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After the NFP, the upcoming week is somewhat less busy. Nevertheless, rate decision in Switzerland and New Zealand, job figures from Australia and Canada and two major American releases on Friday among other events, will provide lots of action. Here’s the weekly outlook.

On Monday and Tuesday, there are many events on the calendar, but not too many important ones. The effect of the Non-Farm Payrolls will still strongly felt at the beginning of the week, until fresh important indicators are released. Let’s start:

This Market Weekly Outlook was brought to you by our partner ForexCrunch.com.

1. Swiss Retail Sales: Published on Monday at 8:15 GMT. Switzerland enjoys a strong and stable economy with confident consumers. Last month, sales volume jumped by 4.7%, a very strong pace. This time, a rise of 1.6% is predicted. This will have a strong impact on the Swissy as well as a collateral effect as the beginning of the week doesn’t contain too many figures.

2. British NIESR GDP Estimate: Published on Wednesday at 15:00 GMT. NIESR is usually more accurate than other economists in understanding the economy. The upcoming release will show the growth rate for the three months that ended in February, as Britain hardly got out of recession at the end of 2009. This tends to have a long term impact on the Pound.

3. American Federal Budget Balance: Published on Wednesday at 19:00 GMT. It’s no secret that the US government owes a lot of money. The size of the deficit fell to more “normal” levels last month – only 40 billion. But this time, it’s predicted to surge back to 200 billion, weighing on the dollar.

4. New Zealand rate decision: Published on Wednesday at 20:00 GMT. New Zealand has the second highest interest rate among the major currencies, 2.5%, but it didn’t follow its neighbor Australia and didn’t raise the rates. Also now, Alan Bollard is expected to leave the Official Cash Rate unchanged but may hint about future hikes in the RBNZ Press Conference. This decision has an impact beyond New Zealand and impacts also the Aussie.

5. Japanese Final GDP: Published on Wednesday at 23:50 GMT. According to the initial release, the land of the rising sun experienced a stronger growth than expected – 1.1% in Q4. This is expected to be revised to the downside – 1.0%, shaking the Japanese Yen against the dollar and all the Yen crosses.

6) Australian employment data: Published on Thursday at 00:30 GMT. In the past four months, Australian employment figures were fantastic, beating expectations each time. The predictions remain cautious: Employment Change is expected to rise by a modest number – 15,300 and the Unemployment Rate is expected to remain unchanged at 5.3%, after dropping from 5.5% last time.

7. American and Canadian Trade Balance: Published on Thursday at 13:30 GMT. This double-feature release in Canada and the US always triggers action in USD/CAD. The American deficit is expected to remain high at around 40 billion, while Canada is expected to turn from a deficit of 0.2 to a surplus of 0.4 billion.

8. American Unemployment Claims: Published on Thursday at 13:30 GMT. Together with trade balance, the first jobless claims report after the Non-Farm Payrolls will probably show an improvement – a drop from 469K to 452K, pushing the dollar higher.

9. Swiss rate decision: Published on Thursday at 14:00 GMT. The Swiss National Bank makes rate decisions on the Libor rate only once a quarter. The rate is expected to remain unchanged at 0.25%. At the same time last year, the central bank accompanied the rate decision with a massive intervention. They now intervene all the time, not only on rate decisions.

10. Canadian employment data: Published on Friday at 12:00 GMT. Also Canada experienced an improving job market. Last month, the unemployment rate surprised by falling to 8.3%. This is expected to remain unchanged. The superb employment change figure showed a rise of 43,200 jobs last time. It’s expected to be followed by a gain of 17,500 jobs this time. This will rock USD/CAD and also impact the greenback elsewhere.

11. American Retail Sales: Published on Friday at 13:30 GMT. Sales were stronger than expected in January, but the freezing month of February probably weighed on this growth in the volume of sales. A drop of 0.1% is predicted in retail sales and a drop of 0.1% in core retail sales.

12. American Consumer Sentiment: Published on Friday at 15:00 GMT. According to the University of Michigan, consumer confidence has been stable in the past three months, remaining almost unchanged at a score of 73.6. A small rise to 74.3 points is expected this time. The timing of the release, close to the close of the markets, promises lots of action around this release.

