Gold outlook: Fed Tapering Fear...

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Gold prices are seeing follow-through selling pressure from Thursday’s strong losses and have hit a four-week low in early U.S. trading Friday. Much of the selling in gold and silver is tied to their weakening near-term technical postures and to less risk aversion in the market place this week. December Comex gold was last down $12.60 at $1,318.10 an ounce. Spot gold was last quoted down $2.70 at $1318.75. December Comex silver last traded down $0.244 at $21.895 an ounce.

It was generally quiet in Asian and European markets overnight, except the gold and silver markets. The perceived decreasing odds of U.S. military action against the Syrian regime continue to pressure safe-haven gold. Traders that had made bets the U.S. military would strike Syria and went long gold are at least temporarily licking their wounds and unwinding those positions.

Many traders and investors this week have been looking ahead to next week’s meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC). A majority of the market place believes the U.S. central bank at next week’s meeting will announce it will begin to scale back, or “taper” its monthly bond-buying program. Some reckon the Fed will announce a $10 billion or $15 billion reduction in its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program. The surprise to the markets could be if the Fed either does nothing at this meeting, or is more aggressive in its initial reduction in bond purchases. For the past several weeks the market place has been fixated on what the U.S. central bank will announce at the conclusion of next week’s FOMC meeting.

The Japanese Nikkei news service reported overnight that President Obama late next week will name Larry Summers as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. The U.S. dollar index rallied modestly on this report, while gold saw some added selling pressure—on notions Summers as a Fed chairman would be more hawkish on U.S. monetary policy than would present Fed vice chair Janet Yellen. However, the White House has denied the Japanese report. CNBC continues to report the Fed chairman’s job “is Summers’ to lose.”

U.S. economic data due for release Friday includes the producer price index, retail sales, manufacturing and trade inventories, and the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey.
The London A.M. gold fix is $1,308.25 versus the previous P.M. fixing of $1,328.00.

Technically, December gold futures prices closed nearer the session low Thursday. The gold market bears now have the slight overall near-term technical advantage. A two-month-old uptrend line on the daily bar chart has been negated. The gold bulls’ next upside near-term price breakout objective is to produce a close above solid technical resistance at $1,350.00. Bears' next near-term downside breakout price objective is closing prices below solid technical support at $1,300.00. First resistance is seen at $1,340.00 and then at $1,350.00. First support is seen at the overnight low of $1,304.60 and then at $1,300.00.  


December silver futures prices closed nearer the session low and hit a fresh four-week low Thursday. Silver bears now have the slight near-term technical advantage. Silver bulls’ next upside price breakout objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at this week’s high of $24.25 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at $20.65. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $22.185 and then at $22.50. Next support is seen at the overnight low of $21.42 and then at $21.00. .

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North Korea threatens nuclear strike, U.N. expands sanctions

North Korea threatens nuclear strike

North Korea threatened the United States on Thursday with a preemptive nuclear strike, raising the level of rhetoric just before the U.N. Security Council approved new sanctions against the reclusive country.

The White House said North Korea's threats would only lead to Pyongyang's further international isolation and declared that the United States was "fully capable" of defending against any North Korean missile attack.

China's U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong said Beijing wanted to see "full implementation" of the new U.N. Security Council resolution that tightens financial restrictions on Pyongyang and cracks down on its attempts to ship and receive banned cargo.

North Korea has accused the United States of using military drills in South Korea as a launch pad for a nuclear war and has scrapped the armistice with Washington that ended hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War.

A North Korean general said on Tuesday that Pyongyang was scrapping the armistice. But the two sides remain technically at war as the civil war did not end with a treaty.

North Korea threatens the United States and its "puppet," South Korea, on an almost daily basis.
"Since the United States is about to ignite a nuclear war, we will be exercising our right to preemptive nuclear attack against the headquarters of the aggressor in order to protect our supreme interest," the North's foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.
North Korea conducted a third nuclear test on February 12, in defiance of U.N. resolutions, and declared it had achieved progress in securing a functioning atomic arsenal. It is widely believed that the North does not have the capacity for a nuclear strike against the mainland of the United States.
With tensions high on the Korean peninsula, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to expand its sanctions on North Korea. The new sanctions were agreed after three weeks of negotiations between the United States and China, which has a history of resisting tough measures against its ally and neighbor.

