Notes From My Desk April 17, 2012

By FXEmpire.com

Now and then, I shared with my readers, notes from my desk. These are the notes that I gather daily as I do my research and watch the markets. They come from various sources and are a splattering of this and that. They all somehow end up separated by markets and in some understandable order. I just mostly copy them so that when the day is done, I have notes on the highlights in the markets.

They actually tell a nice story and each time I have shared these, my readers have commented favorably. I must tell you that they are not original, that I just copy them throughout the day as my personal notes. I hope the writers and publishers don’t mind that I share them.

I have decided to start putting them together on a daily basis and sharing them. Let me know what you think.

Today, President Barack Obama announced a plan to crack down on what the White House calls manipulation in oil markets. Obama delivered a statement from the Rose Garden on the plan to increase oil-market oversight, the White House said. Energy policy has emerged as a major election-year issue between Obama and Republicans.

The Obama administration proposed new measures Tuesday to limit speculation in the oil markets, seeking to draw a contrast with Republicans who have been calling for more domestic drilling during a time of near record gasoline prices.

Industrial production was unchanged for the second month running in March, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a 0.3% gain. While utilities output gained 1.5%, manufacturing output slipped 0.2%

Although U.S. builders start work on new homes at a sharply slower March pace, construction permits jump to their highest level in 3 1/2 years, data showed. Builders began construction on new U.S. homes at a slower pace in March, but permits jumped to the highest level since September 2008, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Housing starts fell 5.8% last month to an annual rate of 654,000.

The Bank of Canada announced Tuesday that it will keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1%. The overnight lending rate has been kept at this level since September 2010. The bank said Canadian economic momentum is “slightly firmer”

Europe is not completely out of the financial crisis, despite having a solid crisis response toolkit, the head of the International Monetary Fund says in an interview with French newspaper published Tuesday.

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday raised its forecast for global economic growth in 2012 and 2013, citing improved financial conditions and unwinding of the financial crisis, but warned that the recovery is still fragile.

The International Monetary Fund Tuesday raised its growth forecast for Russia, but urged it and other former Soviet states to tighten their budgets more than currently projected amid increased bank and sovereign stress in the euro area.

The economic situation in Europe is “challenging,” but efforts to solve these difficulties should not come at the expense of fiscal soundness, the President of the European Commission said Tuesday

Spain’s economy is back in recession after a mild recovery in early and mid-2011, and faces an “exceptional” situation that may led to further increases in unemployment, Bank of Spain Governor Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez said Tuesday.

The annual rate of inflation in the euro-zone came in at 2.7% in March, unchanged from the previous month but revised upward from a preliminary estimate of 2.6%, the European Union statistics agency Eurostat reported.

The closely-watched ZEW index of German investor sentiment released Tuesday unexpectedly rose in April for its fifth consecutive monthly gain. The indicator, which measures expectations among German investment professionals for the next six months. The indicator rose to 23.4 from 22.3 in March.

Spain saw short-term borrowing costs rise as it sold 3.2 billion euros ($4.2 billion) of 12- and 18-month bills in a closely-watched auction Tuesday, news reports said. Spain saw the average yield on its sale of 12-month bills rise to 2.62%

The pace of inflation in Great Britain accelerated to 3.5% in March from 3.4% the previous month, the U.K. Office for National Statistics reported. On a monthly basis, inflation rose 0.3%. Economists had forecast a 0.3% monthly rise

The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday surprised investors with a bigger-than-expected half-percentage-point cut to its key lending rate, sending it to 8%, saying the state of India’s economy is “a matter of growing concern.

Chinese banks will be allowed to hold short positions in the U.S. dollar, in a move designed to help banks manage their forex risk, and which may help support the yuan’s value.

Originally posted here