Best Regards,
StartOptions Team

Disclaimer: Binary options trading might carry potential rewards, but also potential risks. You must be aware of the risks and willing to accept them in order to trade in the financial markets. Don’t trade with money you can’t afford to lose.

1) European Unemployment Rate: Published on Monday at 10:00 GMT. One of biggest burdens on Europe is unemployment rate, standing at 10%, double digits, for two months. In Spain, the number reaches 20%. A drop in this figure is essential for moving the interest rate, but it will probably take the other direction and rise to 10.1%.

2) Canadian GDP: Published on Monday at 13:30 GMT. Canada’s unique monthly GDP has posted three positive months, with the last print being better than expected 0.4%. The upcoming release is expected to show another 0.4% rise and completes the data for Q4 of 2009 and should provide another boost for the Canadian dollar.

3) American ISM Manufacturing PMI: Published on Monday at 15:00 GMT. This important purchasing managers’ index has been on the rise and jumped up to 58.4 points last month, significantly better than expected. It’s now predicted to ease to 57.9 points.

4) Australian rate decision: Published on Tuesday at 03:30 GMT. After last month’s disappointing decision not to raise the rates, there have been different hints about the upcoming decision, most of them leading to a fourth rate hike, to 4%. This should help the Australian dollar, that was hurt by risk aversion trading.

5) Swiss GDP: Published on Tuesday at 06:45 GMT. Switzerland was relived of 3 quarters of contraction in Q3 of 2009, when the economy grew by 0.3%. This stable recovery is expected to continue and push the Swissy upwards, despite the central bank’s effort to bring it down.

6) Canadian rate decision: Published on Tuesday at 14:00 GMT. The BOC is expected to leave the Overnight Rate unchanged at 0.25%, and again, the focus will be on the rate statement. The BOC was very clear about the timing – June 2010. Some expected a declaration about an earlier move, but this didn’t happen in previous decisions. Will it happen this time?.

7) American Beige Book: Published on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT. Two weeks before the FOMC meeting which decides on rates, this overview of the economy is released to the public. This could provide a hint about the next decision, or the next moves by the Fed, such as the recent surprising mini rate hike.

Australian GDP: Published on Wednesday at 00:30 GMT. The Australian economy enjoyed an improving job market throughout the fourth quarter of 2009, and this should be reflected in the GDP as well, showing the strength of the Australian economy. Q3 was disappointing, with a small growth rate of 0.2%. A strong growth rate of 0.9% is now expected.

9) American ADP Non-Farm Payrolls: Published on Wednesday at 13:15 GMT. This release always shakes the markets, as it’s sometimes considered to be a strong indicator for the Non-Farm Payrolls. Last month it showed a loss of only 22K jobs, better than expected – but the Non-Farm Payrolls were worse than expected. So this figure should be handled with care. It’s expected to show a small drop of 9K.

10) American ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI: Published on Wednesday at 15:00 GMT. In the non-manufacturing sectors, the situation isn’t as good as in manufacturing. ISM showed a score of only 50.5 points, hardly above the critical 50 point mark that indicates economic expansion. This figure fell short of expectations in the past four months. A small rise to 51 is expected.

11) British rate decision: Published on Thursday at 12:00 GMT. Mervyn King hurts the Pound every week. This time, his chance will come at the decision about the Official Bank Rate which will probably stay at 0.5%. Also the Quantitative Easing program (Asset Purchase Facility) isn’t predicted to move from the 200 billion pound already allocated to it, but there might be hints about its renewal.

12) European rate decision: Published on Thursday at 12:45 GMT. Just 45 minutes after the British decision, Jean-Claude Trichet’s ECB will announce the European Minimum Bid Rate. Also here, no changes are expected, but the complementary ECB Press Conference will supply lots of action. The Greek crisis will still be in the limelight.

13) American Unemployment Claims: Published on Thursday at 13:30 GMT. Providing the last hint about the Non-Farm Payrolls, this weekly release is expected to show some improvement after last week’s disappointing figure – a rise to 496K, a number not seen in a long time. It’s expected to drop back to 474K.

14) American Pending Home Sales: Published on Thursday at 15:00 GMT. This figure returned to stability last month, rising by 1%, but this time it’s predicted to fall again as the housing sector continues to suffer, as we see in the new and existing home sales numbers. A rise of 1.6% is expected.