The resolution specifies some luxury items North Korea's elite is not allowed to import, such as yachts, racing cars, luxury automobiles and certain types of jewelry. This is intended to close a loophole that had allowed countries to decide for themselves what constitutes a luxury good.
"These sanctions will bite and bite hard," said U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice.
The export of luxury goods to North Korea has been prohibited since 2006, though diplomats and analysts said the enforcement of U.N. sanctions has been uneven.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, welcomed the council's move, saying in a statement that the resolution "sent an unequivocal message to (North Korea) that the international community will not tolerate its pursuit of nuclear weapons."
The success of the new measures, council diplomats said, will depend to a large extent on the willingness of China to enforce them more strictly than it has in the past.

Pyongyang was hit with U.N. sanctions in retaliation for its 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests. Those measures were subsequently tightened and expanded after several rocket launches by the North.
In addition to the luxury goods ban, there is an arms embargo on North Korea, and it is forbidden from trading in nuclear and missile technology.

George Lopez, a professor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and a former member of the U.N. panel that monitors North Korea sanctions compliance, said the new measures should have a real impact on North Korea's movement of money and constrain access to equipment for its nuclear and missile programs.

"Now, we may yet see another launch or a bomb test, but over the medium term this resolution will degrade DPRK capabilities to grow its program," Lopez said, using the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

THREATS AND WAR GAMES

North Korea's threats were the latest in an escalating war of words by both sides across the armed Korean border this week.
The North's unnamed foreign ministry spokesman said it would be entitled to take military action as of March 11 when U.S.-South Korea military drills move into a full-scale phase.
"North Korea will achieve nothing by continued threats and provocations. These will only further isolate the country and its people and undermine international efforts to promote peace and stability in northeast Asia," Rice told reporters.

President Barack Obama's administration said it had reassured South Korea and Japan "at the highest levels" of its commitment to deterrence, through the U.S. nuclear umbrella and missile defense, in the face of the new threats.

Glyn Davies, the State Department's point man for North Korea, also said in testimony prepared for a Senate hearing that Washington will not accept North Korea as a nuclear state.
Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin called for restraint and an end to the threats. "Let's keep our minds cool and keep focused on the need for the only possible rational course of action, and that is returning to six-party talks," he said.

North Korea, which held a mass military rally in Pyongyang on Thursday in support of its recent threats, has protested against the U.N. censures of its rocket launches. It says they are part of a peaceful space program and that the criticism is an exercise of double standards by the United States.
The North's shrill rhetoric, however, rarely goes beyond just that. Its last armed aggression against the South in 2010 came unannounced, bombing a South Korean island and killing two civilians. It was also accused of sinking a South Korean navy ship earlier in the year, killing 46 sailors.
North Korea was conducting a series of military drills and getting ready for state-wide war practice of an unusual scale, South Korea's defense ministry said earlier.

South Korea and the United States, which are conducting annual military drills until the end of April, are watching the North's activities for signs that they might turn from an exercise to an actual attack, said South Korea's defense ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok.

Kim declined to confirm news reports that the North has imposed no-fly zones off its coasts in a possible move to fire missiles, but he said any flight ban limited to near the coast would not be for weapons with meaningful ranges.

South Korea's military said in a rare warning on Wednesday that it would strike back at the North and target its leadership if Pyongyang launched an attack.

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Italy could reignite euro crisis.

