The best companies to own for the long haul are ones that share a few key characteristics:

• They provide a necessary product or service.
• They build difficult to surmount barriers to competition.
• They directly reward their shareholders for the risks of investing.
• They don’t over-leverage their balance sheets with too much debt.

One of the few companies that fits all those criteria is trash kingpin Waste Management (NYSE: WM  ) .

The business
As implied by its name, Waste Management is in the garbage business. Indeed, with more than $13 billion in annual revenue, it’s a behemoth in the often-maligned world of hauling away and disposing the remains of your everyday life and work.

Above and beyond the traditional service of landfill-based disposal, Waste Management also boasts a few logical extensions. For one thing, it claims to be North America’s largest recycler, and for another, it generates enough electricity from its trash annually to power more than 1 million homes.

Why it’s a core holding
To put it simply, the garbage business is an extremely critical one that isn’t going away anytime soon. And even if we were to all fully embrace the “reduce, reuse, and recycle” mentality, who better to profit from that shift than the largest recycler on the continent?

On top of Waste Management being a large player in a critical industry, the trash business is one that creates literal mountains of barriers to entry — landfills. Nobody wants a giant landfill in their backyard, and if a waste disposal company does manage to get clearance to build one, it generally becomes uneconomical or politically infeasible for a competitor to build another one anywhere close.

Given that a major expense in the business is hauling trash around, having a local dump gives the garbage company an incredible cost advantage over more distant competition. On top of that, many municipalities sign monopoly service contracts with a hauler, forcing out anyone else who even dare come close.

Waste Management also treats its shareholders well, with about a 4% current yield that has consistently risen each year for nearly a decade. And with a debt-to-equity ratio of around 1.5 to 1, it’s not overleveraging itself just to attempt to temporarily juice investor returns.

Put the whole package together, and you get a company that meets all four of the above listed criteria for being a core stock worth owning.

Risks to watch
Of course, no company is immune to risks from the world around it, and that includes Waste Management. While it built its empire through gobbling up smaller players, that’s a strategy that’s fairly straightforward to copy for anyone with enough cash and willpower. Republic Services (NYSE: RSG  ) , for instance, is another large player in the industry that has gained heft through consolidation.

The problem with consolidation is that once there are only a few dominant competitors in an industry, they tend to get aggressive with one another. That’s especially a risk once most of the smaller players have been gobbled up and the only avenue for significant growth that remains is through trying to take share from the other titans in the industry.

Additionally, the garbage industry does face a lot of political risk linked to its environmental profile. While most of those costs can be passed on to its customers, as TransCanada (NYSE: TRP  ) found out when President Obama stopped the Keystone XL pipeline, nothing puts growth at risk quite like an environmental halt.

Environmental concerns don’t just stop expansion of capacity. These days, they can force shut downs, too, as electric utility Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK  ) is discovering with several of its older coal-fired power plants. If environmental costs in the trash business get too high, Waste Management may also find itself in the situation where shuttering otherwise usable capacity becomes the least-ugly option.

Finally, as a unionized company, Waste Management often finds itself with less-than-ideal labor relations and strikers with demands for more. As General Motors (NYSE: GM  ) found out as it was forced into bankruptcy at least in part by union-demanded legacy costs keeping its expenses high, poor labor relations can cripple a company’s flexibility at exactly the time it most needs to be nimble to survive.

The bottom line
Still, despite the potential risks it faces, Waste Management is well positioned to continue to lead in an absolutely essential line of business that will be in demand for the foreseeable future. And given its market position and the propensity of waste haulers to wind up as local monopolies, it should be able to maintain sufficient pricing power to cover rising labor and environmental costs.

Combine that industry leading position and ability to cover its costs with its shareholder-friendly dividend policy and its comfortable balance sheet leverage ratio, and the result is a company worth considering as a core stock.

Indeed, I’m so confident in the company’s long-term future that I’ve given it a 5-Year Outperform CAPScall. I’ve put my own CAPS All-Star rating on the line by handing out a green thumb to its shares in Motley Fool CAPS.

