Week in FX Americas – Fed Minutes Shows Appetite for Rate Patience

The EUR/USD started the week in a now familiar strong USD tune after a strong employment number the week before. The main event for the pair was the release of the minutes from the FOMC meeting two weeks ago. The actual minutes were more dovish than originally expected even after Chair Yellen’s press conference. A strong NFP fueled the expectation that the Fed would have seen the recovery coming. After the minutes the USD lost ground against all majors with the EUR/USD almost reaching 1.28.

The USD was able to regain some ground on the back of global growth forecasts cuts by the IMF and soft data out of Germany. The Canadian employment data provided the surprise of the week after crushing expectations of 20,000 new jobs with an actual 74,100 print. Sceptics will point out that Statistics Canada has reportedly erroneously in the past, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics the most recent example of expectation beating figures being way offside. For the moment CAD was boosted by the mostly full time job creation.

Global Growth

The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and OECD have all cut growth forecasts for 2014 and 2015. Here divergence amongst recovering economies is clear. US and the UK lead the developed world with Europe and Japan stuck at a standstill. Emerging markets continue to struggle trapped between diminishing foreign direct investment that is going back to safe havens as major central banks make their move and geopolitical events unfold diminishing appetite for riskier investments.

Commodities

Stunted global economic growth has reduced the demand for all commodities. Base metals along with precious have lost as supply is way ahead of demand. Oil has been hit by slowdown of China and remains to be seen if the OPEC discounts trigger a price war, specially after the US has increased its productions due to technological advances. There is a lot of supply in the market and refineries are looking for cheaper crude.

Next Week For Americas:

North America and Japan have a short trading week with Monday being a bank holiday. China kick starts events with the release of their trade numbers on the weekend. Most of the week will be dominated by price reports from the U.K, China and Canada. By Tuesday, investors get to gage business and economic sentiment from Australia and Germany. On Wednesday, Draghi is due to deliver opening remarks at the 7th Statistics Conference in Frankfurt. Volatility is often experienced during his speeches as traders attempt to decipher interest rate clues. The US delivers key sales numbers, weekly claims and rounds off the week with consumer sentiment and Fed Chair Yellen speaking in Boston.

Fore more market moving events visit the MarketPulse Economic Calendar

WEEK AHEAD

* GBP Core Consumer Price Index

* EUR German ZEW Survey (Economic Sentiment)

* CNY Consumer Price Index

* USD Advance Retail Sales

* CAD Bank Canada Consumer Price Index Core

* USD U. of Michigan Confidence

MarketPulse

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Book Giveaway: Get Your Retirement Planning on Track in 2014

via MoneyNing:

Regular contributor Emily Guy Birken has just released a new book: The Five Years Before You Retire. Read on for her suggestions on how to make 2014 a great year for your retirement portfolio — and for a chance to win a copy of her book!

Saving for retirement is something like cleaning out the basement: you know you need to work on it, but it’s something you’d rather deal with later.

Unfortunately, putting off retirement planning has much more dire consequences than letting your old CD collection and athletic equipment gather dust. Missing out on investment opportunities and the magic of compound interest could haunt your golden years in a way that losing your copy of Appetite for Destruction never will.

Here are three simple steps you can take in 2014 to get your retirement planning on the right course:

1. Automate Your Retirement Savings

It can feel almost impossible to put aside money for retirement when there are so many financial needs in the here and now. After paying for your mortgage, your kid’s mouth full of braces, and unexpected car repairs, having extra money to put aside for the future may feel like a luxury you simply can’t afford.

That’s partially because many people regard saving for retirement as what you do after you’ve paid all your other bills. Instead, pay yourself first by setting up an automatic deposit into your retirement account on payday. Starting with a small amount, like 1% to 2% of your salary, will keep you from feeling the loss.

This can work even better if your employer’s retirement program offers something called a contribution rate escalator, which will automatically increase your savings rate every year. That means you can plan for portions of your future raises to go toward retirement — rather than lifestyle creep.

2. Meet with a Financial Adviser

Many people think you have to be at the Scrooge McDuck level of wealth before you need a financial adviser, but nothing could be further from the truth. Financial advisers can help you determine how much you’ll need to retire, what types of investments will help you get there, and how to periodically re-balance your portfolio. Even the most dedicated do-it-yourselfer can benefit from the expertise of a trusted financial adviser.

However, finding the right financial adviser is not necessarily an easy task. Between the intimidation factor (there’s quite a bit of financial jargon) and the fact that pretty much anyone can call him or herself a financial adviser, it can seem almost impossible to find one you trust.

That’s why it’s important to interview advisers until you find one to be your ally in retirement planning. Just like you wouldn’t trust your children with a babysitter you haven’t vetted, you shouldn’t trust your retirement to any old adviser. Make 2014 the year that you interview and choose your trusted adviser. (You can find a list of helpful financial adviser interview questions in Chapter 4 of The Five Years Before You Retire.)

3. Create a Second Income Stream

Even the best retirement plan can be derailed by unemployment, medical bills, debt, or other financial problems. In these tough situations, you may stop contributing to your retirement accounts — or worse, be tempted to spend what’s in them.

In addition to having a robust emergency fund, another good way to protect your retirement from financial bumps in the road is to establish and maintain a second income stream.

Considering the fact that modern technology offers some non-traditional options for making extra money, generating a second income stream is much easier now than it would have been even 10 years ago. You can often do a second job from home in your pajamas — and it can be easy to base that job on one of your hobbies. Blogging, selling crafts on Etsy, and becoming a mystery shopper are all great ways to generate some extra income.

For more advice on how to prepare for retirement, check out The Five Years Before You Retire. We’re giving away one copy of the book to a lucky reader. Enter to win below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This article originally appeared on MoneyNing.com. Let us know what you think (or read what others thought) here.

Related posts:

1. More Americans Are Planning for Retirement. Are You Among Them?


2. Book Review – The Quiet Millionaire


3. What Kind of Retirement Can Baby Boomers Expect?

For more info: Book Giveaway: Get Your Retirement Planning on Track in 2014

MoneyNing

Book Giveaway: Get Your Retirement Planning on Track in 2014

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