Gold gains In New Year

Gold prices gained some ground on Wednesday, as the U.S. dollar was trading near nine-year highs against a basket of other major currencies. Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery were up 0.47% to $1,187.40.The February contract ended Monday's session 1.12% lower at $1,181.90 an ounce.

Safe-haven demand strengthened after Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said on Monday that he will recommend parliamentary elections are held on January 25, almost 18 months before his coalition's term was due to end. Samaras failed in his third attempt to persuade lawmakers to back his candidate for head of state, forcing the legislature’s dissolution.Dollar remained supported after final data last week showed that U.S. gross domestic product rose 5.0% in the third quarter, exceeding expectations for a growth rate of 4.3% and up from 3.9% in the three months.

Data fuelled further optimism over the strength of the U.S. economic recovery and added to expectations for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next year.Higher U.S. interest rates would boost the greenback and weigh on gold, which has benefited from central bank liquidity and a low interest rate environment since the 2008 financial crisis.The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was steady at 90.55, not far from the nine-year high of 90.66 hit overnight.

Trading volumes were expected to remain light this week ahead of the New Year's holiday.

How To Trade The Parabolic SAR in Meta Trader 4

I’m going to introduce you to the Parabolic SAR indicator for MetaTrader 4. Parabolic SAR is far and away the most popular indicator that doesn’t use lines on the chart. It’s used by range traders, although it’s widely used by trend traders. The indicator provides long term opportunities by spotting entry and exit signals.The Parabolic SAR starts with a dot underneath the price. The longer that the dot remains underneath the price, the dots move exponentially races to catch up with the individual bar lows formed in the market.

If the Parabolic SAR started only 5 bars ago, the rate of change between the dots is very small. But as you get 20-30 bars into an opportunity, as you see here, the space between each successive dot increases rapidly. It’s like the PSAR is saying this trend has got to end soon. It’s waiting for the final bit of confirmation to flip direction.
The dots on this chart are either above the price or below the price. When they start below the price, the moment that they flip is when this low touches the dot formed on the last bar. At the precise moment when the bar’s low touches the PSAR value on the last bar, the dot flips.

The dot is now above the price. That is a valid sell signal. The sell signals work in the opposite way to the long signals. You’re waiting for a bar high to touch the dot and create a new buy signal.The indicator gives you an always in the market reading, either long or short. All of the signals alternate purely back and forth between buy and sell signals.The way to use this in a trending strategy is as basic as the indicator. Buy when the dot flips below the price. Sell when the dot flips above the price.You do give up substantial ranges on profitable trend trades by waiting for the dots to catch up. There’s not much that can be done about that except by playing with the PSAR acceleration values. You can do that by left clicking on the chart and choosing indicators, then Parabolic SAR. The inputs window shows the step and acceleration, which you can play with to suit your trading style.

Japan’s savings rate turned negative mode for the first time

Dramatic change from when the Japanese saved nearly a quarter of their income (23.1%) when the savings rate peaked in 1975.

Japan had the highest household saving rate in the OECD in the 1960s until it fell to the lowest. After all, an aging population draws down savings and Japan is the fastest-aging country in the world; its population has been shrinking for a decade.
It’s another blow to the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who just won another term to try and implement his policies dubbed Abenomics. On the campaign trail, he said that Abenomics aimed to raise wages and employment to revive the economy and defeat deflation or price falls.


Japans debt crisis in the early 1990s, the Japanese have been reluctant to borrow on a large scale. So, unless wages rise sustainably, it’s hard to see how household spending can. Without more domestic demand, firms are reluctant to raise wages and invest, which is why they still hold substantial cash.Abe has a  mandate for the introduction of another sales tax hike but the low turnout for his recent re-election sends a clear message that all is not well.3

Retail trade y/y for November, +0.4%
expected 1.1%, prior was 1.4%
Retail sales m/m for November, -0.3%
expected is 0.2%, prior was -1.4%
Industrial Production m/m for November (preliminary reading), -0.6%
expected 0.8%, prior was 0.4%
Industrial Production y/y for November (preliminary), -3.8%
expected -2.4%, prior was -0.8%

Gold Remains $1174.74 Ahead of Unemployment Claims

 

Gold Remains Listless Ahead of Unemployment ClaimsGold is showing little movement on Wednesday, as the spot price stands at $1174.74 per ounce. The metal had traded closed to the key 1200 line for most of December, but posted sharp losses to start off the week. In the US, today’s highlight is Unemployment Claims. The markets are not expecting much change from the previous release, with the estimate standing at 291 thousand.

Wednesday, with mixed results. GDP was red-hot in Q3, jumping 5.0%, ahead of the estimate of 4.6%. This marked the indicator’s strongest gain since the third quarter of 2003. The US economy is expected to continue to surge in 2015, driven by increased consumer spending and lower oil prices. The news was not as positive from Core Durable Goods Orders, which posted a decline of 0.4%, its fourth decline in five readings. The reading was well off the estimate of 1.1%. Durable Goods Orders looked even worse, with a reading of -0.7%. This surprised the markets which had anticipated a strong gain of 3.0%.

Housing data continues to weaken as New Home Sales slipped to 438 thousand, its poorest showing since July and well short of the forecast of 461 thousand. UoM Consumer Sentiment continues to rise, hitting 93.6 points in December. This marked its highest level since February 2007, as the US consumer remains very optimistic about the economy as we move into 2015.

XAU/USD has shown little movement in the Asian and European sessions, as the pair trades just above support at 1174.74.
On the upside, 1200 has some breathing room as the pair trades at lower levels. 1215 is next.
On the downside, 1172 remains under strong pressure. Will the pair break below this line during the day?
Current range: 1174 to 1200

Further levels in both directions:
Below: 1170, 1156, 1130 and 1111
Above: 1200, 1215, 1240, 1255 and 1275

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio
XAU/USD ratio is almost unchanged on Wednesday. This is consistent with the lack of movement we are seeing from the pair. The ratio has a majority of long positions, indicative of trader bias towards gold moving to higher ground.

XAU/USD Fundamentals
13:30 US Unemployment Claims. Estimate 291K.
15:30 US Crude Oil Inventories. Estimate -2.4M.
17:00 US Natural Gas Storage. Estimate -81B.

The world's biggest Christmas shop In USA

Bronner's, Michigan, USA. The shop, which is spread over a whopping 27 acres, is the world's largest Christmas store. Imagine the biggest supermarket you've ever been to, then replace all the food with tinsel, artificial trees and decorations, and you'll be close to the spectacle that Bronner's Christmas Wonderland provides.The shop was founded in 1945 by devout Christian and sign painter Wally Bronner, who was said to only and earned the nickname Mr Christmas.Bronner's has proved such a popular attraction over the years that in 1976 the state designated it an Embassy for Michigan Tourism.

Over two million people visit the shop each year, taking a stroll through Bronner's half-mile, which is lined with thousands of festive lights. Wally rapidly expanded the original store into the festive-themed shopping complex it is today. One of the more notable buildings on the grounds is the Silent Night Chapel, a replica of the original in Oberndorf in Austria, where the carol was written. In the grounds is a collection of plaques on which the carol is translated into different languages.

The store now deals in over 50,000 different trimmings and gifts, and sells around 600,000 glass tree ornaments, 500,000ft of garland and 150,000 postcards a year. Outside it is flanked by three gigantic Santas and a 15ft snowman, and hundreds of electric-light models are available to buy. It's no surprise, then, that their daily electricity bill is $900. The store proudly declare they've been "decorating hearts and homes with peace and love since 1945". Their official motto is "Enjoy CHRISTmas, It's HIS Birthday; Enjoy Life, It's HIS Way".

Crude oil dips below $59 a barrel

Crude oil prices settled below $59 a barrel Friday as renewed selling pressure pushed benchmark prices to new five year lows. And the carnage may not be over yet.

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.6% to $59.36, its lowest level since July 2009. Brent crude oil dropped 1.4% to $63.34.Saudi Arabia, the world's No. 2 oil producer after the U.S., suggested it would not cut production to prop up prices. Bank of America warned that crude oil prices could fall to $50 a barrel in 2015 as North American output, increased production in Iraq and Libya, hits markets already awash in supply.

Texas crude peaked this year at about $107 a barrel in July. Now it's down about 45%.
Crude's slide pushed gasoline futures down 1.3% to $1.62 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange, which is likely to spell more relief at the pump.

Gasoline now averages $2.62 a gallon, down 30 cents from just a month ago and 64 cents below last Dec. 11. Prices are expected to come down to $2.50 or less a gallon before year's end. Oil company execs aren't sleeping at night, as motorists count the bundles of cash they've got left after each fill-up. And in North Dakota and Texas.