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The Collapse of the Euro
Europe is only weeks away from economic collapse, insists a former IMF chief. Yet you probably haven’t heard the whole story: You can protect yourself and even profit from this looming catastrophe if you move fast enough…

Discover your chance to profit now. Enter your email address below to receive your copy of “The Investor’s Guide to Shorting the Euro.” Developed by the expert analysts of Motley Fool PRO, this report is yours FREE for a limited time. Enter your email address now.

Article source: http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/01/27/why-waste-management-is-a-core-stock-for-your-port.aspx

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY)
(“Annaly” or the “Company”) today announced that its Chairman, President
and Chief Executive Officer, Michael A.J. Farrell, was diagnosed with
cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.

“The good news is that it was caught early and is treatable,” said Mr.
Farrell, “and I will continue to work my normal schedule with my
seasoned management team. The Company will continue to adhere to our
corporate values of transparency and prudent risk management and I,
along with Annaly’s co-founder and Vice Chairman, Wellington
Denahan-Norris, will maintain our ongoing commitment to ensure
management continuity as a part of our normal course of business.”

Mr. Farrell continued: “My long-term prognosis is good. I will have a
better sense over the next several months as I continue to undergo
treatment and my doctors refine their diagnosis. In the meantime, I feel
well and I want to thank my family, friends and colleagues for their
support during this period of my life.”

Annaly manages assets on behalf of institutional and individual
investors worldwide. The Company’s principal business objective is to
generate net income for distribution to investors from its investment
securities and from dividends it receives from its subsidiaries. Annaly
is a Maryland corporation that has elected to be taxed as a real estate
investment trust (“REIT”).

This news release and our public documents to which we refer contain or
incorporate by reference certain forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Forward-looking statements which are based on various assumptions (some
of which are beyond our control) may be identified by reference to a
future period or periods or by the use of forward-looking terminology,
such as “may,” “will,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “continue,” or
similar terms or variations on those terms or the negative of those
terms. Actual results could differ materially from those set forth in
forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including, but
not limited to, changes in interest rates; changes in the yield curve;
changes in prepayment rates; the availability of mortgage-backed
securities for purchase; the availability of financing and, if
available, the terms of any financings; changes in the market value of
our assets; changes in business conditions and the general economy; our
ability to consummate any contemplated investment opportunities; risks
associated with the businesses of our subsidiaries, including the
investment advisory business of our wholly-owned subsidiaries,
including: the removal by clients of assets managed, their regulatory
requirements, and competition in the investment advisory business; risks
associated with the broker-dealer business of our wholly-owned
subsidiary; changes in government regulations affecting our business;
our ability to maintain our qualification as a REIT for federal income
tax purposes; and our ability to maintain our exemption from
registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. For a
discussion of the risks and uncertainties which could cause actual
results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking
statements, see “Risk Factors” in our most recent Annual Report on Form
10-K and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We do not
undertake, and specifically disclaim any obligation, to publicly release
the result of any revisions which may be made to any forward-looking
statements to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated
events or circumstances after the date of such statements.

Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/annaly-capital-management-inc-announces-210400596.html

Join the ‘’5% Club’’ of Forex Winners –

It’s a well stated fact that only 5% of traders make consistent money from the Forex market. With the vast liquidity and high number of participants, it’s surprising to see only a small percentage of traders being consistently profitable. Contrary to what many unsuccessful traders may believe the‘5% club’ are really not doing anything different to them. They’re not using any unknown techniques, complex systems/strategies nor have some kind of special knowledge that allows them to consistently make money. They simply have the discipline, patience and right mindset needed to be a successful trader. Joining the 5% club is not as difficult as one may think. ‘Membership’ is unrestricted and open to anyone willing to do what it takes to become consistently profitable.

The 5% of forex winners do not all use the same system/strategy, or necessarily share the same market outlook; however two things they do all have in common are patience and discipline. Ask any successful forex trader and they’ll likely attribute a lot of their success to either being patient, disciplined or both. Being a great market analyst, either technical or fundamental, has little relevance unless the trader knows how to implement what the charts/news are telling them in a proper manner.

Similarly to the 5% of forex winners, the 95% who comprise of mainly unsuccessful traders share similar attributes. Unlike the 5% club, they lack the discipline and patience required to produce consistent positive results. It’s not uncommon to find excellent market analysts struggling to claw their way out of the 95% of unsuccessful traders.