15) Non-Farm Payrolls: Published on Friday at 13:30 GMT. After two more months of negative numbers, the king of forex, the predictions now turned negative. Last month’s releases were confusing, as 20K jobs were lost, but the unemployment rate dropped significantly from 10% to 9.7%. Will it be confusing again? Or will we see finally see good numbers? This event will impact forex trading before and after the event, for quite some time. Current expectations are for another loss of jobs: 35,000. Also the unemployment rate is expected to be bad, edging up to 9.8%.

This Market Weekly Outlook was brought to you by our partner ForexCrunch.com

The German Ifo Business Climate Release is a leading indicator of economic health – businesses react quickly to market conditions, and changes in their sentiment can be an early signal of future economic activity such as spending, hiring, and investment. The release on February 23 was anticipated to affect the EURUSD pair as well as correlated pairs such as the GBPUSD. Of the two, I preferred the GBPUSD because at the time it had a stronger resistance line to break. The actual release of 95.2 was below forecast of 96.2 which triggered a sell-off of the EURUSD and GBPUSD and broke through my breakout point as seen below:

As soon as the breakout point, seen as the blue dashed line, was broken, i placed 3 trades in this order:
A) Short the GBPUSD 10 mini lots (Value $100,000).
B) Stop loss at the red dotted line (max loss capped at ~$140 dollars).
C) Bought 2 GBPUSD Call Binary Options at www.startoptions.com.

The binary option positions that I bought would have made a gain of $140 at my stop loss, should my GBPUSD breakout fail. This would offset my losses at the stop loss point. On the other hand, the success of the GBPUSD breakout would result also in a failure of my Binary Option hedge, so the breakout would have to continue past the green line, in order for the entire combination to be profitable.

So why go to all this trouble? My experience, and probably yours as well, has shown that strong event-related breakouts either win big or lose big. In other words, the loss-area between the blue and green lines in the image above, is the least likely to occur. If you agree, you should try this strategy for yourself.

Bio:

J.Mavor is an active options trader for more than 10 years and the Chief Dealer at StartOptions.com.

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Ben Bernanke stole the show with a surprising hike of the discount bank rate. This came after the close of the American stock markets but forex trading continues all the time – the dollar leaped. Some currencies took a bigger hit than others. This event will continue to dominate trading on Monday when there aren’t any major releases.

1.German Ifo Business Climate: Published on Tuesday at 9:00 GMT. This wide survey of 7,000 businesses has a strong impact on the Euro. Contrary to the ZEW report that is recently weak, this indicator has been rising steadily in the past year, edging up each time. From last month’s 95.8 score, it’s predicted to tick up to 96.3.

2.American CB Consumer Confidence: Published on Tuesday at 15:00 GMT. Consumer confidence impacts sales and the whole economy. In the past three months, this indicator rose from the low level it fell to, and also revisions to previous releases have been to the upside. This time, it’s predicted to drop from 55.9 to 55 points. This has a wide impact.

3.New Zealand Inflation Expectations: Published on Wednesday at 02:00 GMT. New Zealand has a high interest rate, but expectations for a rate hike like its neighbor Australia haven’t been met. A rate hike depends a lot on prices. This quarterly release will show the direction of inflation and a possible rate hike. Last quarter, expectations rose from 2.3% to 2.6%. Now they are predicted to edge up some more.

4.Ben Bernanke testifies: Happens during Wednesday at 15:00 GMT and Thursday at 14:00 GMT. After Bernanke’s shocking mini-rate hike that was made off the main hours, he’ll make his semi-annual report in broad daylight in front of two committees in Washington DC. Although he might use confusing language, his words will shake the markets.

5.American New Home Sales: Published on Wednesday at 15:00 GMT and overshadowed by Bernanke. New Home Sales took a big dive two months ago and showed everybody that the housing sector depends on government aid. It hasn’t returned to previous levels. From 342K, sales are predicted to edge up to 350K this time.

6.American Durable Goods Orders: Published on Thursday at 13:30 GMT. Orders have been revised to the upside in the past month, from 0.3% to 1%. Also Core orders have been revised to 1.4%. The positive trend is expected to continue, with a rise a rise of 1.6% in orders and 1.2% in core orders. This figure doesn’t touch the consumers, but has a long term impact on the economy.

