Salute to those brave and unselfish people

Salute to those brave and unselfish workers in Japan who risk their lives trying to minimize the nuclear risks so that others will not be seriously affected. Read the heroic workers

Dollar Hits All-Time Low vs Yen, Falls Below 78

The dollar sharply extended its losses versus the yen to trade below 78 in late New York trading on Wednesday amid concerns over a nuclear crisis in Japan.

Luc Novovitch | Getty Images

The dollar [JPY=X 77.98 0.32 (+0.41%) ] hit as low as 77.60 yen on trading platform EBS. The previous record low was 79.75 yen set in April 1995.

Traders are nervously watching whether the Bank of Japan will intervene in the currency market to stem yen gains. A stronger currency makes Japanese exports less competitive and hurts the economy.

Officials scrambled Wednesday to contain the nuclear crisis in Japan with a variety of patchwork fixes. The head of the world's nuclear watchdog said while it was not accurate to say things were "out of control" in Japan, the situation was "very serious."

The yen has seen steady buying since last week's earthquake, as Japanese and international investors closed long positions in higher-yielding, riskier assets such as the Australian dollar, funded by cheap borrowing in the Japanese currency. Read more

Moody's Cuts Portugal's Debt Rating by Two Notches

Moody's on Wednesday cut Portugal's sovereign debt rating by two notches to A3 and said it might have to downgrade again given the impact of high borrowing costs and the difficulty of meeting tough fiscal targets.

AP

The euro [EUR=X 1.3982 -0.0014 (-0.1%) ]dipped only slightly on the news, which was widely anticipated and largely overshadowed by the gathering nuclear crisis in Japan, which has seen a massive flight to safety in global markets.

Moody's said it still held a negative outlook on Portugal's bond ratings as it considers a further downgrade to be more likely than an upgrade over the coming one to two years.

The rating agency said it was concerned about the high interest rates the government might have to pay to borrow on capital markets and what those rates could mean for the economy as a whole.

It also questioned how successful the government would be in achieving the tough fiscal targets it has set itself going forward.

And it cited uncertainties over how much support the government would have to provide to the country's banks and government-related issuers. Read more

Eurousd-Short Call

Expect Euro to drop further as it failed to make higher high. Short on high.

Our Prayers to ALL in Japan. May God help you all in this challenging time.

Lets pray for our brothers and sisters in Japan and may all things become better tomorrow.

Eurousd-picture speaks for itself

Eurousd -Profit from downward channel

Profit from upswing by playing the downward channel.

Eurousd -Dare to play the downward channel?

Can consider playing the upswing from the downward channel.

Eurousd-Parabola completed

Formation completed.

Eurousd -parabola formation almost completed

Parabola almost completed.

Euro/usd -Parabola in the making

Forming parabola. Expect more downside.

Europe Debt Crisis May Boil to Surface This Week

Europe's sovereign debt crisis could rear its ugly head this weekend.

So far this year, investors have been pretty relaxed about the PIIGS—debt-ridden Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain—because the market believes Europe’s politicians will deliver a "grand solution".

To be precise, that by their March 24 summit, EU leaders would confirm they’re pouring billions more into EU bailout funds, while enabling PIIGS to borrow more cheaply and even buy back their own debt

But the moment of truth may be far closer. In fact, Friday.

Simon Hobbs
CNBC Anchor

Before the Germans will agree to pump in extra cash from their taxpayers, backed by the French, they want each leader to agree to legislation at home that will limit the size of their future national deficits. The Greeks are already refusing point blank. Things may boil to the surface at an extraordinary summit on Friday.

If the assembled Euro Zone leaders are seen struggling to resolve what the Germans obliquely call their "Competitiveness Pact," investors could book profits on their Europe trades, at the very least.

Traders say the Euro’s recent strength has all been about dollar weakness and the ECB signaling higher rates next month. More than a big re-sensitization to the Euro Zone’s problems, today's loses for the single currency seem more about profit-taking on a fantastic run. But red flags are going up elsewhere. Read more

Moody's Downgrades Greek Sovereign Debt by 3 Notches

Moody's cut Greece's credit rating by three notches and kept it on review for further downgrades on Monday, citing significant risks to its fiscal restructuring program and the chance of a voluntary debt restructuring.

AP

Moody's [MCO 31.73 -0.24 (-0.75%) ] now has the lowest rating forGreece of all the major credit agencies and is the first to classify Greek government debt as 'highly speculative'.

