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A recent US Senate committee hearing declared that virtual currencies are, “a legitimate financial service” and has given it the stamp of respectability. Since then the value of the bitcoin has soared to over $1,000.

Enthusiasts of the currency say it is a very efficient way to handle global money transfers, and are astounded to see its value rise so much within five years of trading. It was only January, when it was less well known, that its value was just $20, to say it has fluctuated wildly is putting it mildly, $230 during April, below $70 during July, then over £600 in November. The Bitcoin is sometimes described as a new type of currency, but as for all currencies, its value is determined by how much people are prepared to exchange it for.

In order to process a transaction a computer must solve a mathematical problem which has a 64 digit answer, this is called mining bitcoins. The miners now use bespoke flexible chips, application-specific integrated circuits, known as ASIC, when a problem is solved, the processing of a block of Bitcoins is completed, and the miner receiving a reward of new Bitcoins.
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An optimistic quarterly inflation report from the Bank of England on Wednesday saw Sterling surge on the Forex markets, with well-placed online traders taking good advantage of the announcement.

The Bank’s Governor, Mark Carney, commented that economic recovery was taking hold in the UK and the Bank’s projections for growth were moving forward, with next year’s annual growth expected to reach 2.8%, up 0.3% from the projection made in August.
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This weekend, Labour Leader Ed Milliband has promised to close the gap between employee wages and the cost of living, with tax breaks for employers that are prepared to pay a living wage.

However, with no hard and fast policy in place to actively coerce employers to pay more, such as an increase in the minimum wage, it remains to be seen whether this will have a positive impact on the economy.
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The Chancellor’s recent encouraging news on growth in the British economy has strengthened sterling against most other currencies. Online forex traders should be careful, however, as the effect is unlikely to be permanent.

The UK growth figure for the quarter June – September 2013 was 0.8 per cent, which was an increase on the two previous quarters, and also higher than the expectations of the International Monetary Fund, whose chief economist had described George Osborne’s fiscal policies as ‘playing with fire’. It was better also than the predictions of the Chancellor’s own fiscal watch dog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, which in March predicted an annual growth rate of 0.6 per cent.
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One of the aspects that has recently dominated the Forex markets is the continued slide of the United States dollar in relation to currencies such as the Euro and the Pound. While much of this bearish momentum has been triggered by the brinksmanship recently played out regarding the debt ceiling, recent data has been just as damaging.

The primary reason for a negative short-term outlook was prompted by the recent non-farm payroll report submitted that displayed dismal job growth figures within the United States. In turn, this has caused online Forex investors to take a rather cautious approach to the outlook for the greenback.
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The Confederation of British Industry’s most recent quarterly survey, covering the three months to the start of September, puts British business confidence at its highest for nearly seventeen years.

The consequences for forex trading are likely to be an increase in confidence in the pound and a strengthening of its value against the US dollar, which has already been weakened by the US government shutdown.
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As the US government shutdown moves into its third day, inevitably the crisis continues to have a negative impact on the strength of the US dollar.

Many other currencies had already started to strengthen against the dollar by the end of September, in anticipation of the Republican-led House of Representatives vote to refuse acceptance of the budget. However, the continuing failure of the American political parties to negotiate a settlement is likely to weaken confidence in the dollar further as the days go by, which will impact on forex trading in a number of currencies.
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In the latest round of currency trading news, two main events have recently dominated the currency landscape. The first main concern is the recent decision by the United States federal government to continue its policy to maintain its current levels of quantitative easing.
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One of the biggest pieces of news to impact the online forex trading community this week has been the announcement that the latest US job figures are not as high as was hoped for.

Despite a range of measures having been put in place by President Obama and his administration to try and improve the USA’s worrying job situation, the modest target of an extra 180,000 jobs was not met.
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In the latest forex trading news, all eyes are keenly focused on what may be a rather bullish rebound for the Euro.