Can the Italians be serious? That is likely to be the reaction of financial markets and the country’s euro zone partners as they ponder a disastrous election result, which could reignite the euro crisis. More than half of those who voted chose one of two comedians: Beppe Grillo, who really is a stand-up comic; and Silvio Berlusconi, who drove Italy to the edge of the abyss when he was last prime minister in 2011. Both are anti-euro populists.
This comedy could easily end in tragedy. The inconclusive result has echoes of last year’s first Greek election – except that Italy is bigger and more strategic. The country faces political paralysis, while its economy is shrinking and its debt is rising. The European Commission forecast last week that GDP would fall a further 1 percent this year after last’s year 2.2 percent drop. Debt, meanwhile, would reach 128 percent of GDP by the end of this year.
The euro crisis went into remission after the European Central Bank’s president Mario Draghi promised last summer to do “whatever it takes” to preserve the single currency. But, if Italy proves ungovernable during this critical time, even the ECB’s safety net may not work.
Investors are already getting nervous. Italian 10-year bond yields jumped 0.4 percentage points to 4.7 percent on Tuesday morning. Spanish yields also rose 0.2 percentage points to 5.3 percent, in the first sign of contagion. These are, though, admittedly still a far cry from the 7 percent-plus yields when the crisis was raging last July.
The risk is not that Berlusconi or Grillo will be prime minister. It is rather than nobody will be able to form a stable government. The electorate split into three roughly equal groups: Berlusconi’s centre-right group, Grillo’s uncategorisable 5-Star Movement and the centre-left coalition led by Pier Luigi Bersani. The centrist coalition led by Mario Monti, the technocratic who saved Italy from Berlusconi’s antics but whose austerity policies were deeply unpopular, came a poor fourth.
Italy’s convoluted electoral system gives the coalition with the largest number of votes an automatic majority in the lower house of parliament. This means Bersani will get the first chance to be prime minister, even though his coalition beat Berlusconi’s only by a whisker.
However, a different electoral system in the Senate, which has equal power as the lower house, means nobody will have a majority there. Bersani will not even be able to form a government in alliance with Monti – a scenario which pre-election polls had suggested was a likely outcome. At least Greece has only one house of parliament.
So what happens next? One idea is that Bersani could team up with Berlusconi to form a new grand coalition. This, though, seems unlikely given how they stand for completely opposite policies – unless Italy is dragged right to the brink. It’s also hard to see who would run such a government. If Monti hadn’t made the terrible mistake of running in the election, he would have been the natural choice. But his credibility has been shot to bits.
Grillo has said he won’t form a coalition with anybody, so a formal alliance with him isn’t an option. But Bersani could conceivably try to govern on his own, getting support on a case-by-case basis from the comedian. That, though, would be a recipe for extremely weak government.
Another option is a fresh election, as there was in Greece last year. Indeed, it’s hard to see how a new ballot can be avoided. The snag is that it isn’t obvious this would resolve the deadlock given that there are three roughly equal forces which don’t want to work together.
Some pundits think a solution could be to change the electoral system. That could conceivably clear away the old political caste, preparing the way for new parties and new leaders such as Matteo Renzi, the young centrist mayor of Florence. But Italy’s parliament has been debating new voting rules for years without coming to a conclusion and it may find it tough to reach consensus now.
Meanwhile, investors will give their verdict. A key question is whether Italy can still rely on the ECB’s support – its promise to buy potentially unlimited quantities of sovereign bonds. While this a very powerful drug, it contains important fine print: the ECB will only engage in so-called “outright monetary transactions” if the country concerned agrees to a reform programme with its euro zone partners.
It is hard to see Italy being able to sign such a programme without a stable government – which means the safety net has holes in it. If investors start thinking this way, bond yields could spiral upwards and capital flight could resume. The prospect of crisis could become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Contagion could return with a vengeance too. Other countries may have more stable governments than Italy. But Spain, Greece and even France share its problems of a shrinking economy, rising debt and increasing popular anger against austerity. The longer recession bites, the greater the appeal of populist policies. Investors may worry anew that the race between populism and the return of growth will be lost across the euro zone.
A market fright could, of course, restore Italian voters to their senses when and if there’s a second election. That is what happened in Greece last year. But the next few months could be extremely jumpy and a happy outcome is not sure.

