(As written for My Paper on 8 May 2012. Click here to enlarge)

The proverbial sentence “Sell in May and Go Away” seems to be sweeping the currency market – at least for this week.

In the space of three days, two events have dominated the headlines for traders:

1) USA Jobs Report

On Friday, the US Labour of Statistics revealed that only 115K jobs were created in the month of April. This was much lower than the forecasted figure of 160K. The unemployment rate dropped from 8.2% to 8.1%, its lowest level since January 2009. Read More »

(As written for My Paper on 24 April 2012. Click here to enlarge)

The IMF meetings with its 188 members ended over the weekend.

To some degree, it was seen as a success. For starters, IMF chief Christine Lagarde managed to secure more than USD430 billion in pledges. Japan was the first to lend support, pledging USD60 billion in aid.

The total figure, while impressive, fell short of Lagarde’s original USD600 billion goal. This was because USA, the largest shareholder of the IMF, declined to add to the fund.

There were other cracks that were exposed during the high level meetings. Canada proposed to make it harder for Europe to tap the cash by suggesting a double vote. The first will be conducted by euro-zone members, and the second by the rest.

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(As written for My Paper on 17 April 2012. Click here to enlarge)

What a difference 2 weeks make.

Two weeks ago, China reported stellar numbers in its Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), with numbers coming in at a one-year high of 53.1 in March, compared to a reading of 51 in February.

As the world’s largest exporter, the PMI is an important number for traders to gauge the strength of the Chinese economy.

However, on Friday the 13th just four days back, the horror of a slowing economy came crashing back down to earth. China’s GDP figures had come in at 8.1%, a reading worse than economists’ estimates of 8.4%. The previous figure was 8.9%.

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