DE Retail Sales (YoY)

Location: Germany

Date: 30/01/2015

Time: 07:00

Strength: 2/3

Previous: -0.8% / Consensus: 3.5%

Notes: The Retail Sales released by the Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland is a measure of changes in sales of the German retail sector. It shows the performance of the retail sector in the short term. Percent changes reflect the rate of changes of such sales.The changes are widely followed as an indicator of consumer spending. The positive economic growth anticipates "Bullish" for the EUR, while a low reading is seen as negative, or bearish, for the EUR.

#END

DE Retail Sales (MoM)

Location: Germany

Date: 30/01/2015

Time: 07:00

Strength: 2/3

Previous: 1.0% / Consensus: 0.3%

Notes: The Retail Sales released by the Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland is a measure of changes in sales of the German retail sector. It shows the performance of the retail sector in the short term. Percent changes reflect the rate of changes of such sales.The changes are widely followed as an indicator of consumer spending. The positive economic growth usually anticipates "Bullish" for the EUR, while a low reading is seen as negative, or bearish, for the EUR.

#END

JP Housing Starts (YoY)

Location: Japan

Date: 30/01/2015

Time: 05:00

Strength: 2/3

Previous: -14.3% / Consensus: -14.8%

Notes: The Housing Starts released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport captures how many new single-family homes or buildings were constructed. It shows the strength of the Japanese housing market, which can be considered as the economy as a whole due to Housing Starts' sensitivity to changes in the business cycle. generally speaking, a high reading is seen as positive, or bullish for the JPY, while a low reading is seen as negative, or bearish.

#END

JP Annualized Housing Starts

Location: Japan

Date: 30/01/2015

Time: 05:00

Strength: 2/3

Previous: 0.888M

Notes: The Annualized Housing Starts released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport captures how many new single-family homes or buildings were constructed. It shows the strength of the Japanese housing market, which can be considered as the economy as a whole due to Housing Starts' sensitivity to changes in the business cycle. A high reading is seen as positive, or bullish for the JPY, while a low reading is seen as negative, or bearish.

#END

EMU ECB Monthly Report

Location: European Monetary Union

Date: 29/01/2015

Time: 09:00

Strength: 2/3

Previous:

Notes: The European Central Bank publishes a monthly report that contains a detailed analysis of the prevailing economic situation and the risks to price stability. It also provides articles on a wide range of topics related to the tasks of the ECB. Usually, a high reading anticipates a hawkish attitude which will be positive, or bullish, for the EUR, while a low reading is seen as negative, or bearish.

#END

NZ Monetary Policy Statement

Location: New Zealand

Date: 28/01/2015

Time: 20:00

Strength: 3/3

Previous:

Notes: The New Zealand Reserve Bank publishes its Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) quarterly. Each Monetary Policy Statement must set out: how the Reserve Bank proposes to achieve its targets; how it proposes to formulate and implement monetary policy during the next five years; and how monetary policy has been implemented since the last Monetary Policy Statement.

#END

NZ RBNZ Interest Rate Decision

Location: New Zealand

Date: 28/01/2015

Time: 20:00

Strength: 3/3

Previous: 3.5%

Notes: RBNZ Interest Rate Decision is announced by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. If the RBNZ is hawkish about the inflationary outlook of the economy and rises the interest rates it is positive, or bullish, for the NZD.Review Alex Nekritin's Article - Trading New Zealand Dollar with RBNZ Rate Decision

#END

DE 10-y Bond Auction

Location: Germany

Date: 28/01/2015

Time: 10:40

Strength: 2/3

Previous: 0.74%

Notes: Displayed in the calendar is the average yield on the Federal Bonds auctioned by Deutsche Bundesbank. German Federal Bonds have maturities of above then ten years. The yield on the bonos represents the return an investor will receive by holding the bond until maturity. Investors monitor the yield

#END

AU Consumer Price Index (YoY)

Location: Australia

Date: 27/01/2015

Time: 00:30

Strength: 3/3

Previous: 2.3%

Notes: The Consumer Price Index released by the RBA and republished by the Australian Bureau of Statistics is a measure of price movements by the comparison between the retail prices of a representative shopping basket of goods and services. The purchase power of AUD is dragged down by inflation. The CPI is a key indicator to measure inflation and changes in purchasing trends. A high reading is seen as positive (or bullish) for the AUD, while a low reading is seen as negative (or Bearish).

#END

AU Consumer Price Index (QoQ)

Location: Australia

Date: 27/01/2015

Time: 00:30

Strength: 2/3

Previous: 0.5%

Notes: The Consumer Price Index released by the RBA and republished by the Australian Bureau of Statistics is a measure of price movements by the comparison between the retail prices of a representative shopping basket of goods and services . The purchase power of AUD is dragged down by inflation. The CPI is a key indicator to measure inflation and changes in purchasing trends. A high reading is seen as positive (or bullish) for the AUD, while a low reading is seen as negative (or Bearish).

