by Drew Shaw
At its March 2 policy meeting, the Bank of Canada (BOC) maintained its benchmark short-term interest rate at an all-time low of 0.25 percent. It’s been at this level since April 2009, and is not expected to change until the end of the second quarter of this year. The BOC said that the [...]

Speculators have been easy scapegoats when markets are in distress or bubbles develop. Financier George  Soros, Washington Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and others are pressing for limits on speculative trading and a potential ban on speculation in credit default swap (CDS) markets.
On February 23, the SEC voted to restrict short sales in a company’s stock [...]

What follows is a consolidated schedule for trading on some of the most popular North American futures markets for the Presidents’ Day 2010 holiday.

by Phil Streible
There are many different types of chart patterns market technicians focus on when making trading decisions, and many ways to interpret them. That is why technical analysis is truly an art. The key is to be able to recognize these patterns, and implement a trading strategy based on what you think the charts [...]

By Ted Phillips
Often, traders focus too much on price, and not enough on time. Time brings change. It’s time, or time cycles that cause short-term or long-term reversals or changes in trend. I want to emphasize how important it is for you as a trader to focus on time, and share techniques to improve your [...]

Last week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)  released a proposal to apply speculative position limits to the energy futures markets. A public meeting was held on January 14, 2010 to discuss the new rules (which have some in the industry up in arms),  but they are not yet a done deal.
A summary of the [...]

MF Global Research just released its “2010 Financial Market Outlook” as well as an extensive paper titled, “10 Macro Themes For 2010.”  You can sign up for a free two-week trial to receive MF Global’s outstanding services and view the full research pieces.  A brief excerpt of its Macro Themes paper is given below.
The financial [...]

Three days of CFTC hearings are underway on the topic of speculation in the futures markets, and the impact on market pricing.
“This hearing is an opportunity to determine how speculative position limits could be used to address excessive speculation, not how we can eliminate speculation,” said CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler, adding that the CFTC “must [...]

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke delivers his semi-annual testimony to Congress on Tuesday. MF Global Research Senior Interest Rate and Equity Market Analyst Nick Kalivas offers his outlook in his daily research notes.
Thinking about Bernanke’s Testimony
The Fed Chairman is likely to make statements which are consistent with the consensus economic view.  His comments will confirm [...]

The worse-than-expected June employment report is dampening pre-holiday spirit  in stocks and commodities before the 4th of July holiday.  Lind Plus Senior Market Strategist Richard Ilczyszyn said when there is a holiday on a Friday, the Labor Department often delays the employment report release until the following week. But this time, the report was released [...]