UK Net Lending to Individuals (MoM)

Location: United Kingdom

Date: 26/09/2014

Time: 09:30

Strength: 2/3

Previous: £3.4B

Notes: UK Net Lending to Individuals released by the Bank of England is a monthly measure of growth rates, amounts outstanding and changes in total lending to individuals, divided into lending secured on dwellings and consumer credit. It shows a picture of whether or not consumers are willing to spend money. A high reading is positive for the GBP, while a low reading is negative.

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IT Unemployment

Location: Italy

Date: 26/09/2014

Time: 09:00

Strength: 2/3

Previous: 12.6%

Notes: The Unemployment Rate released by the National Institute of Statistics is the number of unemployed workers divided by the total civilian labor force. It is a leading indicator for the Italian economy. If the rate is up, it indicates a lack of expansion within the Italian labor market. As a result, a rise leads to weakening in the economy. Normally, a decrease in the figure is seen as positive (or bullish) for the Euro, while an increase is seen as negative (or bearish).

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IT Unemployment

Location: Italy

Date: 26/09/2014

Time: 09:00

Strength: 2/3

Previous: 12.6%

Notes: The Unemployment Rate released by the National Institute of Statistics is the number of unemployed workers divided by the total civilian labor force. It is a leading indicator for the Italian economy. If the rate is up, it indicates a lack of expansion within the Italian labor market. As a result, a rise leads to weakening in the economy. Normally, a decrease in the figure is seen as positive (or bullish) for the Euro, while an increase is seen as negative (or bearish).

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DE Gfk Consumer Confidence Survey

Location: Germany

Date: 26/09/2014

Time: 07:00

Strength: 2/3

Previous: 8.6

Notes: The GfK Consumer Confidence is a leading index that measures the level of consumer confidence in economic activity. A high level of consumer confidence stimulates economic expansion while a low level drives to economic downturn. Generally speaking, a high reading is positive (or bullish) for the EUR, while a low reading is seen as negative (or bearish).

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DE Gfk Consumer Confidence Survey

Location: Germany

Date: 26/09/2014

Time: 07:00

Strength: 2/3

Previous: 8.6

Notes: The GfK Consumer Confidence is a leading index that measures the level of consumer confidence in economic activity. A high level of consumer confidence stimulates economic expansion while a low level drives to economic downturn. Generally speaking, a high reading is positive (or bullish) for the EUR, while a low reading is seen as negative (or bearish).

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DE Gfk Consumer Confidence Survey

Location: Germany

Date: 26/09/2014

Time: 07:00

Strength: 2/3

Previous: 8.6

Notes: The GfK Consumer Confidence is a leading index that measures the level of consumer confidence in economic activity. A high level of consumer confidence stimulates economic expansion while a low level drives to economic downturn. Generally speaking, a high reading is positive (or bullish) for the EUR, while a low reading is seen as negative (or bearish).

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NZ Trade Balance (YoY)

Location: New Zealand

Date: 25/09/2014

Time: 5 - F

Strength: 2/3

Previous: $1.29B

Notes: Trade balance, released by Statistics New Zealand, is the difference between the value of country's exports and imports, over a period of year. A positive balance means that exports exceed imports, a negative ones means the opposite. Positive trade balance illustrates high competitiveness of country's economy.

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NZ Trade Balance (YoY)

Location: New Zealand

Date: 25/09/2014

Time: 5 - F

Strength: 2/3

Previous: $1.29B

Notes: Trade balance, released by Statistics New Zealand, is the difference between the value of country's exports and imports, over a period of year. A positive balance means that exports exceed imports, a negative ones means the opposite. Positive trade balance illustrates high competitiveness of country's economy.

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NZ Trade Balance (MoM)

Location: New Zealand

Date: 25/09/2014

Time: 5 - F

Strength: 2/3

Previous: -$692M

Notes: The Trade Balance released by the Statistics New Zealand is a measure of balance amount between import and export. A positive value shows a trade surplus while a negative value shows a trade deficit. Any variation in the figures influences the domestic economy. If a steady demand in exchange for exports is seen, that would turn into a positive growth in the trade balance, and that should be positive for the NZD.Review Alex Nekritin's Article - Trading New Zealand Dollar with New Zealand Trade Balance

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NZ Trade Balance (MoM)

Location: New Zealand

Date: 25/09/2014

Time: 5 - F

Strength: 2/3

Previous: -$692M

Notes: The Trade Balance released by the Statistics New Zealand is a measure of balance amount between import and export. A positive value shows a trade surplus while a negative value shows a trade deficit. Any variation in the figures influences the domestic economy. If a steady demand in exchange for exports is seen, that would turn into a positive growth in the trade balance, and that should be positive for the NZD.Review Alex Nekritin's Article - Trading New Zealand Dollar with New Zealand Trade Balance

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Bloomberg Saxo Bank A/S is exploring several options to generate cash, including an initial public offering, as it prepares for TPG Capital to sell its stake, Chief Financial Officer Steen Blaafalk said.

Copenhagen-based Saxo, which said this month it plans to add Saudi, Egyptian and Qatari equities to the products available on its trading platform, is also weighing the options of hybrid debt sales or being bought by another financial company, Blaafalk, hired by Saxo this year after three decades at Danske Bank A/S, said in an interview.

"An IPO is one way for TPG to exit," he said. "A sale to an industrial player or a fund is another way, or they could sell the stake back to Saxo Bank. If and when we are listed on an exchange, we would have a wider range of opportunities to get more core equity."