Discipline –

Every trader in the 5% club is a master of discipline. These disciplined traders are not born overnight and for the majority, the practice of discipline can be a long painstaking road; however with time, effort and patience, the discipline these traders practice becomes second nature.

Successful traders have a well detailed forex trading plan which includes the rules they follow for their system/strategy, the amount they areprepared to risk per trade and the risk : reward ratio they wish to follow. Traders in the 5% club rarely ‘bend’ the rules for their plan and are disciplined enough to know that if a trade is not inline with the rules of their plan they simply won’t take it.

Forex winners never overtrade. A common mistake made by the 95% of unsuccessful traders is overtrading. A large proportion of unsuccessful traders feel they need to be trading 24/5 in order to turn a handsome profit. Disciplined traders in the 5% club are astute and never fall into the trap of overtrading. They understand trading is a ‘long game’ and are disciplined enough to wait for set ups which conform to their trading plans.

Patience –

Successful traders understand that a great part of their success can be directly attributed to their patient outlooks. The 5% club understand trading is not a race and never ‘jump the gun’, always waiting for the market to produce trading opportunities that conform to their trading plans.

Patient traders trade like fishermen, reacting to what the market does as opposed to predicting what the market is going to do. They trade what they see, not what they want to see or what they want to believe.

Successful forex traders have truly understood that trading is a ‘long game’ and never chase quick money or instant success. They have accepted that to be part of the 5% club of forex winners is no easy feat and success is measured over a substantial period of time years, (not days/weeks/months).

Joining the ‘5% club’ –

As previously mentioned ‘membership’ to the 5% club of forex winners is unrestricted and open to anyone willing to do what it takes to be a successful trader. Although not an easy task, successful trading can be achieved by any trader open to changing or fine tuning the way they approach the markets. Being an excellent market analyst or having a highly profitable strategy is not necessarily a ticket to success. It can be said that successful trading is more psychological than technical/analytical. One thing every trader in the 5% club has is common is they are all realists. They’re not dreaming of ‘one day quitting their jobs’ and making millions from trading. They are true to themselves and have genuinely accepted that being patient and disciplined puts the odds of success in their favor.

Article by vantage-fx.com

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Article source: http://countingpips.com/fx/2012/01/27/join-the-5-club-of-forex-winners/

Fri Jan 27, 2012 7:56am EST

Article source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/27/markets-forex-idUSL5E8CR29N20120127

Forex – Dollar falls on growth data, Fed language

Contributed by Forexpros

Forexpros – The dollar slid against major currencies on Friday after Federal Reserve language and government economic growth data confirmed market sentiments that the economy will remain stuck in the doldrums for a long time to come.

The dollar slumped against the euro in mid-afternoon U.S. trading on Friday, with EUR/USD rising 0.78% and trading at 1.3212.

At a Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve concluded that interest rates, currently at a very low 0.25%, will likely stay that way through 2014, longer than a forecast made towards the end of last year that loose policies will stick around until 2013.

On Friday, the Commerce Department reported that the economy grew 2.8% in the fourth quarter, when compared with the same period a year earlier.

The figure came in a little lower than market expectations.

Furthermore, a good portion of growth came from companies replenishing their inventories and not by purchasing capital goods, which would have indicated plans for future investments and even more growth down the road, thus watering down the value of the greenback.

Furthermore, hopes rekindled that Greece is close to reaching a deal with private creditors to restructure its debt, a requirement for Athens if it wants to draw down from aid packages in the future.

“The next market focus is whether Greece will get this next aid package and whether it will be able to stay in the euro,” said Stephen Gallo, head of market analysis at Schneider Foreign Exchange in London, according to Bloomberg.

“The market senses the Fed is cautious, so the market is scrutinizing all the data coming out of the U.S., so prices are really reacting.”

Meanwhile, the dollar was down against the pound, with Cable rising 0.19% to hit 1.5720.

The greenback was down 0.94% against the yen, with USD/JPY trading at 76.73, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF falling 0.78% to 0.9133.

