Top executives at General Motors meet to finalise a widely expected filing for bankruptcy protection, the BBC learns.

It’s really a shame that many traders feel that the forex market can only be traded when using indicators. In fact, most traders absolutely flood their charts with one needless indicator on top of another. Its sad that some people think their chances of success increase with every indicator that they put on their charts.

It’s really a shame that many traders feel that the forex market can only be traded when using indicators. In fact, most traders absolutely flood their charts with one needless indicator on top of another. Its sad that some people think their chances of success increase with every indicator that they put on their charts.

Canadian firm Magna agrees a deal to take over the Opel wing of US carmaker GM, which is soon expected to file for bankruptcy.

Canadian firm Magna agrees a deal to take over the Opel wing of US carmaker GM, which is soon expected to file for bankruptcy.

One of the advantages of forex software is the fact that the learning curve is drastically reduced. This means that even novices can now trade as well as the pros. Because of the initial risks involved in forex in the past, the software minimizes the risks and thereby makes it possible for people with little or no experience to avoid most of the pains of trading.

Economists generally and Dollar bears specifically both love to harp on the perennial US trade imbalance. Despite the halving of the trade deficit (reported by the <a href=”http://www.forexblog.org/2009/05/us-trade-deficit-nears-10-year-low-good-news-for-usd.html” target=”_blank”>Forex Blog last week), the gap between exports and imports remains sizable; it is projected at about a 0 Billion for 2009.

The more important data point, however, concerns capital flows. This is applies mainly currency traders, which are less intrinsically worried about the US trade imbalance than how the rest of the world feels about supporting such a balance. For example, if the entire trade deficit is recycled (i.e. invested) back into the US, than theoretically a trade deficit presents nothing to worry about, at least not in the short run. [Of course, such a trend may not be sustainable for the long-term, but that is outside the purview of this post].

The Dollar’s de facto role as the world’s reserve currency has historically ensured that this has been the case. This phenomena has even been strengthened by the credit crisis, as the initial spike in risk aversion generated a steady demand for Dollar-denominated assets. However, there was concern that this demand was leveling off over the last few months as risk aversion ebbed, and foreigners collectively sold a net Billion worth of American assets. Over this period, the Dollar by no coincidence has declined across the board, against both emerging market currencies as well as the majors.

In March - the most recent month for which data is available - this trend reversed itself. Net capital inflows totalled .2 Billion, close to the Billion US trade deficit. Especially surprising is that foreign demand for US Treasury securities remained strong - to the tune of Billion - despite low yields. Moreover, the two most important customers both chipped in: “China, the largest holder of U.S. Treasury securities, increased its holdings of government bonds further in March to 7.9 billion. In February, it held 4.2 billion. Japan’s Treasury holdings stood at 6.7 billion in March, compared with 1.9 billion in the prior month.”

Even demand for equity securities remained strong, as foreigners purchased Billion in March alone. Foreign demand and the rising stock market are probably now reinforcing each other. Meanwhile, US investors collectively continue to pull money from abroad and return it to the US; over 0 Billion has already been returned to the US in this way.

Taken at face value, this is certainly good news. Given all the bad news, the fact that capital is still flowing into the US is worth celebrating. At the same time, the fact that the Dollar continues to fall suggests that this more to the story than meets the eye…

Note: Both Charts courtesy of <a href=”http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090515/foreign-investors-returning-tos-capital-markets.htm”>International Business Times.

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Italy’s Fiat pulls out of talks on the future of Opel in Berlin, saying the German government has been “unreasonable”.

If you are a part of the forex community, I am absolutely certain that you have heard about forex expert advisors. In fact, people are going crazy about these trading robots. But the question still remains do they actually work, and more importantly does it make money?

If you are a part of the forex community, I am absolutely certain that you have heard about forex expert advisors. In fact, people are going crazy about these trading robots. But the question still remains do they actually work, and more importantly does it make money?