10 Smart Things I've Learned from People Who Never Went to College

I grew up in an extended family of folks who for the most part didn’t attend college. Many of them were working full time before they left high school, and a few (like my father) went to night school after they’d already been working for a long time.  From an early age my perspective was steeped in wisdom from those who never went to college, but managed to live fulfilling lives just the same.  Here are ten things they and others I’ve encountered along the way have taught me.

1.  You can learn something useful from anyone.

Whenever we find ourselves ignoring someone because we’ve already determined that they aren’t “smart” enough to say something meaningful, we’ve made a big mistake. Besides being presumptuous and arrogant, this mindset blocks out every useful thing the other person might pass along. Instead of just listening and mining the conversation for nuggets of wisdom, we allow our pre-existing bias to brand everything as  “not smart enough for me." Incredibly bad idea. I’ve yet to meet someone who couldn’t teach me something.

2. If quality slips, it really doesn’t matter how good your ideas were.

This one I learned from a couple of my uncles who worked as quality control specialists on assembly lines. The most ingenious design plans, no matter how many brains contributed to them, can fatally falter in the execution phase if quality slips.  This is equally true for intangible plans.  Imparting greatness requires a continuum of effort and attention, not just an initial brain-fueled flurry to get exemplary ideas on paper.

3. Don’t ever let a bully intimidate you – not even once.

Now, some might say this one is too dogmatic because it’s possible to allow a bully to intimidate you in the short term so you can get the upper hand in the long term. But the best advice I ever received about this came from a retired truck driver who said, paraphrasing, “When you let a bully intimidate you, the bully doesn’t necessarily win, but you definitely lose.” What he meant was, you lose upstairs where the loss takes a progressively worse toll on your psyche. Yes you can recover from that, but it’s going to take a lot more effort to bring your self-esteem up to par again than if you’d stood your ground to begin with. Reasonable people can differ on this, of course, but I think it’s sound advice.

4. Reciprocity is the name of the relationship game and always will be.

If you can’t find it in yourself to return a favor, or give back more than you got when someone helped you out of a bind, then you are relationship handicapped. While this may seem like basic intuitive logic (and it is), it’s amazing how often it’s ignored.  While relationships shouldn’t be tit for tat arrangements, the underlying willingness to reciprocate—even if it’s really hard to do—must be there for the relationship to grow and flourish. None of us are one-way streets.

5. Learning is good; Doing is better.

Well, ok, this one is a little bit on the nose.  Learning is more than good – it’s essential. Learning is the elixir that makes the human brain the most powerful organic decision-making and problem-solving tool on the planet.  The main point here (passed on to me by a former co-worker) is that there’s a certain magic in doing that many people simply miss out on. You can learn a lot about car engines, but until you get under the hood and work on one, you can’t see just how remarkable an invention these machines we take for granted truly are.  That’s one example of thousands, but the same principle applies. 6. Kindness isn’t optional.

Kurt Vonnegut famously said, "There's only one rule that I know of… you've got to be kind.”  Why do some people just “get” this while others find being kind a chore? Personally, I think it has a lot to do with our need tofeel right, and an attendant unwillingness to consider that maybe we really aren’t right, and it’s not worth treating another person unkindly to prove whatever point is on the table. Besides that, being unkind is illogical because it only incites unkindness aimed at you, and who wants that?

7. You can survive anything (assuming it doesn’t physically kill you).

More than one person has said something like this to me, and I think it’s dead on right.  Often it’s ruminationabout how we won’t survive this or that calamity that really gets us. But usually we can find the inner reserves to overcome just about anything, and will probably surprise ourselves that we pulled it off.  I’m not saying it won’t hurt like hell, or bring us to our very brink, but we usually give ourselves far too little credit for being able to overcome difficulty.  I won’t quote Nietzsche here, but you get the point.

