Portfolio Performance : +28.87%

US Dollar barometer stands at 0

Headline News

1. Japan's merchandise trade surplus tumbled 86.6% to 91.15 billion Yen in July from a year earlier as surging prices of crude oil and other commodities lifted imports
2. Japan trade deficit with China lower by 63.3%, with Taiwan lower by 6.2% and with Malaysia down 0.7%
3. Consumer confidence in Singapore registered its first drop after rising in every survey since its inception in 2005
4. Vietnam has proposed to more than double the export tariff ceiling on crude oil and coal to save more for domestic consumption
5. Singapore second quarter domestic wholesale trade higher by 25.4% from a year ago, slower than the 26.5% gain in the first quarter
6. British retail sales unexpectedly rose in July as prices rose at their fastest rate in a decade
7. US weekly jobless claims lower by 13 000 to 432 000 vs 448 000 expected
8. US continuing claims lower by 17 000 to 3.362M
9. US Philly Fed Business index -12.7 vs -16.3 in July
10. US Philly Fed Employment Index -1.1 in August vs -7.3 in July


Bottomline : Commodities are higher, boosting the Australian and Canadian dollar strongly. I think the strength in the US dollar and weak commodity prices in the previous month has helped the US economy