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U.K. Loses Top Aaa Rating From Moody’s as Growth Weakens

Britain lost its top credit rating by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited the continuing weakness in the nation’s growth outlook and the challenges that presents to the government’s fiscal consolidation program.
The rating on the U.K. was lowered one level to Aa1 from Aaa and the outlook on the nation’s debt changed to stable, Moody’s said in a statement today. With the U.K.’s high and rising debt burden, a deterioration in the government’s balance sheet is unlikely to be reversed before 2016, Moody’s said in the statement.
The cut will increase political pressure on Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, with the opposition Labour Party calling on him to scale back his fiscal squeeze as the economic recovery struggles to gain traction. Still, investors often ignore such actions, evidenced by the drop in French 10-year bond yields following a downgrade last year and a rally in Treasuries after the U.S. lost its top rating at Standard & Poor’s in 2011.
“Tonight we have a stark reminder of the debt problems facing our country -- and the clearest possible warning to anyone who thinks we can run away from dealing with those problems,” Osborne said in a statement in London. “Far from weakening our resolve to deliver our economic recovery plan, this decision redoubles it.”

Pound Slumps

The pound slumped after the downgrade in the last half hour of trading in New York, dropping 0.6 percent to $1.5163. Sterling has depreciated 5.6 percent this year, the second-worst performer after the yen among 10 developed-market currencies tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes.
“They have drawn a line in the sand that if we don’t put forth a formidable plan we don’t deserve a triple-A rating,” said Joseph Balestrino, senior fixed-income strategist for Pittsburgh-based Federated Investors Inc., which oversees $51.4 billion of assets.
Britain’s debt as a percentage of gross domestic product will climb to 98 percent next year from 90 percent last year and 95.4 percent in 2013, the European Commission said in its winter forecast today.
Osborne’s austerity policies will squeeze the budget deficit to 6 percent next year from 10.2 percent in 2010, when his Conservatives took over in an unprecendented coalition with the Liberal Democrats, according to the predictions by the commission.

‘Shock Absorption’

“Because of the combination of weak growth outlook, substantial fiscal challenges, high and rising debt burden, and the deterioration in shock absorption capacity, we see that the credit worthiness of the U.K. has deteriorated to a level that is more commensurate with Aa1 rating,” Sarah Carlson, a senior credit officer at Moody’s in London, said in a telephone interview.
Osborne said in his autumn statement on Dec. 5 that he’s no longer likely to meet his target to begin cutting the burden of government debt in 2015-16 after his fiscal watchdog cut its growth forecasts. Standard & Poor’s put the U.K.’s rating on a negative outlook a week later.

Fitch Ratings

Fitch Ratings said on the day of the budget that missing the debt target “weakens the credibility of the U.K.’s fiscal framework.” It will conduct a further formal review of the rating in 2013 incorporating the budget, due March 20. Fitch lowered its outlook on the U.K. to negative from outlook in March 2012. Moody’s lowered its outlook the previous month.
Yields on sovereign securities moved in the opposite direction from what ratings suggested in 53 percent of 32 upgrades, downgrades and changes in credit outlook last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg published in December. Investors ignored 56 percent of Moody’s rating and outlook changes and 50 percent of those by S&P. That’s worse than the longer-term average of 47 percent, based on more than 300 changes since 1974.
“Ultimately it’s a fairly minor action and shouldn’t result in a massive bond market response,” said Eric Lascelles, chief economist for RBC Asset Management in Toronto. “This is an era where developed countries are being downgraded on a regular basis..

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Billionaire Hedge Funds Most Recent Moves: SPDR Gold Trust, Apple Inc., Family Dollar Stores, Inc., Dollar Tree, Inc.

After reviewing hundreds of the quarterly filings from some of the world’s biggest and best Billionaire hedge funds this weekend, a few investment trends have emerged.
1) Be Cautious of owning Gold- Both George Soros and Billionaire Louis Bacon of Moore Capital substantially reduced their holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD). Moore Capital sold off their entire position in GLD and George Soros reduced his position in GLD by 55%, signaling that a lot of the smart money is moving out of Gold.
2) The Majority of Billionaire Hedge Fund sold their position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) this is not surprising as the stock has dropped more than 30% from its peak last quarter. I still think based on Billionaire Smart Money Flows that Apple (AAPL) still has more room to fall, so be caution on Apple as well.