8. Get a dog.

I suppose this one could also be “get a cat” or a fish for that matter, but as someone once told me, there’s something about a dog that brings out the best in its owners.  Companionship with a beast brimming with unconditional love does a body good – especially when hard times hit.

9. Money is important, but experience is invaluable.

I honestly can’t recall where I first heard this but I’m putting it on this list anyway because I think it’s really important. When you buy something, you’ll enjoy that thing for awhile, but our in-built tendency towardhabituation will eventually assert itself and the thing will become yet another thing we own. When we invest in experience, however, we are buying memories, and new learning, and new ways of thinking, and a whole lot more.  Those are things that become part of who we are, and no physical item can touch that dollar for dollar.

10. Just be ready.

We’ll end with a nice bit of simple logic. Just be ready…for anything. Quoting that inestimable philosopher, Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a plan - until they get punched in the face.”  Exactly.  So be ready to get punched in the face, and then refer back to #7 on this list.

Credits to David DiSalvo of Forbes.com

Flag pattern formation on USDCAD eyeing 1.06611

Currency Pair:       USDCAD
Recomendations:    BUY
Volatility:                  150
Entry Point:            1.04679
Stop Loss:             1.04179
Take Profit:           1.05679
Support:                1.04454
Resistance:            1.05954
RSI:                       48.26

On the H4 chart of USDCAD, the price is targeting to bounce off a strong support line at 1.04454 for a long position. The resistance level can be found at 1.05954. The price may go up as high as 1.06611 because of a flag pattern to continue its bullish trend.

The 5, 10, and 20 day moving averages of the currency pair in the daily chart is moving below the current price, a clear indication of a bullish momentum. The 5 day moving average is currently moving above the 10 moving average, with the 20 day moving average falling below the 5 and 10 day moving averages.

In the daily chart, RSI(14) is seen to be at the 48.26 mark. With its neutral level, this indicates a higher possibility for an upswing. Hence, a continued uptrend is anticipated for the USDCAD.

Carney Says BOE Ready to Ease If Market Rates Hurt

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said officials are ready to add stimulus if investor expectations for higher interest rates rise too far and undermine the recovery.

“The upward move in market expectations of where bank rate will head in future could, at the margin, feed into the effective financial conditions facing the real economy,” Carney said in a speech to business leaders in Nottingham, England today. “If they tighten, and the recovery seems to be falling short of the strong growth we need, we will consider carefully whether, and how best, to stimulate the recovery further.”

 Governor of the Bank of         England Mark Carney

Carney introduced forward guidance this month to help the economic recovery, saying that policy makers plan to keep the benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.5 percent for at least three years. Indications of strengthening U.K. growth and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s signals it may begin trimming its monthly purchases have prompted investors to raise bets that rates will rise sooner and push up gilt yields.

“Our forward guidance was clear that, although we would not reduce the stimulus until the recovery is secure, we would if necessary provide more,” Carney said. “We are focused on doing what we can to reduce uncertainty and build resilience so that the recovery can be sustained despite the inevitable shocks ahead.”

First Speech

Carney’s comments today mark his first policy speech since he introduced guidance. Under the policy, the BOE plans to keep its benchmark rate unchanged untilunemployment, currently 7.8 percent, reaches 7 percent. The BOE doesn’t see that happening until the end of 2016.

“Thinking unemployment will come down faster than we expect isn’t enough to believe interest rates will rise soon,” Carney said. The 7 percent threshold is an opportunity for the Monetary Policy Committee to reassess policy, and shouldn’t be seen as a trigger to raise rates, he said.

“We are giving confidence that interest rates won’t go up until jobs, incomes and spending are recovering at a sustainable pace,” he said. “Guidance provides you with certainty that interest rates will not rise too soon. Exactly how long they stay low will depend on the progress of the recovery.”

The yield on 10-year gilt due in September 2022 fell three basis points to 2.57 percent before Carney’s remarks. It’s risen 21 basis points this month.

