(As written for My Paper on 28 June 2011. Click here to enlarge)

The volatile movements in the Forex Market seem to be telling the same story – that traders are only fixated with the outcome of the Greek saga.

Last week, Greek Prime Minister Papandreou survived a no confidence vote when lawmakers voted 155-143 in support of the Prime Minister.

This week, he is hard at work trying to gain support for a EUR28 billion Austerity Program that will last 5 years. This program is crucial in determining whether the EU and the IMF will dispatch its next tranche of funds to aid Greece.

After the EU and the IMF pledged to “do all they can” to help Greece, this pivotal Austerity Program is a show of confidence from Greece that they are “doing all they can” in response to the support from the EU and the IMF.

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(As written for My Paper on 21 June 2011. Click here to enlarge)

Euro finance ministers gathered in Luxembourg early this week to hammer out rescue plans for Greece. Stuck in a deadlock, the ministers failed to agree on releasing the 12 billion Euro loan payment for Greece.

Instead, they pushed for Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to make further cuts in the budget and sell state assets to bring down the deficit.

“We forcefully reminded the Greek government that by the end of this month they have to see to it that we are all convinced that all the commitments they made are fulfilled,” Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters in Luxembourg.

Papandreou has his work cut out for him.

He began a 3 day debate yesterday on a confidence vote in his new government as he sought parliamentary approval for a 78 billion Euro package of budget cuts.

In 2009, Papandreou was forced to acknowledge that the country’s budget deficit had hit 15.4 % of GDP, about three times what the outgoing government had claimed.

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(As written for My Paper on 14 June 2011. Click here to enlarge)

There is no doubt in any trader’s mind that China is the economy to watch for this decade.

Pounding out red-hot numbers month after month, China’s appetite for raw materials and commodities seem insatiable.

However, the recent figures released by China have raised some eyebrows. Could the Chinese economy be heading for a soft landing in the second half of 2011?

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(As written for My Paper on 7 June 2011. Click here to enlarge)

Forex traders know the importance of the “KISS” strategy.

The wisdom of “keep it simple, stupid!” always serves as a strong reminder when I tend to let my analysis run wild.

The following article reflects one of my “simple” outlooks which has held steady for the last few years. Simply put, the “forex world” is divided into 3 regions: US, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Very often, getting a grasp of what happens in these 3 regions can help you to setup your trades effectively.

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(As written for My Paper on 1 June 2011. Click here to enlarge)

I was in Jakarta last week to speak in a conference called the Asian Commodities and Derivatives Conference.

The main theme in the conference was agricultural commodities – the factors that influence its price, how traders add liquidity to the market and where prices could be by the end of the year.

As I left the conference, I was mulling over how currencies play such an important part in the movement of commodity prices. After all, commodities had a huge run after the Fed announced QE2 in November last year.

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