Author Bio

Our Two Cents – Week of 4/30/12

While we’re still recovering from the Boston Bruins’ devastating playoff loss against the Washington Capitals last week, we tossed the sports pages for the business section to see how the financial markets scored.

While the U.S. economy only grew 2.2 percent in Q1 2012, there were signs that the economy thrived in the right places, including consumer spending. Personal consumption rose by 2.9 percent, exceeding expectations for a 2.3-percent rise, and up from 2.2-percent growth in Q4 2011. Personal incomes in March increased by the most in three months, as the Commerce Department said consumer income rose 0.4 percent last month. Confidence in the global economy grew substantially, according to the Q1 2012 ACCA/IMA Global Economic Conditions Survey, the largest global study of professional accountants. Thirty-two percent of respondents said they saw an uptick in U.S. business confidence, versus 18 percent in Q4 2011.

While Americans are feeling more financially confident, many are still uneasy about investing in the stock market. According to a new poll from Bankrate.com, about three-fourths of respondents said they were less inclined to investing in the stock market than they were a year ago. Perhaps it’s because of the stock market’s volatility, and they should consider methods of alternative investing. Speaking of alternative investments, hedge funds have outperformed other asset classes during the last 17 years, according to new research from KPMG and a hedge fund lobby group.

In the eurozone, Greece held talks with its international creditors about delaying by one year its medium-term deficit goals, working to ease the ongoing austerity measures on the economy. Across Europe, British Prime Minister said the continent was not “anywhere near half-way through” the economic crisis, but the German government said they’re more optimistic than Cameron about Europe’s financial stability. Cameron’s commentary came at a time when his country fell into a double-dip recession.

• U.S. March personal incomes rise, consumers save more, Reuters, April 30, 2012
• Eurozone crisis has a long way to go, warns Cameron , The Independent, April 30, 2012
• Cameron pledges to do more to boost economy, City A.M, April 30, 2012
• US growth slowed to 2.2 percent in first quarter, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, April 27, 2012
• Greece In Talks To Push Back Deficit Goals One Year – Report, The Wall Street Journal, April 26, 2012
• Study: Hedge Funds Outperform Other Asset Classes, FINalternatives, April 24, 2012
• Americans Remain Wary of the Stock Market, Survey Finds, The New York Times, April 23, 2012

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Be sure to read the full risk disclosure before trading Forex. Please note that Forex trading involves significant risk of loss. It is not suitable for all investors and you should make sure you understand the risks involved before trading. Performance, strategies and charts shown are not necessarily predictive of any particular result. And, as always, past performance is no indication of future results. Investor returns may vary from Trade Leader returns based on slippage, fees, broker spreads, volatility or other market conditions.

Author Bio

It’s been almost two months now since Currensee put into action a plan to reach out to the Latin American and US Hispanic investing markets. This was a very big move and since starting, we have come quite a ways with expanding into these new realms of investing.

Recently, during a conversation with Victor Hugo Rodriguez, CEO of LatAm Alternatives, I realized just how strong of an impact this “cross-over” was having on us.

Immersing ourselves into an entirely new culture is a very involved process; one that takes much careful thought, a lot of effort, and great attention to detail. One of our primary focuses has always been on transparency, so we wanted to be sure that we put fourth the effort to remain as genuine as possible in our approach. We were able to maintain and strengthen a strong connection with our partners by having someone on the sales team who spoke Spanish. In addition, we rebuilt a Spanish version of our website to supplement with any needed information.

All of our hard work seemed to be paying off because one of the points Victor really stressed was how surprised and pleased people were with the realness of our program. Having someone who could speak with them in Spanish made Currensee a very “real” company.

“During the first four weeks, people were amazed at the way the technology was being delivered by Currensee. It got them very excited about this concept and knowing that they each had the potential to manage money for others – they all wanted to know how to do it,” explained Victor.

Though it can be challenging at times to keep up with presenting our service in such a way that several entirely different cultures can understand and benefit equally from it, all of us here dedicate a great amount of energy each day to making that happen.

Check out the Spanish version of our website here.

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Be sure to read the full risk disclosure before trading Forex. Please note that Forex trading involves significant risk of loss. It is not suitable for all investors and you should make sure you understand the risks involved before trading. Performance, strategies and charts shown are not necessarily predictive of any particular result. And, as always, past performance is no indication of future results. Investor returns may vary from Trade Leader returns based on slippage, fees, broker spreads, volatility or other market conditions.