Liquidity Rules

Carney also announced today that the BOE will relax liquidity rules on banks that meetcapital requirements to help encourage lending and aid the economy.

While the recovery is showing signs of being “broad based and set to continue,” growth prospects for the U.K. “are solid not stellar,” he said. The BOE forecasts growth to average 2.5 percent a year over the next three years, compared with an historical average rate of 2.75 percent.

In addition, “a recovery in growth does not necessarily mean faster job creation and lower unemployment,” since a pickup in the U.K.’s “anemic” productivity growth could delay a drop in the jobless rate, he said.

While Carney noted the increase in interest-rate expectations, he said this may be partly due to more optimistic forecasts for the jobless rate. BOE projections show just a 1-in-3 chance unemployment will drop to 7 percent by mid-2015. U.K. rate expectations also shouldn’t be guided by U.S. recovery prospects, according to Carney.

“The U.S. recovery is much further advanced,” he said. “While much has been made of the special relationship between the U.S. and U.K., it is not so special that the possibility of a reduction in the pace of additional stimulus in the U.S. warrants a current reduction in the degree of monetary stimulus in the U.K.”

Inflation Knockout

The BOE’s new framework includes so-called knockouts linked to its 2 percent inflation goal.

While Carney said underlying price pressure is “subdued,” inflation will face “bumps in the road” as it falls back over the next two years from 2.8 percent.

“In these circumstances it would not makes sense to choke off the recovery by raising interest rates prematurely,” he said.

The BOE’s inflation mandate “has not changed,” and ‘I can also assure you of my personal commitment to price stability,’’ he said. “I certainly have no hesitation in raising interest rates when required.”

Property Risk

The central bank will use its “full suite of policy tools” to ensure a sustainable recovery, he said. That will include monitoring the housing market after some analysts said government measures to encourage demand may stoke a property bubble.

“The Bank of England is acutely aware of the risk of unsustainable credit,” he said. “We are now fully prepared” to use so-called macroprudential tools to contain risks.

The BOE will also ease liquidity rules for lenders that meet capital targets, Carney said. It will allow the main U.K. lenders to shrink their required holdings of low-yielding, easy-to-sell securities, such as government bonds, once they hold capital reserves equivalent to 7 percent of their risk-weighted assets.

“That will help to underpin the supply of credit, since every pound currently held in liquid assets is a pound that could be lent to the real economy,” Carney said. “Taken together, our actions create not just a more resilient system, but also one more able to support and sustain a recovery by serving the real economy.”

Credits to Jennifer Ryan of Bloomberg

GBP/USD on a m5

3 Numbers to Watch: German Ifo, US Case-Shiller & CB sentiment

The outlook for Germany’s economy, based on sentiment in the country’s trade and industry sectors, is today’s focus for economic news in Europe via the Ifo Institute.  Later in the trading day, two key US benchmarks are scheduled for updates: the Case-Shiller House Price Index and the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index.

Germany Ifo Business Climate Index (08:00 GMT): The return of growth in the Eurozone’s second-quarter GDP report (pdf) raises expectations that the second half of 2013 will bring upbeat news. There’s already been some intriguing clues for thinking that the third quarter trend is in fact building on the previous quarter’s modest rebound. Last week’s flash estimate of the Eurozone PMI Composite Output Index for August, for instance, posted the largest increase in more than two years. Not surprisingly, the upturn is being led by Germany, according to Markit Economics (pdf). With that in mind, the market will be keenly focused on today’s Ifo survey, which offers another perspective on the mood among German businesses.

The main attraction is the Business Climate Indicator (BCI), which quantifies the view on current conditions and the outlook for the near term. Based on the last several monthly Ifo updates, however, there’s been minimal improvement in sentiment. Although BCI has increased this year relative to readings in the second half of 2012, the trend so far in 2013 has been one of moving sideways. Will today’s update for August fall in line with the upbeat outlook implied by Eurozone PMI Composite Output Index? Economists think we’ll see a modest rise in BCI to 107 from July’s 106.2, according to Bloomberg’s median estimate from analysts. That’s a step in the right direction, but it still falls short of laying the groundwork for anticipating that Europe’s recovery is poised for something more than modest improvement in the second half.