"The fiscal consolidation measures and structural reforms that are needed to stabilize the country's debt metrics remain very ambitious and are subject to significant implementation risks," Moody's said in a statement.

It added that it saw risks that conditions attached to continuing financial aid after 2013 will reflect solvency criteria that the country may not satisfy, and result in a restructuring of existing debt.

The spread on 10-year Greek debt against benchmark Bunds widened by 8 basis points to 9.13 percent following the Moody's downgrade, while the euro[EUR=X 1.4013 0.0018 (+0.13%) ] fell about 30 pips against the dollar.

The Greek finance ministry said Moody's downgrade of Greece's credit rating was completely unjustified and showed rating agencies must be regulated more tightly.

"The rating downgrade announced by Moody's today is completely unjustified as it does not reflect an objective and balanced assessment of the conditions Greece is presently facing," the ministry said in a statement. Read more

Eurousd -Only making a lower high?

Breaking the trendline is crucial if the bull wants to establish its strength. Failing which we might be seeing a significant fall as it only confirms that it is making a lower high.

Eurousd - Never ignore the news

Broke the neckline but news of US low payroll claims and anticipation of interest rate increase drove euro to shoot up killing off many short traders. So news with fundamental issues can overwrite TA.

Forex -eurousd Double tops

Double top formation. Breaking of the neckline should be a strong point to short.

Doug Kass: Market Generating Definitive Sell Signal

We know why you like Fast Money; the desk brings you a wide range of trading ideas from some of the Street's most celebrated figures.

On Wednesday the Fast traders turned to strategic investor and CNBC contributor Doug Kass, president of Seabreeze Partners for his insights.

Kass is widely followed for his market timing. He correctly called a bottom last summer and also predicted the crisis lows in March 2009.

In a live interview we asked Kass about the sell-off, Yahoo! and a company that Warren Buffett may want to buy. As you can imagine he had lots of ideas. They all follow:

Market Generating Definitive Sell Signal

It’s no secret that Kass is bearish, he’s been skeptical of the rally for quite some time. And he remains convinced that the market is heading lower. He cites both fundamental and technical signals.

Looking at fundamentals, he thinks Street estimates are too high broadly because “energy prices will maintain at elevated levels and commodities prices are rising.”

In other words, he doesn’t think price targets take into account the ripple from higher oil. “Already we’re seeing sequential rate of growth and operating profits slowing.”

And Kass thinks technical signals are equally negative. Kass points to the Farrell Sentiment Index to support his thesis.

This technical measure “takes the number of bulls in the market (as reported by the American Assoc of Individual Investors) and divides by the bears plus half the neutrals,” explains Kass.

”When the ratio is under .50 and rising it’s a bullish signal. When it’s over 1.5 it’s bearish and the ratio rose to 1.50 on the week of January 14^th – a definitive sell signal,” says Kass. Read more

Gaddafi Deploys Forces, World Raises Libya Pressure

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi despatched forces to a western border area on Tuesday in defiance of Western military and economic pressure, stirring fears that the bloodiest Arab revolt may grow more violent.

Mahmud Turkia | AFP | Getty Images Supporters of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi hold his pictures as they take part in a pro-government rally in Tripoli.

As the West weighed military options, suspicions grew that the veteran leader, in power for 41 years, did not grasp the strength of the forces now gathering against him.

In Moscow, a Kremlin source suggested Gaddafi should step down, calling him a "living political corpse who has no place in the modern civilised world," Interfax news agency reported.

But Gaddafi appeared oblivious to outside pressure.

"All my people love me. They would die to protect me," he told the U.S. ABC network and the BBC on Monday, dismissing the significance of a rebellion against his 41-year rule that has ended his control over much of eastern Libya.

Barely 12 hours after the United States said it was moving warships and air forces closer to the north African oil exporting country, Libyan forces re-asserted their presence at the remote Dehiba southern border crossing on Tuesday, decorating the border post with green Libyan flags.

Reporters on the Tunisian side saw Libyan army vehicles, and soldiers armed with Kalashnikov rifles. The previous day, there was no Libyan security presence at the border crossing. Dehiba is about 60 km (40 miles) from the town of Nalut.

In another part of the west, residents said pro-Gaddafi forces deployed to reassert control of Nalut, about 60 km from the Tunisian border in western Libya, to ensure it did not fall into the hands of anti-Gaddafi protesters.

Around the Libyan capital there were queues outside bread shops on Tuesday morning. Read more