#END

UK Gross Domestic Product (QoQ)

Location: United Kingdom

Date: 27/01/2015

Time: 09:30

Strength: 3/3

Previous: 0.7%

Notes: The Gross Domestic Product released by the National Statistics is a measure of the total value of all goods and services produced by the UK. The GDP is considered as a broad measure of the UK economic. Generally speaking, a rising trend has a positive effect on the GBP, while a falling trend is seen as negative (or bearish).

#END

JP Labor Cash Earnings (YoY)

Location: Japan

Date: 26/01/2015

Time: 01:30

Strength: 2/3

Previous: 0.5%

Notes: Indicator released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, shows the average income, before taxes, per regular employee. It includes overtime pay and bonuses but it doesn't take into account earnings from holding financial assets nor capital gains. Higher income puts upward pressures over consumption, therefore an increasing trend in earnings is inflationary for the Japanese economy. A higher than expected reading is bullish for the yen, while below the market consensus the result is bearish.

#END

EMU ECB Interest Rate Decision

Location: European Monetary Union

Date: 22/01/2015

Time: 12:45

Strength: 3/3

Previous: 0.05%

Notes: ECB Interest Rate Decision is announced by the European central Bank. Usually, if the ECB is hawkish about the inflationary outlook of the economy and rises the interest rates it is positive, or bullish, for the EUR. Likewise, if the ECB has a dovish view on the European economy and keeps the ongoing interest rate, or cuts the interest rate it is seen as negative, or bearish.Review Alex Nekritin's Article - Trading the Euro with the ECB Rate Decision

#END

NZ Business NZ PMI

Location: New Zealand

Date: 21/01/2015

Time: 21:30

Strength: 2/3

Previous: 55.2

Notes: The Business NZ PMI released by the Business NZ presents business conditions in New Zealand. The Business PMI is an important indicator of the overall economic condition. A result that values above 50 signals appreciates (or is bullish for ) the NZD,

#END

The fallout from last week's shock decision by the Swiss National Bank's (SNB) decision to abandon the franc's euro peg continues. 

UK Interdealer broker IG Groupconfirmed it had lost £30 million after the currency shot up by as much as 41% on 15 January following the removal of the peg. 

In a statement to the stockmarket, IG said the loss was split by £12 million of market exposure and £18 million of client exposure, which was held by 327 clients. 

Chief executive Tim Howkins said: 'While this [loss] was due to an unprecedented and unforeseeable degree of movement in a major global currency and only a few hundred clients were affected, we will seek to learn lessons from this incident which we can incorporate into our risk management approach going forward.' 

At the Swiss epicentre private bank Lombard Odier said it will effectively start charging people to hold cash by employing negative interest rates on balances of CHF100,000. This will accommodate the SNB's decision to cut in rates from -0.25% to -0.75%, which accompanied the franc announcement. 

'The resulting negative rate will represent the cost of ensuring maximum liquidity and security at a time of heightened market volatility,' the bank told the Financial Times.

Meanwhile Credit Suisse said it was unclear what total impact the peg removal would have on profit, saying this would be dependent on where the franc goes from here, while private bank EFG said earnings would be hit by 10%. 

There had also been concern over Europe's largest retail forex trader, Saxo Bank, until it said earlier this week it was able to meet regulatory capital requirements. However, it indicated a number of clients had 'insufficient margin collateral' to cover their franc losses, which will result in some shortfall for the bank. 

Meanwhile UBS downgraded its rating on Swiss stocks from overweight to neutral, warning the country's equities were facing profit falls of between 5 and 7% following the rapid appreciation of the franc. 

The shock has already claimed the life of hedge $830 million Miami-based hedge fund Everest Capital, while UK-based forex trader Alpari has hired KPMG to find a buyer after suffering huge losses. 

Alpari's US counterpart FXCM crashed by 90% on the day the peg was removed and needed a $300 million capital injection from parent Leucadia to survive.    

Aite Group wealth management senior analyst Javier Paz indicated there could be many more casualties, saying the full impact of the decision could take months to unravel. He likened the scenario to a nuclear explosion. 

In an email seen by Bloomberg Paz said: '[The removal of the peg] is closer to a nuclear explosion than a 1,000-kilogram conventional bond…The aftermath is like a black hole that can suck massive amounts of credit from currency trading as we have known it.' 

Paz was also quoted in the Financial Times, where he suggested regulators may need to be stricter in the way they police the forex market. 'The retailer brokers are a huge part of what makes  the markets go round in London but they can't be let loose indiscriminately,' he said. 

'The UK regulator will have to err on the side of caution. The reputation of the City is at stake.'