US Case-Shiller House Price Index (13:00 GMT): Today’s update on house prices, according to this widely followed benchmark, will be closely analysed in the wake of last week’s mixed news on the residential property market. Existing home sales posted a handsome gain in July, but the celebration was muted after the market learned that new home sales suffered a sharp decline last month. The data on prices for July are still a month away, but today’s June upbeat is sure to receive broad attention as the crowd looks for fresh clues on how the pricing trend is holding up amid rising interest rates.

Analysts think we’ll see another round of increases for June prices. The consensus forecast calls for a one percent rise in the monthly comparison for the 20-city home price index and a 12.2 percent gain versus a year ago. Both predictions match the previously reported May increases. That said, the pace for the monthly change in May fell sharply relative to the torrid gains posted earlier in the year. Even under the best of circumstances, it’s inevitable that price gains will moderate. As the housing recovery rolls on, the dramatic increases in value will fade as we move closer to a supply/demand equilibrium in the housing sector. That’s only natural and hardly out of line with previous cycles. Nonetheless, anxiety is elevated these days as the market digests the reality that the price of financing real estate purchases is rising. Higher rates will almost certainly slow the housing recovery, which in turn will impact prices. Details, of course, are open for debate at this point. Much depends on the Federal Reserve and its decisions in the weeks and months ahead with regards to the beginning of the end for quantitative easing. All this will be front and center as the market interprets today’s update on prices for June.

US Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index (13:00 GMT):Higher interest rates seem to be pinching confidence, albeit on the margins. In last week’s preliminary estimate of the University of Michigan Survey of Consumer Confidence Sentiment for August, the mood was a bit less optimistic. A modest retreat is also expected for today’s August report on sentiment from the Conference Board, which publishes a competing benchmark.

The consensus forecast sees today’s index slipping to 78 from July’s 80.3. That’s hardly a catastrophe, although a decline would serve as a reminder that the economic recovery faces new headwinds amid rising interest rates. The main question is how retail spending fares in a world where the price of money is inching higher. It’s reasonable to assume that the pace of consumption will moderate as rates increase. The economy can still expand under these conditions, assuming, of course, that rates are rising because the economy is improving. For the moment, that's still the prevailing view. But there’s a lot of room for short-term volatility as the US economy transitions into a new and somewhat more perilous stage of recovery. As usual, the mood among consumers is the critical variable for looking forward. Accordingly, today’s report is likely to receive a higher level of interest than usual in the current climate.

Credit:James Picerno of trading floor.com

The 5 Worst Excuses to NOT Start Trading

For those who have only heard of forex trading and are seriously considering becoming a currency trader, here are 5 excuses that you shouldn't be making:

1. I have no time for trading

common misconception when it comes to forex trading is that it requires you to spend every waking moment in front of the computer. While some traders prefer doing this, it's not the only way to trade.

Swing and position trading are two strategies that you can use. If you have a full-time 8-to-5 job, for instance, you can analyze the markets and trade forex after dinner. For example, you'd get home at 6 pm, take an hour or two for dinner, then analyze the markets on longer-term time frames (4-hour, daily, weekly, monthly) charts from 8 pm to 10 pm, set limit orders, and then head to sleep.

It won't be easy, but it is doable.

2. I don't have enough money

I must admit that this is an understandable excuse. Understandable, but an excuse nonetheless. The great thing about retail forex trading is that it's so easy to create demo accounts. It won't even take an hour or cost you a single cent.

Now, if you're not into demo dollars, you can put up a live account for as little as $25 with no minimum position size. You can trade 1 unit if you wanted to. Just make sure that you only trade what you can afford to lose. Starting with a small investment won't make you a millionaire any time soon, but it can get you started in forex trading and feeling the psychological effects of trading real money.