3) Three top Billionaire Hedge Funds, Lone Pine Capital, Farrallon Capital and Tiger Consumer all took major positions in the “Dollar Stores”, both Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (NYSE:FDO) and Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR). This to me is the most significant move I found as both stocks Family Dollar and Dollar tree are near their 52 week lows. Furthermore as I have explained before it is very bullish, based on my backtesting and research, when Billionaire Hedge Fund Managers acquire or add to their stakes in companies that have declined or are near a 52 week low, and that is the case here with both DLTR and FDO.

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Best Time to Buy Precious Metal Gold, Base Metals Futures, Options – CFTC

Speculators returned as buyers in all precious and base metals futures and options traded on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange and the Nymex, according to U.S. government data, spurred in part by a rise in prices.
For the week ended Feb. 5, speculators in the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly commitment of traders report pushed their net-long positions in the platinum group metals to even higher highs. Funds also bolstered their net-long positions in copper on hopes of a strong economic outlook. There were increases in speculators’ net-long positions in gold and silver, although the gains were relatively modest in silver.
Prices were firmer across the board during the timeframe measured. In the week to Feb. 5, Comex April gold rose $10.80 to $1,673.50 an ounce, while March silver gained 69.10 cents to $31.875 an ounce. Nymex April platinum rose $28.30 to $1,707.20 an ounce during the week, while March palladium rose $15.70 to $765.45. March copper gained 7.85 cents to $3.7700 a pound.
After slashing positions in the previous report, managed-money accounts lightly boosted exposure to gold futures and options in the disaggregated report, increasing their net-long position to 86,926 contracts. Managed-money accounts added 4,807 gross longs and cut 38 gross shorts. Producers added to their net-short position by cutting more gross longs than gross shorts, while swap dealers lifted their net-short position by cutting gross longs and adding gross shorts.
Market watchers said the modest increase in the speculative net-long in this report likely reflects the see-saw action gold has exhibited lately, meaning that participants are likely not keen to put on big positions in a market that shows no solid direction.
The situation was different in the legacy report as non-commercials sharply increased their net-long position, having added 13,623 gross longs and 198 gross shorts. They are now net-long 144,495 contracts. Despite the jump in the net-long position, it does not make up for the heavy drop seen in the previous week’s report. Commercials are net-short, having heavily cut gross longs and just a handful of gross shorts.
Barclays noted that “fund length as a percentage of open interest has risen to 32% but gross short positions are at their highest since July 2012, posing the potential for a short-covering rally, should macro data worsen.”
The silver net-long position for the managed-money accounts rose modestly to 29,628 contracts. They reduced exposure in general to silver, but rise came from cutting more gross shorts, 1,510 contracts, than gross longs, 1,461. Producers are net-short and amplified that position by adding more gross shorts than gross longs. Swap dealers are also net-short, but reduced their position by cutting more gross longs than gross shorts.
In the legacy report, the silver net-long for non-commercials also rose slightly, in similar fashion. They cut 1,526 gross longs and cut 1,970 gross shorts, signifying the gain came mostly from short covering. They are now net-long 37,365 contracts. Commercials are net-short, and expanded exposure by adding more gross shorts than gross longs.
Again, speculators in both disaggregated and legacy reports in the platinum group metals further extended the net-long positioning, setting fresh records.
Managed-money accounts in platinum increased their net-long position to 42,530 contracts, having added 1,898 gross longs and 305 gross shorts.  Non-commercials also augmented their net-long position, which now is 52,026 contracts, having added 3,090 gross longs and 1,026 gross shorts.
In palladium, the managed-money accounts raised the net-long position to 22,824 contracts. They added 814 gross longs and 522 gross shorts to increase the net-long position. In the legacy report, non-commercials added 1,442 gross longs and 416, lifting their net-long to 25,734 contracts.
“Net long positions in silver, platinum and palladium were also increased slightly further, which expresses how optimistic market players currently are about the more cyclical precious metals in particular, which are predominantly used in industry,” Commerzbank said.
Anne-Laure Tremblay, precious metals strategist at BNP Paribas, said while risk appetite is driving PGMs, she said investors need to stay vigilant with positioning at record highs. Several other market watchers have said recently PGMs could be vulnerable to sharp sell-offs if bullish sentiment changes.
The copper net-long position for the managed-money accounts rose significantly, to 22,650 contracts, as they added 9,691 gross longs and 1,489 gross shorts. The rise of net longs was more pronounced in the legacy report. Funds bolstered their net-long position, adding 11,213 gross longs and 4,390 gross shorts. They are net-long 16,187 contracts.
The sharp gains seen in net-long positioning in copper was reflected in the rise in prices, said Commerzbank. “Thus money managers have contributed to the 2% increase in the price of copper seen during the period under review, evidently inspired by positive economic data both from China and the U.S. at the beginning of the month,” they said.