Last week, this multinational currency finished trading with gains just above one percent; a mild signal that forex traders may be taking a keener eye on futures. However, there were relatively few notable events during the prior week. On the contrary, the week ahead will see some major news emerge from the markets.
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Last Friday, July 5th, USD experienced strong gains after the optimistic US labor numbers. However, this is the third week now since USD opened weakly against other major Forex pairs.

This is contradiction to the positive figures displayed from the report of the US Change in Nonfarm Payrolls in which there were over 195,000 openings in jobs in June.
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Yesterday, Tuesday the 25th of June 2013 reported an increase in American Stock exchange indices.

Daily results of key american stock exchanges such as the Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq would eventually arrive at a positive of 0,69%, 0,95% and 0,82% respectively.
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The online forex trading new on Monday saw the dollar managing to surpass the yen for the first time in five trading sessions, which is welcome news to a number of investors.

This relatively expected rise took place as there was a substantial gain in the manufacturing sector for the state of New York, which has generally seen favourable results in the month of June. Though we are still in the middle of the month, the trends show promise for future investors in the months to come.
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One of the dominating forex news stories centres around the relationship between the US dollar and the Japanese Yen. We have seen a rally, albeit perhaps briefly, against the dollar when online trading analysts learned that the Bank of Japan has not modified their domestic monetary policy as was moderately expected.

This decision was defended by the governor of the central bank when he stated that there is less volatility in the government bond markets than previously. This announcement led to the dollar declining 1.78 percent in comparison to the Yen during the American trading session on Tuesday. Some online traders and forex brokers believe that this leveraging of Japan’s currency and the resultant decline in equities may attract investment from abroad.
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Foreign exchange currencies change in just a few seconds. This trading option is more volatile than ever as more transactions are currently in process. There are yet economic changes this week as analysts see the potential of short term charts. This would provide further opportunities for big levels to watch out for.

The EUR/USD has low volatility with a low level of 1.3000 so no other expectations are to be seen until this week. The best currency for long-term outlook is the EUR/USD since it still ranges from 1.2800 to 1.3200. Added to that, the RSI and the short term average are on neutral as technically seen in the chart.
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Entering China has become a hot topic in the forex world. From boardrooms to bulletin boards, there’s a significant amount of buzz regarding the best way to delve into this market. China offers enormous potential for traders, yet this remains largely untapped due to the draconian regulations laid down by the Communist Chinese government.

While it’s been possible for Forex companies to gain some kind of access to Chinese markets, this has typically been accomplished through partnerships with local representatives, offices in less heavily-regulated Asia-Pacific offices and IBs, this has not translated into securing a real presence in the country itself.
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Following eToro’s license approval by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in May of this year, the world’s number one social investment network is on the verge of setting up shop in London.

FCA approval is a significant gain for eToro. The approval affirms eToro’s entitlement to offer financial services to UK users, and is a confirmation of its compliance with applicable regulations.

In all likelihood, the FCA approval will considerably add to the company’s rapid growth in the UK area.
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While the Euro had slid considerably last week after the recent round of ECB interest rate cuts, the announcement by ECB president Mario Draghi that further cuts may be necessary has further dampened the outlook for this embattled currency.

Many online forex traders take such a stance as an indicator that economic conditions in Europe are far from sorting themselves out in the short to medium-term.
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The final week of April has witnessed the Euro tumble once again as the jobless rates in the European Union hit an all-time high of 12.1% awhile inflation slowed to 1.2%; rates not seen since February of 2010.

Of notable importance for online forex traders is the marked unemployment figures released from both Spain and Germany. While the figures in Germany may be seen as comparatively marginal, those in Spain represent the continued weakness of the fifth-largest economy in Europe.
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In the financial news this week, fears of a continued slowdown in consumer spending in the US proved to be unfounded as official figures showed a rise of 0.2% in March.

Although this was the lowest rise in consumer spending since the start of the year, following growth of 0.3% and 0.7% in January and February respectively, many analysts had anticipated no change in spending levels.
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