Euro up 2nd day on crisis hopes but caution abounds

(Reuters) - The euro rose against the dollar for a second straight session on Tuesday in cautious trade on talk the European Central Bank could lend money to the International Monetary Fund to help stem the debt crisis.

The euro zone is discussing the option of financing emergency help for Italy or Spain by using money from national central banks to boost International Monetary Fund resources - but only as a last resort, euro zone officials said.

Euro zone ministers struggled to ramp up the firepower of their rescue fund and raised the possibility of asking the IMF for more help on Tuesday after Italy's borrowing costs hit a euro lifetime high of nearly 8 percent.

Talk of an ECB/IMF deal implies that the Europeans are really having trouble coming up with any new schemes to stabilize the region, according to Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT Forex in Jersey City, New Jersey.

"The rally in the euro today was sparked by what would normally be extremely negative news for the currency."

Gold rises with equities again, open interest down

(Reuters) - Gold rose for a second consecutive session on Tuesday, extending the previous day's rally, as strong physical demand and a weaker dollar amid economic optimism lifted the precious metal.

Bullion -- a traditional safe haven which has recently followed riskier assets -- tracked equities' gain on a rebound in U.S. consumer confidence and as investors across the board eyed further progress on a solution to Europe's debt crisis.

Overall market liquidity in U.S. gold futures fell to its lowest level since April, data from the most recent U.S. futures regulator showed, while investors continued to shore up bullion holdings by buying gold-backed exchange traded funds.

"It's all the macroeconomic events that are driving every single market including gold, not market fundamentals" said Ron Lawson, partner of commodities investment firm LOGIC Advisors.

"The fundamental reasons for owning gold are as good today as they were when gold was trading $300 to $400 lower."

Spot gold was up 0.5 percent at $1,719.10 an ounce by 3:00 p.m. EST (8:00 p.m. British time).

Strategy Analytics Sees Stabilizing Handset Markets

STOCKHOLM (Dow Jones)--Global telephone handset shipments totaled 273 million units in the second quarter, down 8% from a year earlier, Strategy Analytics said in a report Thursday, but added there are signs of a market recovery.


"We forecast that positive growth will return in Q1 2010," Strategy Analytics Wireless Director Neil Mawston told Dow Jones Newswires. "It does look like there is a gradual, incremental improvement in the market taking place now."
The rate of shipment volume decline slowed in the second quarter from the 14% year-on-year slump in the first quarter of the year, the research firm said.


"We believe the relative upturn in the global handset market has been driven by improved consumer confidence in some regions, such as China, and by partial restocking of some retailers' depleted supplies," it said.


"These factors indicate to us that the global market is showing signs of stabilization and the worst of the handset recession may be behind us," it added.


Strategy Analytics forecast 290 million handsets to be shipped worldwide in the third quarter 2009, for an annual decline of 5%.

"By the time of the 2009 Western holiday season, top-five laggards Motorola and Sony Ericsson will have brought a number of new devices to market, and aggressive promotional campaigns from other vendors and operators should spark renewed interest among consumers," it said.

Market leader Nokia Corp's (NOK) market share fell to 37.8% from 41% in the previous year, as shipments declined in all regions except China, Strategy Analytics said. Still, it said the company's sales of smartphones such as the 5800 and E71 were relatively healthy.

Global research shows recession depression slowly fading

KUALA LUMPUR — Leading global market research firm Synovate today released its latest global survey results on the economy, finding that people are slowly becoming more optimistic.

Synovate surveyed more than 17,300 people across 26 markets and found that people are regaining their positive outlook on the economy, becoming more optimistic for themselves and their country’s economy.

While the recession has cut a swathe through economies across the world, it has damaged some more than others - and changed people’s mindsets and habits in some places far more than others.

Synovate’s Global Director of Knowledge Management and Insights, Mike Sherman, said some people remain mired in gloom; some are just seeing an impact from the recession and others are over it... if not in their wallets, certainly in their minds.

"This global survey is useful for seeing overall trends and getting a sense of how people are feeling right now in individual markets. For an overall picture, we compared results from the 17 markets¹* that conducted the same survey in May 2009 and November 2008 and we see growing optimism across the world... or at least the slow abandonment of pessimism"

Global stock market rally falters

LONDON — A global stock market rally faltered on Tuesday as European stocks fell on profit-taking, despite Tokyo striking a 10-month high on global economic optimism and company earnings news.

Japanese shares gained 0.22 percent to reach the multi-month pinnacle after Wall Street had also soared to a 2009 record on a wave of investor enthusiasm over the global economic outlook.

But Europe's main equity markets fell into the red in Tuesday morning deals after striking their highest points so far this year on Monday.

"There has been some profit-taking, but the main trend is still positive so this could be the market taking a breather," said ETX Capital trader Manoj Ladwa.

Frankfurt sank 0.86 percent, London dropped 0.78 percent and Paris dived 0.69 percent. All three had each gained about 1.5 percent in value the previous day on a wave of investor enthusiasm.

"Continued talk of economic recovery and the plethora of better than expected economic readings are showing that at worst we are nearing the bottom of this recession," added CMC Markets analyst James Hughes.

"Many are of the opinion that the turnaround is well underway and one thing that will show us that will be the (US) jobs report on Friday."

Chinese Voices Could Improve Business

China Rising is the name of a documentary released within the last couple of years, indicating that China, in both trade and voice, is becoming a super power on the world stage, a power that will have the attention of the entire world thrust upon them as they host the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

China, while an economic power, is also a linguistic power with millions of people around the world learning how to speak Mandarin and Cantonese in order to keep up with the fast paced growth being experienced overseas and in International trade. Mandarin is quickly becoming the language of business and any businessperson who learns how to speak it is at an advantage to be certain.

As the role of the Chinese language, spoken by billions, becomes more prominent cross the ocean and more Chinese citizens immigrate to North America, the need for Chinese language skills and Chinese voice over will increase significantly.

Choosing the Best Mortgage

By the time you finish paying off the mortgage on your home, you'll have paid more in interest alone than the actual purchase price of the house. For example, if you borrow $125,000 at 8% for 30 years, you'll end up paying over $205,000 in interest, plus the $125,000 you borrowed. Your $125,000 house has cost you $330,000! so it makes sense to shop wisely for the best mortgage, since it will probably be the biggest financial decision of your life.

A mortgage is a mortgage is a mortgage, right? Wrong! There are many mortgage products on the market now, so it's important for you to do your homework to determine which type is best for you, and which bank, savings and loan, mortgage bank, finance company or credit union offers the best terms for that type of loan.

The Internet makes this process easier. You can find out how large a loan you qualify for, compare loans, search for the lowest rates in your area, and in some cases, apply online.
Although there are many mortgage products available, most fall into one of several general categories:

• Fixed Rate
• Adjustable Rate
• Balloon Mortgage
• Jumbo Loans

We can explain these tomarrow...