Quote:
‘It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them.’ P. G. Wodehouse (1881-1975)
The News:
South Korea’s new finance minister says a cheap won can help the export-led economy.
The Numbers:
Greenwich Mean Time, with expectations and previous figures in brackets.
(23:50) JP January Trade Balance record low –956B Yen (car exports –66% Y/Y) versus –322B December.
02:00 US President Obama speaks at a joint session of Congress: America will survive a ‘day of reckoning’.
05:00 JP February Small Business Confidence 25.0 versus 24.8 January.
07:00 DE final Q4 GDP -2.1% Q/Q, -1.6% Y/Y, versus –2.1% and –1.7% Q4.
08:30 SW Swedish Riksbank Minutes of February 10th interest rate decision.
09:30 GB revised Q4 GDP (-1.7% to –1.5% Q/Q, -1.9% to –1.8% Y/Y, versus –1.5% and –1.8% Q3).
10:00 EZ16 ECB’s Weber speaks at Bundesbank do, Hanover.
15:00 US January Existing Home Sales (4.5M to 4.9M versus 4.74M December).
15:00 US Fed’s Bernanke’s semi-annual monetary policy report to House Financial Services Committee, Washington.
17:30 GB Bank of England’s Blanchflower speaks at Stirling University, Scotland.
18:00 US auction result of 5-year TNote; also Canadian 10-year TBond.
The Psychology:
Rousing speech from Obama and positive spin from Bernanke may not be enough.
The Risk:
Each currency moving its own way, not an overall move into or out of the US dollar.
Today’s most interesting chart: Euro/Swedish krona
Weakest ever against the Euro and also against the Norwegian krone.