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Apple erases $17 billion from stock market

Apple Inc.’s near 4% drop wiped out $17 billion from the U.S. stock market on Monday, pushing two of the three benchmark indexes into negative territory.

Apple AAPL +0.15% shares fell $18.55, or 3.6%, to end at $501.75 after the Wall Street Journal and Japan’s Nikkei reported that the company had cut iPhone production plans because sales had come in below expectations.

The S&P 500 index SPX -0.09%  shed 1.37 point, or less than 0.1%, to 1,470.68, with telecommunications hardest hit and consumer staples faring best among its 10 industry groups.

“It would be positive without,” Apple, said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at the S&P Indices, the stock’s impact on the index of 500 public companies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA +0.14%  rose 18.89 points, or 0.1%, to 13,507.32, with Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ +4.89%  leading the gains after J.P. Morgan upgraded the personal-computer maker to neutral from underweight. H-P also reclaimed the top PC-maker ranking from Lenovo Group Ltd.

International Business Machines Corp. IBM -0.14%  dropped 0.9% after J.P. Morgan downgraded it to neutral from overweight.

Shares of Dell Inc. DELL +12.96%  rallied 13% after Bloomberg News reported that the company was in buyout talks with private-equity firms.

Sprint Nextel Corp. S -3.89%  dropped 3.9% after the stock was downgraded by some brokerage firms. Read more about Monday’s biggest gaining and declining stocks.

The Nasdaq Composite COMP -0.26%  lost 8.13 points, or 0.3%, to 3,117.50.

Apple has a significant impact on the major stock indexes. It has a 3.8% weight in the S&P 500 and a 10% weight in the Nasdaq Composite, and is the largest stock on both. It’s not a member of the Dow average. Read more about the decline in Apple’s share price.

“In terms of the general negative sentiment, it’s a combination of Apple and a bit of poor industrial production number out of Europe. That was a pretty ugly wake-up call,” said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management. Industrial output for the 17-nation euro zone dropped 0.3% in November.

Decliners and advancers ran in a virtual dead heat on the New York Stock Exchange, where 590 million shares traded.

Composite volume approached 3 billion.

“As the week wears on, we’ll have a much more robust earnings calendar. Of those 27 S&P 500 companies reporting so far, they’ve lowered estimates significantly in the last three months,” said Art Hogan, market strategist at Lazard Capital Markets.

Companies reporting so far have managed to “squeeze out some sort of beat of lowered expectations,” said PNC’s Stone.

Of the first 27 companies in the S&P 500 to report fourth-quarter results, 67% exceeded earnings-per-share growth expectations, 15% were in line and 18% missed, according to Nick Raich, director of research at Key Private Bank. Of those companies, which represent 5% of the 500 that will eventually report, 11% raised their first-quarter 2013 guidance; 19% maintained and 70% lowered their outlooks.

“The new consensus expectation for fourth-quarter 2012 earnings growth is only 2%,” said Raich. “The guidance companies are providing after reporting results is still very weak.” 

In Washington, President Barack Obama talked about efforts to reduce the U.S. deficit at a Monday news conference in which he urged lawmakers not to use the debt ceiling as leverage in the political wrangling over government spending.

With a battle looming with Congress in the weeks ahead over hiking the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling, Republican lawmakers are mulling a government shutdown or default as a way to force cuts in government spending. Read a blog post on the U.S. Treasury thinking the unthinkable about the debt ceiling.

In separate statements, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell called the debt-ceiling debate the “perfect time” to confront government spending, and House Speaker John Boehner also indicated his intention to link spending cuts to hiking the debt ceiling.

