Comments from Moody’s this morning that the US has 3-4 years to rein in its debt or risk its AAA rating are getting some attention this morning.
This is not exactly news to the market which has been trading the dollar as though the US is currently at BB-.
EUR/USD is dipping a bit in the wake of the rise in US jobless claims.
One thing I find interesting today is the lack of reaction to the strong Chinese data overnight. Three months ago we would have been buying AUD with both hands on that sort of data. Today, not so much…
There have been rumors for the last few sessions that Galleon, the hedge fund caught up in the insider trading scandal in the US, has to unload tons of AUD and Kiwi. From what we’ve seen, their focus was US large cap stocks, so this doesn’t ring true. Sounds like someone caught short commodity currencies trying to talk ‘em down so they can scoop ‘em up cheap…or cheaper.
Update: Whoops! I stand corrected:
Galleon, which managed about $3.7 billion, opened its Asian headquarters in Singapore last year, moving investment professionals from New York and subsequently hiring former DBS Group Holdings Ltd. Vice Chairman Frank Wong to help expand in the region. It also broadened its investment focus by adding a macro strategy that bets on economic trends.