economy could avoid a recession. Inves
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