The Treasury market did not signal distress over the danger of a government default, with yields on the benchmark 10-year note 10_YEAR +0.16%  off 1 basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 1.85%.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke at 4 p.m. Eastern in Michigan, following comments delivered by Chicago Fed President Charles Evans that the central bank should continue to keep monetary policy accommodative as lawmakers cut U.S. spending.

“The market will be watching Bernanke to get a better take on when the Fed might start to take the punch bowl away,” said Stone of the Fed’s monetary policy.

U.S. Dec. budget deficit $260 million: Treasury

The U.S. government ran a budget deficit of $260 million in December, the Treasury Department reported Friday, bringing the total shortfall for the first quarter of fiscal 2013 to $292 billion.

 Receipts in December were $269.5 billion, while the government spent $269.7 billion in the month. Year to date, the deficit is 9% lower than in the first three months of the prior fiscal year. The U.S. government's fiscal year runs from October to September.

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Dear Investor,

CFB realizes that you have many choices and opportunities in the international financial markets when it comes to seeking, evaluating and selecting a personal and professional broker. Founded in Dubai in1989, CFB is the region’s largest independent brokerage firm in the financial industry. Regardless of how you want to invest and trade the financial markets – CFB can provide you with the tools, resources and services you desire. 

Century Financial Brokers LLC (CFB) is licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of United Arab Emirates and Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (ESCA). We are also the principal broker & clearing member of Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX).

Margin Trading

Facilitating margin trading in Currencies, Commodities and Metals and more, with a leverage facility of 100% of face value. In the financial markets, you can trade (Buy or Sell) any currency, commodity or metals simply by investing 1% or 2% of the product value.

Products offered by CFB

• Currencies: Euro, British Pound, Swiss Franc, Japanese Yen & over 25 crosses
• Metals:        Gold, Silver, Aluminum, Nickel, Copper, etc.
• Energies:     Crude Oil, Heat Oil, Natural Gas, Gasoline, etc.
• Commodities: Sugar, Wheat, Corn, Coffee, Grains, etc.
• Indices:       Dow Jones, NASDAQ, S&P, FTSE, CRB, etc.
• CFD Stocks: American, European & Asian stocks.

Benefits & Services facilitated by CFB

• 24 hours trading 5 days a week with continuous access from any part of the world.
• An enormous liquid market making it easy to trade most markets.
• Volatile markets offering huge profit opportunities.
• Wide range of trading markets and financial instruments.
• Leverage trading with low capital.
• Recognized instruments for controlling risk exposure.
• The ability to profit from rising or falling markets.
• Leveraged trading with low margin requirements.
• Proper training for trading in FX Markets.

• CFB provides state-of-the-art online trading software, providing electronic order entry in the most liquid and dynamic market movers world-wide
• Through one window, traders access FX, futures, stocks, CFDs, metals, energies etc.
• As a client you will have access to real-time prices, two-way quotes, charts, news, market commentaries & analysis of all major currencies, metals, commodities, futures, energies etc. and  receive statements of your account on regular basis

We request you for a few minutes from your valuable time to give you a brief idea of how our company can help explore the investment opportunities in the global financial markets which can give you amazing returns on your investments. For more details, please visit our website www.cfb.ae

Thank you.

CONTACT

Asad Khan  (CFB)
(050-8774861)
asad@cfb.ae

www.cfb.ae

CENTURY FINANCIAL BROKERS Forex

Dear Investor,

CFB realizes that you have many choices and opportunities in the international financial markets when it comes to seeking, evaluating and selecting a personal and professional broker. Founded in Dubai in1989, CFB is the region’s largest independent brokerage firm in the financial industry. Regardless of how you want to invest and trade the financial markets – CFB can provide you with the tools, resources and services you desire. 

Century Financial Brokers LLC (CFB) is licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of United Arab Emirates and Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (ESCA). We are also the principal broker & clearing member of Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX).

Margin Trading

Facilitating margin trading in Currencies, Commodities and Metals and more, with a leverage facility of 100% of face value. In the financial markets, you can trade (Buy or Sell) any currency, commodity or metals simply by investing 1% or 2% of the product value.