3. The risk is too great

Forex trading, as with any endeavor, is truly risky without education and practice. And what many people fail or refuse to understand is that it is not riskier than just about any other investment.

Like with any investment or business venture, there will always be risks involved. The key to profitability is in managing your risks by preparing for as many scenarios as you can and by controlling your emotions. If you're a total newbie to forex trading, you can start by mastering the concept of risk management (i.e., properly setting stop losses and position sizing).

Risk is present in everything we do; unforeseen events and accidents can happen at any time. Accept it and manage it like with all other endeavors in your life.

4. Currency trading is a scam

Currency trading itself is NOT a scam, but loose industry regulations do present opportunities for a lot of scammers.

Check out the websites of regulatory agencies like the CFTC or the NFA or even hit up your fellow forex traders on the forums before you open an account with a broker. Of course, it goes without saying that you should avoid buying systems, strategies, and products that guarantee pips and profits. (Clue: nothing is guaranteed in the market except uncertainty!)

As with any industry, scams in the forex trading industry are usually no different from falsehoods in the other investment scenes. You just have to educate yourself and make smart decisions when it comes to investing your money.

5. Currency trading is too complicated

Out of all the excuses I've ever heard, this one is probably the silliest of them all.

The Internet has made it so much easier to acquire knowledge than ever before. If you have the time to stalk your crush on Facebook and find out where he or she likes to go out for lunch, then you definitely have the time to catch up on all that there is to know about forex trading for that day.

To make it even sweeter, you don't need to pay a cent to get the education or access to forex news and tools! There's so much free, quality stuff out there!

I understand that forex trading is still a relatively new concept that's daunting to most people. But if you're really interested in it, there's no excuse to not give it a try. With study and practice, it offers such an overwhelming potential for success!

"Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses."
- Renowned American Inventor George Carver

Credits: Pipsychology 

http://www.babypips.com/blogs/pipsychology/the-5-worst-excuses-to-not-start-trading.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social%20Media&utm_campaign=Dr%20Pipslow%20Twitter

Picture: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTC99zBoWriuTVR_G6iGuncOZD5OZ23rpNIJplywERHumyOHZqY

South Luzon Expressway project up

May mga taga Quezon, Laguna at Bicol ba dito? Good News ito dahil mas mapapabilis na ang inyong mga byahe next time 

"SLEX EXTENSION TO REACH LUCENA CITY"

BONDOC PENINSULA, Quezon - House Minority Floor Leader Danilo E. Suarez announced yesterday that the Southern Luzon Expressway (SLEX) will be extended to the municipality of Pagbilao in this province.

Suarez said that under the plan, the SLEX will have a new exit point and main entrance in Barangay Malicboy, Pagbilao.
He said San Miguel Corporation (SMC), which now operates the SLEX, has decided to construct the extension project on the boundary of Don Miguel Suarez Highway, connecting to Maharlika Highway in Pagbilao.

This information, Suarez said, was first shared with municipal and barangay officials in San Francisco town, this province, during the "Lakbay Aral" project there and in Unisan town last week.
Once completed, the SLEX extension project will allow motorists to travel between Malicboy, Pagbilao and Makati City in one-and-a-half hours' time.

It is also seen to ease up traffic congestion in the towns of Tiaong, Candelaria, and Sariaya and the city of Lucena.
Suarez said the original plan was to extend the SLEX somewhere between Lucena City and Sariaya town, this province, but as minority leader he bargained for SMC to extend the project all the way to Malicboy.

'SLEX Project Up'

Alaminos, Laguna (PNA) — Barangay (village) leaders, residents, property, and business owners here met early this week for a public hearing and dialogue cum consultation concerning real properties and residential lots that may be affected by the proposed South Luzon Expressway Extension project.