The greenback was down against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD down 0.01% at 1.0017, AUD/USD up 0.14% at 1.0648 and NZD/USD up 0.19% at 0.8232.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.63% at 79.03.

Over the weekend, markets will look for signs of deal between Greece and its private creditors.

On Monday, markets will keep an eye on the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, which will release figures on personal spending and income.

German inflation figures are tentatively due out, while German retail sales and Italian unemployment figures are set to publish as well.

In Japan, unemployment and industrial output figures will be released on Monday.

In the United Kingdom, Gfk Consumer Confidence numbers will hit the wire that day as well.

Forexpros – Forexpros offers an extensive set of professional tools for the Forex, Commodities, Futures and the Stock Market including real-time data streaming, a comprehensive economic calendar, as well as financial news and technical fundamental analysis by in-house experts.
Follow Forexpros on Twitter at @Forexprosnews

Article source: http://www.stockmarketsreview.com/news/247772/

<!–TITOL:

Forex: GBP/USD hovering over 1.5700

FITITOL–>

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) – The sterling is retracing some ground at the moment after hit 1.5718 (day’s high). Fed decision to leave the fund rates at “exceptionally low “ levels until late 2014 and a more dovish stance of the committee have boosted the risk sentiment in detriment of the greenback on Wednesday extending the upbeat mood into today’s session.
Optimism circling the PSI talks is bolstering the markets as well pushing risk-related currencies to new highs.

The cross is up 0.24% at 1.5695, facing the next hurdle at 1.5709 (high Dec.23) ahead of 1.5718 (Upper Bollinger) then 1.5729 (high Dec.22) and 1.5775 (high Dec.21).
On the flip side, a drop beyond 1.5612 (hourly low Jan.25) would expose 1.5578 (MA55d) then 1.5533 (low Jan.24) and 1.5517 (low Jan.23).

Article source: http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/article.aspx?storyid=c364b5c4-dc1f-4dc0-8022-7e47278f4222

SAN ANTONIO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

The Board of Directors of the parent company of Kinetic Concepts, Inc.
and LifeCell Corporation today announced that Ronald A. Matricaria has
joined the Board of Directors and will serve as its Chairman. Matricaria
will oversee the implementation of a new management structure under
which Joseph F. Woody has been appointed President and Chief Executive
officer of KCI and Lisa N. Colleran has been appointed President and
Chief Executive Officer of LifeCell. Martin J. Landon, who served as
interim Chief Executive Officer during the recent management transition,
will continue in his capacity as Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer of KCI. In addition, the Board of Directors announced
that KCI will pursue strategic alternatives for KCI’s Therapeutic
Support Systems business.

The structure and plans announced today are designed to strengthen the
companies’ performance and deliver stronger returns while ensuring that
KCI and LifeCell remain recognized leaders in the fields of wound care
and regenerative medicine. KCI and LifeCell are privately-held sister
corporations owned by a consortium consisting of Apax Partners and
controlled affiliates of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the
Public Sector Pension Investment Board. Going forward, KCI and LifeCell
financial reporting will remain consolidated, while the companies will
be managed independently under the new structure. KCI will continue to
provide inter-company services and compliance oversight to LifeCell.

Ron Matricaria’s highly successful career in the healthcare industry has
spanned nearly four decades. From 1993 to 2002, Matricaria was President
and Chief Executive Officer and then Chairman of St. Jude Medical, Inc.
He led the company’s diversification strategy to become a broad-based
cardiovascular device company, which today is a world market leader in
cardiac surgery, cardiac rhythm management, and vascular closure
products and services. Prior to joining St. Jude Medical, Matricaria
spent 24 years at Eli Lilly and Company, where he last served as
President of North American Operations and Executive Vice President of
the pharmaceutical division. Matricaria currently serves as Lead
Director of the Board of Directors of LIFE Technology Corporation,
Chairman of the Board of Volcano Therapeutics, Inc. and as a director on
the Board of Directors of Phoenix Children’s Hospital. He also serves as
an Adjunct Lecturer at Northwestern University’s Farley Center for
Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

“Ron Matricaria has a proven track record of success in the medical
device industry and a wealth of experience in the corporate governance
of health care companies,” said Buddy Gumina, Partner and co-head of the
Apax Healthcare Team. “We believe that bringing Ron on as Chairman,
together with the appointment of Joe Woody and Lisa Colleran to the CEO
roles at KCI and LifeCell, creates the ideal environment for outstanding
success.”