Products offered by CFB

• Currencies: Euro, British Pound, Swiss Franc, Japanese Yen & over 25 crosses
• Metals:        Gold, Silver, Aluminum, Nickel, Copper, etc.
• Energies:     Crude Oil, Heat Oil, Natural Gas, Gasoline, etc.
• Commodities: Sugar, Wheat, Corn, Coffee, Grains, etc.
• Indices:       Dow Jones, NASDAQ, S&P, FTSE, CRB, etc.
• CFD Stocks: American, European & Asian stocks.

Benefits & Services facilitated by CFB

• 24 hours trading 5 days a week with continuous access from any part of the world.
• An enormous liquid market making it easy to trade most markets.
• Volatile markets offering huge profit opportunities.
• Wide range of trading markets and financial instruments.
• Leverage trading with low capital.
• Recognized instruments for controlling risk exposure.
• The ability to profit from rising or falling markets.
• Leveraged trading with low margin requirements.
• Proper training for trading in FX Markets.

• CFB provides state-of-the-art online trading software, providing electronic order entry in the most liquid and dynamic market movers world-wide
• Through one window, traders access FX, futures, stocks, CFDs, metals, energies etc.
• As a client you will have access to real-time prices, two-way quotes, charts, news, market commentaries & analysis of all major currencies, metals, commodities, futures, energies etc. and  receive statements of your account on regular basis

We request you for a few minutes from your valuable time to give you a brief idea of how our company can help explore the investment opportunities in the global financial markets which can give you amazing returns on your investments. For more details, please visit our website www.cfb.ae

Thank you.

CONTACT

Asad Khan  (CFB)
(0508774861)
asad@cfb.ae

www.cfb.ae

CENTURY FINANCIAL BROKERS

Dear Investor,

CFB realizes that you have many choices and opportunities in the international financial markets when it comes to seeking, evaluating and selecting a personal and professional broker. Founded in Dubai in1989, CFB is the region’s largest independent brokerage firm in the financial industry. Regardless of how you want to invest and trade the financial markets – CFB can provide you with the tools, resources and services you desire. 

Century Financial Brokers LLC (CFB) is licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of United Arab Emirates and Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (ESCA). We are also the principal broker & clearing member of Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX).

Margin Trading

Facilitating margin trading in Currencies, Commodities and Metals and more, with a leverage facility of 100% of face value. In the financial markets, you can trade (Buy or Sell) any currency, commodity or metals simply by investing 1% or 2% of the product value.

Products offered by CFB

• Currencies: Euro, British Pound, Swiss Franc, Japanese Yen & over 25 crosses
• Metals:        Gold, Silver, Aluminum, Nickel, Copper, etc.
• Energies:     Crude Oil, Heat Oil, Natural Gas, Gasoline, etc.
• Commodities: Sugar, Wheat, Corn, Coffee, Grains, etc.
• Indices:       Dow Jones, NASDAQ, S&P, FTSE, CRB, etc.
• CFD Stocks: American, European & Asian stocks.

Benefits & Services facilitated by CFB

• 24 hours trading 5 days a week with continuous access from any part of the world.
• An enormous liquid market making it easy to trade most markets.
• Volatile markets offering huge profit opportunities.
• Wide range of trading markets and financial instruments.
• Leverage trading with low capital.
• Recognized instruments for controlling risk exposure.
• The ability to profit from rising or falling markets.
• Leveraged trading with low margin requirements.
• Proper training for trading in FX Markets.

• CFB provides state-of-the-art online trading software, providing electronic order entry in the most liquid and dynamic market movers world-wide
• Through one window, traders access FX, futures, stocks, CFDs, metals, energies etc.
• As a client you will have access to real-time prices, two-way quotes, charts, news, market commentaries & analysis of all major currencies, metals, commodities, futures, energies etc. and  receive statements of your account on regular basis

We request you for a few minutes from your valuable time to give you a brief idea of how our company can help explore the investment opportunities in the global financial markets which can give you amazing returns on your investments. For more details, please visit our website www.cfb.ae

Thank you.

CONTACT

Asad Khan  (CFB)
(0508774861)
asad@cfb.ae