This isn't just restricted to the United States, either. Traders looking at the Yen, British Pound, Canadian Dollar, or Euro (or any currency, for that matter) will look at the economic news reports that are released by each of these nations.
There are many minor economic reports, some of which can spill over into the larger reports (look at the U.S. Housing bubble, for example), and while the "minor" reports are useful, this is going to concentrate on the big five, because these are the five major economic reports that will have the strongest and most immediate impact on the Forex market.
These are also the five reports that are acted upon by the most traders, so being able to keep track of these are critical if you're going to be able to keep a finger on the pulse of the Forex market.
The five major economic reports to keep track of are: 1.Unemployment/Non-Farm Payroll Reports 2.Interest Rates 3.Consumer Price Index 4.Trade Balance (Deficits vs. Surpluses) 5.Retail Sales
Unemployment/Non-Farm Payroll Reports No matter what you're trading, this is always one of the most important reports about a particular area's economy. A low unemployment percentage is one of the strongest indicators of a strong, robust economy. Likewise, the opposite also applies. A country with a large unemployment rate is going through hard times.
Surprises in anticipated unemployment numbers can have a strong effect on the Forex market, as well. For example, if the unemployment rate is expected to be around 6.5% for the nation, and the report comes out with 4.9%, then that nation's currency is going to strengthen thanks to the unexpected good news.
Interest Rates Interest rate changes directly affect the strength of a currency. A higher interest rate will usually cause a stronger currency because it will attract foreign investors and traders. Interest rates are one of the BIGGEST key influences in driving a currency either up or down; especially since carry trades remain popular among Forex traders.
Consumer Price Index (CPI) The Consumer Price Index is a monthly report that gauges prices across the country and compares it to salary. Basically this means it tracks inflation, which is a major factor in the health of any economy. A sudden jump in inflation is never good news, and in some nations (see Zimbabwe) it can be absolutely disastrous, so keep an eye on when these reports come out.
Trade Balance The trade balance refers to a nation's trade surplus and/or deficit. This measures how much a nation exports versus how much it imports. A deficit means you bring in more than you send out, while a surplus is the opposite. Often times you may hear "trade deficit" referring to the United States, but this is not necessarily a bad thing - it depends on the situation and why the balance is tilted the way it is. This is also a monthly report in the United States.
Retail Sales A nation's report of retail sales may be the best indicator of how the common person feels about the economy. In the United States this is a monthly report of how sales are going for individual businesses. Some parts of the year are going to be much busier than others. December, for example, will always be expected to have great retail sales because of the Christmas holiday.
Knowing what these reports are and how they affect the markets will help you make better fundamental decisions when trading the Forex.
A nearly 14-year history of the drug Trasylol-Aprotinin, which is a blood controlling agent used during surgical procedures, was reported on a 60 Minutes in-depth news report. In the report, makers of the drug Bayer, allegedly continued aggressively marketing the injectable drug although Trasylol's side effects had been reportedly fatal to many.
As far back as the early 1980's, the concerns over the potentially fatal side effects of Trasylol have been discussed. Dr. Juergen Fischer, director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine at the University of Cologne, found severe incidents of kidney damage in animals given Trasylol. When he relayed the results of his research to Bayer, they disregarded the information, overlooking a potentially deadly Trayslol side effect. Soon thereafter, similar side effects showed up in patients given the drug in U.S. hospitals. Acute renal failure, also acute kidney failure, was the most common side effect for patient's of Trasylol. Cautious of it's continued use, Dr. One of the U.S.'s top heart surgeons, Nicholas Kouchoukos, prepared a study on 20 individuals who had been previously been injected with Trasylol. Of those given the drug, 13 had problems with kidney function after taking the medication. The FDA approved Trasylol for use in 1993, allegedly disregarding results of studies on the fatal side effects.
Through a relentless marketing campaign and intense pressure on the FDA, Bayer had all but cornered the market on Trasylol's use in all open heart surgeries, and was the favored drug to control bleeding in other major surgeries. Sales of the drug hit $300 million in 2005, with projected sales of $750 million for 2006. Dr. Dennis Mangano, a leader in the medical research field, was finishing a study around this same time, a study that had followed the records of 5,065 patients in 17 countries given Trayslol. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine in January 2006, this was the largest Trasylol study ever conducted and ultimately the most illuminating, suggesting not only an association between patients given Trasylol and acute kidney failure, but also an tendency for increased chance of death in the hospital.
When Dr. Mangano presented his results to an FDA advisory committee, the reaction was less proactive than he had imagined. Since Dr. Mangano's results were based on the hospital records of patients rather than a more traditional study involving a placebo, the committee was hesitant to comply with his request to remove the drug from the market. Unbeknownst to the committee, Bayer possessed the results from a study conducted by hired Harvard professor Dr. Alexander Walker, which looked at the records of nearly 70,000 patients in the same way that Dr. Mangano had conducted his research. Even more amazing were the startlingly similar results that Dr. Walker's study found: individuals injected with Trasylol had been associated with an increase in not only acute kidney failure, but often were associated with death as well. The manufacturer's lack of information given to the panel resulted in Dr. Walker to contact the FDA, insisting that Bayer had deliberately withheld potentially damning information to continue lucrative sales of Trayslol. However, the FDA's only response to the confirmation of the fatal side effects was the issue of another warning to doctors; it would be a full year before the committee would reconvene to reevaluate to efficacy of the drug.
Meanwhile, a clinical study run in Canada in 2007 was halted when participants in the study group began dying. Trasylol was immediately recalled by the German government; through a combined effort between the Canadian government and the FDA, Bayer was persuaded to put a temporary hold on the continued marketing of the fatal drug.
It is believed that approximately 4.5 million people have been given Trayslol worldwide; a third of those patients, about 1.5 million people, were given the drug in the United States in the 14 years the drug was available. By Dr. According to Mangano's estimates, over 20,000 lives would have been saved had the injectable drug been temporarily removed from the market.
Both Jason Fielder & Alan Haburchak are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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