Woody has more than 20 years experience in the healthcare sector. Prior
to joining KCI as President of its Active Healing Solutions business in
November 2011, Woody served as Global President, Vascular Therapies for
Covidien. At Covidien, he was responsible for the $2.6 billion
acquisition and integration of ev3. Previously, Woody served as Global
President, Smith Nephew Advanced Wound Management and held other
leadership positions at Alliance Imaging, Inc., Acuson and GE Medical
Systems.

Colleran has been President of LifeCell since 2008, during which time
LifeCell has experienced significant growth and doubled its revenue.
Colleran joined LifeCell in 2002 and has held several leadership
positions including Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations and
Vice President, Marketing and Business Development. Previously, Colleran
spent 20 years at Baxter Healthcare Corporation in various roles in
sales, marketing, business development and general management including
Vice President of Marketing for Baxter’s U.S. Renal business and Vice
President/General Manager of the company’s Renal Pharmaceuticals
business.

Coinciding with the changes in the management structure of KCI and
LifeCell, the Board of Directors has approved the engagement of Credit
Suisse as lead advisor, together with UBS Investment Bank, to pursue
strategic alternatives for KCI’s Therapeutic Support Systems (TSS)
business. KCI’s TSS business, a global leader in the support surfaces
market, rents and sells specialized therapeutic support systems
including hospital beds, mattress replacement systems, overlays and
patient mobility devices. There can be no assurance that any transaction
regarding TSS will be completed. KCI does not intend to disclose
developments with respect to progress of its strategic alternatives
review process until such time as the Board of Directors approves or
completes a transaction or otherwise determines that further disclosure
is appropriate.

“Our TSS business has enjoyed many successes over more than 35 years,
and we believe that the value TSS brings to caregivers and patients can
be enhanced through a transformative strategic transaction,” said
Stephen D. Seidel, President, KCI Therapeutic Support Systems.

About KCI

Kinetic Concepts, Inc. is a leading global medical technology company
devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of
innovative, high-technology therapies and products for the wound care
and therapeutic support system markets. Headquartered in San Antonio,
Texas, KCI’s success spans more than three decades and can be traced to
a history deeply rooted in innovation and a passion for significantly
improving the healing and the lives of patients around the world. For
more information about KCI and how its products are changing the
practice of medicine, please visit www.KCI1.com.

About LifeCell

LifeCell Corporation, based in Branchburg, NJ, is a leader in
regenerative medicine, develops and markets innovative tissue repair
products for the reconstructive, orthopedic and urogynecologic
biosurgery markets. LifeCell™ products include Strattice™ Reconstructive
Tissue Matrix and AlloDerm^® Regenerative Tissue Matrix for
plastic, reconstructive, and general surgical applications; Cymetra^®
Regenerative Tissue Matrix, a particulate form of AlloDerm^®
Tissue Matrix suitable for injection; Repliform^® Regenerative
Tissue Matrix for urogynecologic surgical procedures; GraftJacket^®
and Conexa™ for orthopedic surgical procedures; and the SPY^®Elite
System for the visualization and evaluation of tissue perfusion.
Additional information about LifeCell and its products is available at www.LifeCell.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain “forward-looking statements.” These
forward-looking statements are only predictions, not historical facts,
and involve significant risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions
and are not guarantees of future performance. All statements other than
statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed
forward-looking statements. Actual results, levels of activity,
performance, achievements and events could differ materially from those
currently stated, anticipated or implied due to a number of risks and
uncertainties. Important assumptions and other important factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the
forward-looking statements are specified in the Company’s Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, and the Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2011, including
under headings such as “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements,” “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and in other filings and
furnishings made by the Company with the SEC from time to time. Except
to the extent required by applicable federal securities laws, the
Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to
any forward-looking statements, to report events or to report the
occurrence of unanticipated events.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50148100lang=en

MULTIMEDIA AVAILABLE:http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50148100lang=en

Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/kci-announces-management-structure-143000340.html

PRLog (Press Release) – Jan 27, 2012 – Trade Interceptor, the fastest growing forex trading platform on the Apple and Android stores, released a free trading application for Amazon Kindle Fire, which allows traders to stay connected to the forex markets and trade currencies from anywhere, at anytime. The new Kindle Fire app offers advanced forex trading capabilities including the possibility to receive real-time currency prices from various feed providers, trade with various forex brokers, set price alerts, receive real-time currency news, watch multiple charts updated in real-time, and use a wide range of technical indicators, graphical tools and studies. The application can be downloaded for free on the Amazon Appstore.

Kindle Fire is a Full Color 7″ Multi-touch Display available on Amazon.com for $199.
For those who don’t have an Amazon US account, it is possible to install Trade Interceptor app on Kindle Fire devices following the instructions on Trade Interceptor download page.

“Our objective is to give forex traders the possibility to trade currencies at anytime, from anywhere, with the broker they like, using the most popular mobile and tablet devices. Kindle Fire is a very performing tablet, perfectly adapted to mobile forex trading, available at a very competitive price” explains Rodolfo Festa Bianchet, CEO of Riflexo, the software company which develops Trade Interceptor.

Trade Interceptor forex trading platform provides live prices and trading capabilities for over 120 currency pairs and CFD instruments. Advanced forex trading functionalities include Touch-Chart-Trading TM, chart order management and server-side alerts. Subscribers can use over 80 technical analysis indicators as well as advanced interactive studies.

Trade Interceptor is powered by Riflexo, a Sofia-based software company, which has been developing real-time trading solutions for financial institutions and professional traders for the last 11 years.

Rodolfo Festa Bianchet, Riflexo’s CEO, is among the 5 nominees for the “FX Person of the Year 2011” award, an event which pays tribute to a person, a team of people and a project that positively contributed to make the Forex world better in 2011, with a particular focus on innovation and quality.

Article source: http://www.prlog.org/11783356-trade-interceptor-released-kindle-fire-forex-trading-app-for-currency-investors.html

Brought to you by eLearners.com

Article source: http://community.nasdaq.com/News/2012-01/forex-eurchf-soars-after-kof.aspx?storyid=116983

Forex – Dollar weaker after dovish Fed rate statement

Contributed by Forexpros

Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was lower against all of its major counterparts on Thursday, after the Federal Reserve indicated that it would keep interest rates close to zero for at least another two years, dampening demand for the greenback.

During European morning trade, the dollar was down against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.24% to hit 1.3139.

At the conclusion of Wednesday’s policy-setting meeting, the Fed said economic conditions will likely “warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through late 2014.�

The central bank had previously pledged to keep interest rates close to zero until mid-2013.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that policy makers were “prepared to provide further monetary accommodation� and added that bond buying is “an option that’s certainly on the table,“ indicating that the bank may embark on a third round of quantitative easing.

In the euro zone, talks on a debt swap deal between Greece and its creditors were to resume in Athens later in the day.

Meanwhile, Italy was to auction as much as EUR5 billion of short term government debt, ahead of an auction of long term debt on Monday.

The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD adding 0.25% to hit 1.5697.

In addition, the greenback was weaker against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY sliding 0.23% to hit 77.60 and USD/CHF shedding 0.30% to hit 0.9184.

Elsewhere, the greenback was down against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD dropping 0.42% to hit 1.0001, AUD/USD advancing 0.65% to hit 1.0666 and NZD/USD gaining 0.55% to hit 0.8212.

Earlier Thursday, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.5% in line with expectations. RBNZ Governor Alan Bollard said it was prudent to hold rates steady amid the present uncertainty over the global economic outlook.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, dipped 0.04% to hit 79.56.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on initial jobless claims and durable goods orders.

Forexpros – Forexpros offers an extensive set of professional tools for the Forex, Commodities, Futures and the Stock Market including real-time data streaming, a comprehensive economic calendar, as well as financial news and technical fundamental analysis by in-house experts.
Follow Forexpros on Twitter at @Forexprosnews

Article source: http://www.stockmarketsreview.com/news/247496/