The SLEX tollway extension project is one of President Aquino’s flagship infrastructure projects which tentatively set groundbreaking rites in June 15 with full-blast construction beginning 2014.

The database gathered from the public consultations will guide the contractors and project proponents on the proposed SLEX extension from Calamba City to Lucena City spanning some 57.325 kilometers.

The SLEX extension connects five sections from Sto. Tomas to Makban, Makban to San Pablo City, San Pablo to Tiaong, Tiaong to Candelaria, and Candelaria to Lucena City.

The Malaysian-led South Luzon Tollways Corporation as the general contractor placed the estimated project cost at P9.5 billion or $220.93 million.

Rustico Danta, village chieftain of Barangay San Agustin, presided the dialogue-meeting and informal interaction with barangay constituents at the village hall with the assistance of the consultancy firm Science and Vision of Technology, Inc.

The gathering aimed at culling data and information on property and land ownership, road span, structures and industries that may be affected in the proposed construction sites.

The public hearing and consultations will also provide inputs to the road design, terrain and geographical mapping, soil testing and analysis and other requirements for the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC).

Under the proposed SLEX extension project, about six villages in Alaminos are affected such as San Andres, San Juan, San Miguel, San Agustin and San Benito.

An engineering team would also be dispatched to conduct the road location survey to verify and validate the affected lots and undertake negotiations with lot and property owners for the road right-of-way (RRW).

According to Barangay Chairman Danta, the dialogue findings disclosed that the lots and land-ownerships of sites eyed for the tollway extension or within the scope of the road-right-of-way are covered under the Free Patent title.

Source: http://mb.com.ph/News/Provincial_News/14583/South_Luzon_Expressway_project_up#.UhnnuBvryQl

Why We Trade?

 Credit: Brett N. Steenbarger, Ph.D. 

www.brettsteenbarger.com

Why do we trade?  To be sure, trading allows us independence, the opportunity to work for ourselves.  Trading also offers the prospects of a lifestyle in which evenings and weekends need not be consumed by work.  Some of us crave the competitive aspect of trading, doing fresh battle each day.  Others approach trading as a puzzle to be solved, deriving a sense of intellectual achievement.  Finally, there is income.  A successful trader can make seven figures in a year—and many of the traders I work with are living proof of that.

            So why do they trade?  Once you have the money, all of trading’s lifestyle advantages could easily be yours.  Needs for competition and intellectual stimulation could be met in so many other ways.  Why do traders remain traders long after they’ve won the game?

            Perhaps we can illuminate this question by asking it of practitioners in other fields.  Why do artists continue their craft long after they receive recognition for their paintings, novels, or films?  Why do elite Special Forces troops stay in units that test their mettle even after they’ve earned their coveted badges?  A gifted athlete such as Michael Jordan earned plenty of money and honors and, in fact, did retire on a couple of occasions—only to return to his game.  Why?

            There is something deep here that speaks to the nature of productive work.  People retire from jobs and even careers, but they never abandon their callings.  For some, work means something more than earning a living or achieving a lifestyle.  Work is their path in life.  It is the way they have chosen—or perhaps that has chosen them—for self-expression and self-development.

            Suppose the pastor of a large, successful church wrote a book, made significant money, and promptly retired from the clergy and all religious life.  What would that say?  Surely, we would think, this person’s faith could not have been too heartfelt.  But why should our productive work mean less to us than the clergy means to a devout pastor?  Presumably, the religious life meets deep, important needs for the pastor.  Is it really so different for the artist?  The athlete?  The trader?

            The great professions are those that serve as personal playing fields.  They are the arenas we choose to express and develop ourselves.  In mastering a discipline, we cultivate self-mastery.  In writing a poem or placing a large trade, we capture—in a single act—our vision of how we see the world at that moment.  The great occupations are great precisely because they are such meaningful playing fields.  Long after we’ve earned fame and fortune, the calling remains to be more than we are, to return to the arena and do battle with our limitations.  The profound urge to extend the human grasp is common to all the great callings.  To run faster, to capture more beauty, to predict ever better:  in no small measure, our work is our pursuit of the godlike, however fleeting.

