OF SIX CENTRAL BANKS voting on interest rates this week, only the European Central Bank in Frankfurt failed to reduce its cost of money to either record or multi-year lows, holding rates steady at 2.0%.

Gold currently (February 4) sits at just over $903 per ounce. The valuable resource it’s steadily rising higher and looks primed for another move over $1,000 sometime in the near future.

BY THE TIME the War of the Spanish Succession was finished in 1715, the French King – who admitted that he “loved war too much” – owed the equivalent of £300 million.

The USD may further extend its gains against the EUR today; on speculation that growing evidence of a global slowdown will increase the appeal of the U.S currency to traders as a safe-haven.

Crude Oil is something that I think has huge potential because of its prolonged down trend without any real bounces and also because there is so much interest from traders and investors around the world who want to catch its bounce. The weekly chart is starting to look amazing and the daily chart looks ready to pop.

The USD is continuing in two-way action as the majors continue to consolidate off their weekly lows; traders note conditions remain thin and the lack of US fundamentals are keeping some sidelined ahead of the FOMC rate announcement tomorrow.