Interest Rate Monitor
Yields Off to a Slow Start to the Week

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Immediately after the Second World War, which left much of Europe's economy landscape in tatters, the country that emerged with the fewest scars was USA. In 1944 after Brenton Woods Accord and IMF, the US dollar become the reserve currency for all capitalist countries of the world and the rest of the currencies, gold and crude oil were compared against it.

THE ROAD TO NOWHERE?

At the time of writing, as the great and the good headed home from Davos World Economic Forum, bankers have indicated that they may agree to far-reaching reforms whilst financial regulators warned that they could take drastic action to take some of the risk out of the financial industry. As to how this reflects - and indeed impacts - on the markets going forward, Drew Hillier speculates that we may not be going forward at all, merely differently sideways... tempered with an overwhelming feeling that as far as a recovery is concerned, we have yet to fully ascertain if the wheels may be either half on or half off!

Global FX market trends

The foreign exchange market remains the largest financial market in the world, and the most liquid. And while it experienced a substantial decrease in early 2009, with US$2.9 trillion in average daily volume, a report published recently by Celent estimates the FX market should exceed US$4.0 trillion in average daily turnover by 2010.

Keep taking the medicine

As 2009 draws to a close, a huge degree of uncertainty remains as to the true efficacy of government programs aimed at rescuing the financial system and wider economy. In the hugely costly case of Quantitative Easing, authorities admit they cannot fully measure its effect; instead, they just think - or hope - it works.

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

Aside, perhaps, from weddings and other similarly familial occasions, which at least offer up an excuse for the sentimental among us to unwittingly collude with greetings cards manufacturers, all anniversaries have a tendency towards self-fulfilment...