            Maybe it is our different images of the godlike that animate our career choices.  If my deepest view of godhood is that of a meek and all-forgiving Christ, perhaps I will be drawn to an occupation of service.  If my deepest view is more akin to the ancient Greeks, whose gods sent heroes on quests, then my calling may be on a battlefield or a playing field.  Either way, in work we find something divine within ourselves.  Whether as scientists, monks, or traders, we strive for those moments when we are just a little closer to perfection, a little nearer to immortality.  That is why we trade.

Second Estimate of GDP, Q2 2013

From: http://www.ons.gov.uk

Key findings

• UK gross domestic product (GDP) in volume terms was estimated to have increased by 0.7% between Q1 2013 and Q2 2013, revised up by 0.1 percentage points from the previously published estimate.
• The upwards revision to GDP between the first and second estimate can be attributed to small upwards revisions across a number of the main industrial groupings.
• GDP in volume terms increased by 1.5% when comparing Q2 2013 with Q2 2012.
• In current prices GDP was estimated to have increased by 0.4% between Q1 2013 and Q2 2013.
• All expenditure components – with the exception of non-profit institutions serving households – contributed positively to the 0.7% increase in GDP between Q1 2013 and Q2 2013.
• Compensation of employees – which includes both wages & salaries and pension contributions – increased by 2.4% in Q2 2013, the highest quarterly increase since Q3 2000 when it also increased by 2.4%. The increase in Q2 2013 partly reflects unusually high bonus payments in April 2013.

International comparisons for Q2 2013

In Q2 2013, GDP grew by 0.3% quarter on quarter in both the euro area and the European Union (EU 27) (see Figure 12). These are based upon flash estimates of GDP for Q2 2013 published byEurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In Q1 2013, GDP decreased by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.1% in the EU 27. When compared with the second quarter of 2012, there was negative growth for both the euro area and the European union (EU27), decreasing by 0.7% and 0.2% respectively.

With Croatia joining the European Union in July 2013, Eurostat have also produced GDP including the new 28th member for Q2 2013. The addition of Croatia, creating EU 28, had no impact on GDP growth in Q2 2013.

GDP for the United States of America increased by 0.4% in Q2 2013 following  an increase of 0.3% in Q1 2013. GDP for Japan grew by 0.6% in Q2 2013, slightly less than the 0.9% rise in the previous quarter. When compared with the same quarter a year ago, GDP for the United States of America rose by 1.4% and GDP for Japan rose by 0.9%. 

More detailed information on these estimates can be found on the Eurostat website. Information on the estimates for the United States of America can be found on the Bureau of Economic Analysiswebsite while information on the estimates for Japan can be found on the Japanese Cabinet Office website. 

Figure 12: International GDP growth rates, quarter on quarter, annual, CVM SA

EUR To Be Supported By Two Flash Manufacturing PMI

Currency Pair:                    EURUSD

Recommendation:               BUY

Volatility:                            150

Entry Point:                        1.33338

Stop Loss:                         1.32888

Take Profit:                        1.34388

The European market fell yesterday, as DAX closed at 8,285.41 down by 14.62 points while SX5E closed at 2,774.58 down by 13.40 points.  US stock market has seen the same bloodshed, with Dow jones dropping 105 points closing at 14897 while S&P 500 closed at 1642.8 taking away 9.55 points.

In today’s trading French Flash manufacturing PMI data will be release later this afternoon to as forecast data 50.4 is better than previous data with 49.7 same with German Flash manufacturing PMI forecast 51.1 with previous is 50.7. While the buck’s data shows an increase of 329k forecast from previous 320k Unemployment claims.

A long position for EURUSD is recommended as we see better economic data from the European market.