7.American Unemployment Claims: Published on Thursday at 13:30 GMT and overshadowed by goods orders. The American job market is still fragile, and the number of claims refuses to leave the area it is in in the past months. Last week’s 473K is predicted to be followed by 466K this time. A number under 430K or above 480K will shake the markets.

8.British Revised GDP: Published on Friday at 9:30 GMT. Did Britain really return to growth? That’s a big question. The initial release for Q4 finally showed growth – but only 0.1%. Expectations are optimistic and a revision to 0.2% is expected. According to the unofficial NIESR GDP estimate, the economy did grow by only 0.1%. A drop to 0% growth or another quarter of contraction will be devastating for the Pound.

9.Swiss KOF Economic Barometer: Published on Friday at 10:30 GMT. This indicator, locally called Konjunkturbarometer, is an important composite index that usually reflects the situation of the Swiss economy quite well, and has a strong impact. From 1.77 points it’s predicted to rise to 1.77 points this time.

10.American Prelim GDP: Published on Friday at 13:30 GMT. The best is kept almost for last. There were many doubts about the rapid American growth that was reported in the first release. The second release is predicted to show only a small downward revision: from 5.7% to 5.6% in Q4 of 2010. The markets will surely shake with this release. A long term rise in the dollar’s value cannot happen without an improvement in jobs as well.

11.American Existing Home Sales: Published on Friday at 15:00 GMT. This release will be somewhat overshadowed by the GDP publication. Similar to new home sales, this figure, that accounts for more sales, is also volatile and is dependent on government aid. After a drop of 1 million sales last month, stability is expected this time – a tiny rise from 5.45 to 5.51 million.

This Market Weekly Outlook was brought to you by our partner ForexCrunch.com.

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Best Regards,
StartOptions Team

Disclaimer: Binary options trading might carry potential rewards, but also potential risks. You must be aware of the risks and willing to accept them in order to trade in the financial markets. Don’t trade with money you can’t afford to lose.

Illustration of a binary option at StartOptions.com:

We had the opportunity to discuss with StartOptions.com Head of Dealing J. Mavor:

Traders like to trade around market events or chart patterns. The stronger the event or the pattern, the more volume they will attract and improve the odds of breakout success. Quite often a false breakout can frustrate your expectations. This happens when not enough volume concentrates around the event, leading to a pullback before you had a chance to take profit. However pullbacks do not have to eat at your profits, if you trade the event with a Binary Option.

For example, on 17/02/2010 the FOMC Meeting Minutes failed to generate enough volume for the EURUSD to create a sustaining rally. As the image illustrates, eventually a pullback at 20:00 GMT to the event level at 19:00 GMT of 1.36167 would have left you with no gains and lost on the spread. Had you traded a Binary Option you would have made $70.

Here is how:

• At the time of the event you place a Put Binary Option trade on StartOptions.com. The cost of the trade is $100, returning $170 if the price ends below 1.36167 or $10 if the price ends above, It’s that simple.
• Since the price returned almost back to the breakout level, I made $170 on my Binary Option trade, whereas I would have made $0 and even paid for the spread had I traded the EURUSD directly.

So, basically what the Binary Option offers me is a way to profit on weak events, so I can target many more events. Otherwise we have to wait for GDP or other big news or patterns that generate sustaining breakouts

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Click here to trade USD Binary Options

The USD looked to extend its retreat on profit taking, for all the major USD currency pairs. Look for pullbacks on the USD retreat for all USD currency pairs as a great opportunity for buying Forex Put Binary Options
to earn a predetermined reward on the USD hourly binary options of %70, with StartOptions.com you can trade the USD against major currency pairs with hourly expirations, you need to speculate only on the direction of the underlying asset within an hour, let’s say you just bought a USD/EUR at 1.3751 that expire in an hour from now even if the price will be lower in one cent (1.3750) at expiry then you’ll be entitled for the the full reward of the Forex option (70% on average).  in contrast to spot FX trading in which you must speculate much larger moves in order to profit from a trade.

Click on the picture below to enlarge the USD graphs: