Market insight: U.S. Dollar at 11-Year High Against Euro

By Elliott Wave International

On March 4, we spoke with Jim Martens, our Chief Currency Strategist. His Currency Pro Service is participating in our Pro Services Open House, a free week-long event that starts next Tuesday at elliottwave.com.

Elliott Wave International: Jim, it's a good time to talk about currencies, because the euro has just touched an 11-year low against the dollar. Did you ever think you'd live to see this day?

Jim Martens: Did I ever think I'd live to see this moment... Well, back in mid-2011, when EURUSD was trading near $1.50, we started talking about the upcoming retest of $1.1876, the 2010 low. We were convinced that the rally from that level was a correction -- so EURUSD would ultimately fall back to it. It took a while to get there because what followed was a wide-ranging sideways consolidation in EURUSD -- a triangle, in Elliott wave terms, an overlapping pattern labeled ABCDE that you see on this chart:

That triangle ended in May 2014 with EURUSD almost hitting $1.40. From that point we had been expecting a move below $1.1876 -- and we had lower targets, as well. Most of them have been hit, and the interesting thing is that now, all of a sudden, the idea of the dollar/euro parity is becoming popular. Someone at Goldman recently talked about parity by the end of 2017.

Elliott Wave International: Do you think we'll see parity? Continue reading "Market insight: U.S. Dollar at 11-Year High Against Euro"

Forex Traders: The Only Question You Should Be Asking

By Elliott Wave International

I can't help it. Whenever I read the mainstream financial news, I feel like I'm eavesdropping on a job interview at Microsoft.

In case you don't remember -- Microsoft was made famous, in part, for asking prospective employees one single question: Why is a manhole cover round?

They wanted to assess how a person approaches a question that has many answers. And, many answers are what they got, from the most practical (i.e. "Because a manhole is round") to the most philosophical (i.e. "The circle is the most aesthetically pleasing shape for the human eye.")

I'll now take you back to the world of mainstream finance where those in charge are regularly asked to answer this basic question: Why did market "X" move this way today? And, many answers are what they give.

Take, for a real-world example the March 9-10 upsurge to a 7-and-1/2 year high in the Dollar/Yen currency exchange pair. As for why the USDJPY rallied, the experts offered up these (and many more) explanations: Continue reading "Forex Traders: The Only Question You Should Be Asking"

Here's What Stock Market Bulls Might Be Overlooking

By:Elliott Wave International

On Friday (Feb. 27), the 4th quarter U.S. GDP was revised downward to 2.2% from the original 2.6%.

"U.S. stock markets shrugged off the revision," wrote Fox Business. And why wouldn't they -- after all, the conventional wisdom says that as long as the economy is growing, so is the stock market.

Except, it's not exactly true.

See, if that notion were true, then you'd have to assume that the U.S. economy was in a bad shape in 2007, when the stock market began its biggest decline since the Great Depression. But the facts show the opposite.

When the Dow topped in October 2007, key economic measures were indeed strong: Continue reading "Here's What Stock Market Bulls Might Be Overlooking"

Don't Get Ruined by These 10 Popular Investment Myths (Part IX)

Interest rates, oil prices, earnings, GDP, wars, peace, terrorism, inflation, monetary policy, etc. -- NONE have a reliable effect on the stock market

By Elliott Wave International

You may remember that after the 2008-2009 crash, many called into question traditional economic models. Why did they fail?

And more importantly, will they warn us of a new approaching doomsday, should there be one?

This series gives you a well-researched answer. Here is Part IX; come back soon for Part X.

Myth #9: Inflation makes gold and silver go up.

By Robert Prechter (excerpted from the monthly Elliott Wave Theorist; published since 1979)

This one seems like a no-brainer. The government or the central bank prints more bonds, notes and bills, and prices for things go up in response. Gold is real money, so it must fluctuate along with the inflation rate.

Once again, it doesn't happen that way. Let's examine the history of inflation and the precious metals since the low of the Great Depression.

Inflation occurred relentlessly from 1933 to 1970, yet gold and silver remained unchanged over the entire time. True, the government fixed the price. But markets are more powerful than any government, and if the market had wanted precious metals prices higher, it would have made them go higher. Continue reading "Don't Get Ruined by These 10 Popular Investment Myths (Part IX)"

Don't Get Ruined by These 10 Popular Investment Myths (Part VIII)

Interest rates, oil prices, earnings, GDP, wars, peace, terrorism, inflation, monetary policy, etc. -- NONE have a reliable effect on the stock market

By Elliott Wave International

You may remember that after the 2008-2009 crash, many called into question traditional economic models. Why did they fail?

And more importantly, will they warn us of a new approaching doomsday, should there be one?

This series gives you a well-researched answer. Here is Part VIII; come back soon for Part IX.

Myth #8: Terrorist attacks would cause the stock market to drop.

By Robert Prechter (excerpted from the monthly Elliott Wave Theorist; published since 1979)

I assume this is what economists mean when they say that something unexpected such as a terrorist attack would cause them to re-evaluate their stock market forecasts. At least, I doubt they mean that a terrorist attack would cause them to revise their estimates upward. It seems logical that a scary, destructive terrorist attack, particularly one that implies more attacks to come, would be bearish for stock prices. Continue reading "Don't Get Ruined by These 10 Popular Investment Myths (Part VIII)"