What's Happened:

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) did indeed lower their Official Cash Rate (OCR) yesterday afternoon. They dropped rates by 25 basis points.

What I Say:

Uh oh! I've been saying this for a while: New Zealand has a debt problem that in percentage terms is larger than the U.S. (of course the state of Texas could have a larger GDP than N.Z. I think).

From Chuck Butler, our Friend at EverBank

From Jack Crooks, Editor of World Currency Options:

What's Happening:

The ramp-up in credit risk in the market is huge. The pound is acting well this week on the back of market risk. But, in the recent past the Swiss franc has been the star currency that has acted very well on risk, for two reasons:

What's Happening:

While the Aussie dollar rose to 98 cents, the euro hit an all-time high of US$1.60, and the pound held its own around US$2, "the poor, downtrodden," Japanese yen, is having its own success story.

The yen is right around the 105 handle. And it's looking like the Japanese yen could rise to 104 yen/dollar. I had to laugh at a story I saw flash across the screen.

From Chuck Butler, our Friend at EverBank

What's Happening:

This morning, RealtyTrac told us foreclosures fell 3% in June from 56% to 53%. Hmmm...Seems to me that we should still be on Amber with regards to foreclosures.

What We Say:

From Jack Crooks, Editor of World Currency Options

What's Happening:

I'm guessing you're a happy camper these days if you bought the Australian dollar and simultaneously sold the Canadian dollar at the beginning of this year.

That's because year-to-date AUD/CAD (Australian dollar vs. Canadian dollar) has jumped 1,000 pips - or 11.4%. And in the world of Forex, that's a huge move.

From Our Friend at EverBank, Chuck Butler:

What Happened:

In case you missed it, the euro pushed back higher overnight to 1.5775. And as luck would have it, the European Central Bank (ECB) meets on Thursday this week.

Yes, while most the markets' participants in the U.S. will be dreaming of barbequed ribs, fireworks, and a long weekend, the ECB will be hiking rates again.

What I Say:

From Our Currency Research Team

Strictly speaking, in foreign-exchange trading, any currency that's not one of the seven majors is considered an "exotic" currency. So in other words, any currency besides the U.S. dollar, euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Canadian dollar, Swiss franc, and Australian dollar.

From Our Currency Analyst Sean Hyman:

If you're a stock trader or an avid financial news junkie, then you already have an edge over other beginning currency traders.

You just have to know how certain currencies react to the markets. Here are my top seven insider's tricks for "stock-picking" in the currency market.

From Jack Crooks, Editor of The Money Trader and World Currency Options.

What's Happening:

The rule of thumb over the last year has been "buy the yen when stocks are down." But that all may be changing.

Stocks have been less than stellar lately yet the yen has pretty much been sliding against the buck. That's not exactly how it worked when sub-prime, credit crunch and write-downs were the new buzz words on Wall Street.