U.S.-based private equity firm TPG bought a 30 percent stake in Saxo three years ago, meaning it may exit two years from now, Blaafalk said. Saxo needs capital to realize its growth ambitions after its trading platform, the bank's main business, was pummeled by a lack of volatility, he said.

"Trading today is actually stagnating because the one thing that trading depends on is volatility," Blaafalk said at Saxo's headquarters, where dinosaur skeletons dominate as a constant reminder to employees to embrace change or risk extinction. Market volatility hasn't been this low in "decades," he said.

Capital Costs

Saxo now relies on retained earnings to build up capital. Its common equity Tier 1 capital was 13.1 percent of risk-weighted assets as of June, according to its six-month report.

"Retained earnings are probably our only and most relevant source of building up core equity today," Blaafalk said. Saxo needs "more cost-effective capital. Retained earnings are still expensive capital, so it'd be better to have as much Tier 1 and Tier 2 capital as the regulation allows."

Saxo began reducing its subordinated debt this year because the capital doesn't meet new regulatory requirements. The bank has 223 million kroner in subordinated loans as part of its Tier 2 debt, its six-month report shows.

Saxo Founders

Saxo would use additional capital to expand in central and easternEurope as well as the Asia Pacific region, Blaafalk said. The two areas currently generate the largest share of the bank's earnings and have the biggest growth potential, he said.

The bank favors a capital-light model in which risk is mostly passed through to clients, according to Blaafalk.

Co-founder and chief executive officer Lars Seier Christensen signaled his bank is ready for stricter regulation in the currency market.

"It is a general tendency that many areas get more regulated, and foreign exchange has been relatively light touch for many, many years," he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "But at the end of the day of course people have to act appropriately in foreign exchange as everywhere else."

Christensen and Saxo's other founder and co-CEOKim Fournais each own 30 percent of the bank. TPG paid $600 million for its equivalent share in 2011.

"There are good arguments" for listing, Blaafalk said. "The rationale is to get more liquidity and to have a source of capital if you want to grow faster and the regulator says: 'If you want to grow fast, you need to have more capital.'"

The forex party must be over if brokers are now trying to get equity flow!!!  Very balance sheet intensive activity. Few brokers have the money to finance the required hedging. 

(NYSE:FXCM) has begun inviting traders to sign up within the list of those wishing to be among the first to experience a new product offering by the broker: single share CFDs. The landing page promises an innovative way to trade contracts for difference based on the stock of a single company, access to hundreds of single share CFDs, low minimum investments, no conflict of interest and no requotes.

The list of instruments will consist o CFDs on shares in companies which include:

– JPMorgan Chase & Co
– The Walt Disney Company
– Ford Motor Company
– Facebook
– Royal Bank of Scotland
– Amazon.com Inc
– Google Inc
– Vodafone Group
– Yahoo!
– General Electric
– Lloyds Banking Group

The announcement of the pending launch comes after it became clear that FXCM Stock Trading, a UK-based subsidiary of the broker, will be offering single share CFDs to clients in Europe via the Phoenix platform. The requirements for the service, however, include a minimum initial deposit of GBP 20,000, an amount which is hardly acceptable for a retail trader. It could be that FXCM will be changing the trading terms for the service it provides on the Phoenix platforms, so that this type of trading is accessible to a wider clientele. Another possibility is that the broker will be launching a separate, brand new service for stock CFDs for retail traders – maybe on one of its other platforms.

The date of the launch of the single-share CFDs by FXCM has not been announced. The broker says it is now focusing on implementing the new raw spreads model, which was officially introduced in the US just a couple of days ago and has resulted in a totally new way of calculating transaction expenses and in significantly (up to 50%) reduced spreads.

The broker has now an increased clientele to cater after acquiring the retail FX business of FXDD in the spring of 2014 and taking over the retail MT4 accounts of IBFX in the US and Australia earlier this month. FXCM is obviously seeking to lure traders with lower spreads and new products to trade.

The broker is set to face some fierce competition in the stock CFD market in Europe and Australia, thanks to other big players like IG Group.

US Markit Services PMI

Location: United States

Date: 25/09/2014

Time: 14:45

Strength: 2/3

Previous: 59.5

Notes: The Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) released by Markit Economics captures business conditions in the services sector. As the services sector dominates a large part of total GDP, the services PMI is an important indicator of the overall economic condition in US. A result above 50 signals is bullish for the USD, whereas a result below 50 is seen as bearish.

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US Markit Services PMI

Location: United States

Date: 25/09/2014

Time: 14:45

Strength: 2/3

Previous: 59.5

Notes: The Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) released by Markit Economics captures business conditions in the services sector. As the services sector dominates a large part of total GDP, the services PMI is an important indicator of the overall economic condition in US. A result above 50 signals is bullish for the USD, whereas a result below 50 is seen as bearish.

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US Markit PMI Composite

Location: United States

Date: 25/09/2014

Time: 14:45

Strength: 2/3

Previous: 59.7

Notes: The PMI monthly Composite Reports on Manufacturing and Services, released by Markit Economics, are based on a large number of business executives in private sector manufacturing and services companies. Data is usually released on the third working day of each month. Each response is weighted according to the size of the company and its contribution to total manufacturing or services output accounted for by the sub-sector to which that company belongs. Replies from larger companies have a greater impact on the final index numbers than those from small companies. Results are presented by question asked, showing the percentage of respondents reporting an improvement, deterioration or no change since the previous month. From these percentages, an index is derived: a level of 50.0 signals no change since the previous month, above 50.0 signals an increase (or improvement), below 50.0 a decrease (or contraction).

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