(eToro Blog) Earlier today, the Bank of Japan unexpectedly intervened in the rise of the Japanese Yen, essentially pulling out all of its big guns, which sent the Japanese Yen, against all of its major crosses, lower. Though an intervention had generally been speculated about and anticipated over the past

Asian markets may have risen on the good news from Greece, but they may want to pay more attention to bad news closer to home. China has recently told its banks to roll over $1.7 trillion in debt in a move to help Chinese municipalities avoid defaulting on its massive debt load.

Although many outsiders look at

The Japanese yen gained today after Moody’s Investor Service downgraded credit ratings of several countries, including Italy, Spain and Portugal. This action hurt market sentiment that was positive after the good news from Greece.

Moody’s cut ratings of several European countries yesterday. The rating agency reduced Spain to A3 from A1, Italy t

UK pound is gaining against the US dollar and the Japanese yen today as an economic forecast expects growth to pick up in 2012. The Confederation of British Industry believes that Great Britain will avoid a technical recession this year, and that things will pick up. As a result, UK pound is heading higher against low beta currencies.

Also helping

US dollar is lower as the Greek parliament votes to accept austerity measures requested by Eurogroup leaders as a condition for receiving bailout funds. US dollar weakness is a product of renewed optimism in Forex traders, and expectations for a stronger euro.

Risk appetite is back on as Forex traders find new optimism regarding Greece. Lucas

(eToro Blog) US markets consolidated but continue to assist trend following Openbook traders who have a long US equity bias.  Guru trader Maximus24876 continued to fight the tape selling the Dow Industrials on Thursday ahead of the ECB and BoE meetings.  Returns for this portfolio manager have been rocky

The Australian dollar gained today after a report showed that the number of home loans in Australia last month rose more than was predicted, while positive news from Greece also bolstered the currency.

The number of commitments for owner occupied housing finance rose 2.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in December from November. The median f