Forex Currency Trading - Fundamental Analysis And The Forex Market

Two types of analyses are used by forex currency traders for market movements forecasting: 'fundamental', and 'technical' (the chart study of past behavior of currency prices). 'Fundamental' focuses on theoretical models of exchange rate determination and on major economic factors and their likelihood of affecting foreign exchange rates.

A currency trader, who makes trades based upon fundamental analysis, will look at the supply and demand situation relevant to the particular currency being studied, and try to predict price movement by interpreting a wide variety of economic indicators and factors, government issued reports, news, etc.

Fundamental analysis focuses on economic, social and political factors as these drive supply and demand. Fundamental analysts look at various macroeconomic indicators such as economic growth rates, interest rates, inflation, unemployment etc. These factors impact upon currencies. A forex trader needs to be aware of announcements covering these important indicators as they may result in volatile trading especially if the announcement is an unexpected one.

Therefore, depending on which currency pair you are trading, you should keep abreast of the main economic reports for the countries your currencies belong to and be aware of when announcements are likely to be issued. For example, if you are trading the AUD/USD currency pair you should be aware and stay up-to-date with both the Australian and US economic reports, announcements and news.

Forex Currency Trading Systems

The forex currency trading system is the system, which lets the forex traders buy one currency and sell the other simultaneously. This is a platform where you can also participate in the currency trading game and make lucrative profits by buying and selling currency pairs.

According to the basics of forex currency trading system, when the value of a currency falls the currency should be bought and when it rises, the currency should be sold off. However, you must know the basics of forex trading before you start using forex currency trading systems. The forex currency trading system is the relatively new venture into the financial world; over three trillion dollars worth of transactions are taking place everyday in the forex market with forex currency trading system.

The Forex currency trading system works like this. For example, you anticipate that the value of Euro will increase relative to Dollar, and you buy Euros with Dollars. So, if the Euro rate increases relative to the Dollar, you sell the Euros and make your profit. The first currency of each currency pair is referred as the base currency, and the second is as the ‘counter’ or ‘quote currency’. Each currency pair is expressed in units of the counter currency needed to get one unit of the base currency. If the price or quote of the EUR/USD is 1.2545, it means that 1.2545 US dollars are needed to get one EUR.

These currency pairs used in the forex currency trading system are usually traded and quoted with a ‘bid’ and ‘ask’ price. The ‘bid’ is the price at which the broker is willing to buy and the ‘ask’ is the price at which he is willing to sell.

Fibonacci currency trading system is based on the world famous Fibonacci sequence – which is formed by a series of numbers where each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers, such as 1,1,2,3,5,8,……and so on. The forex currency trading system benefits a lot from this mathematical system; if you closely monitor the forex rate charts you will see Fibonacci series type oscillations in prices.

When applied to the field of currency trading, the ratio derived from this sequence of numbers, i.e. .236, .50, .382, .618, etc., it has been found that the oscillations observed in forex charts, follow Fibonacci ratios very closely. Since the Fibonacci system calculates the points, levels or currency pair in advance, you, as a trader, easily come to know when to enter into the market for trading and when to exit.

Currency Trading Success using Technical Analysis

Anyone can achieve currency-trading success – you can learn everything about trading currencies by simply investing the time necessary.

Fundamental Analysis

A currency trader who makes trades based upon fundamental analysis, will look at the supply and demand situation relevant to the particular currency studied, and try and predict the impact of such factors as:

. The health of the economy
. Interest rates
. Balance of payments
. Employment
. Trade deficit
. Other factors

Technical Analysis

Technical analysis is the study of a currency, based strictly on using only the price history of the currency.

Technical analysis uses no information about the currencies supply and demand situation - it simply focuses on price action. The secret of currency trading success is using technical analysis to spot them.

Long Term or Short Term Trading

For long term currency-trading success, is it better to be a long-term trader, rather than a short-term trader.

While traders can, and do make money with short-term methods of trading, the fact is, currencies trend longer term and these are the trends that yield the biggest profits.

Choosing a Trading Method

While there are many ways to achieve currency-trading success, all methods have the following salient points in common:

1. Simplicity

Most of the best trading systems are simple. There is no correlation between how complicated a strategy is and how successful it will be.

2. Liquidate Losers Quickly and Run Big Profits:

The basis of any successful trading systems that deals in leveraged products is:

You need to be able to run the big profitable trends and exit losers quickly.

3. Understand your Method

This may sound obvious, but you need to understand your trading method, and the logic behind it, so you can execute it with confidence and discipline.

4. The Importance of Discipline

Currency trading success is rooted in a successful method applied with discipline. This means a trader has a method and follows it. This however is much harder in practice than many traders believe.

The more disciplined you are in trading, the more profits you will make longer term.

You should not underestimate the need for discipline, if you want long-term currency trading success.

Robust trading method + discipline = currency trading success

There are a number of variables involved in longer-term currency trading success and the above are the salient points to keep in mind when deciding how to trade currencies.

Forex Currency Trading - Fundamental Analysis And The Forex Market

Two types of analyses are used by forex currency traders for market movements forecasting: 'fundamental', and 'technical' (the chart study of past behavior of currency prices). 'Fundamental' focuses on theoretical models of exchange rate determination and on major economic factors and their likelihood of affecting foreign exchange rates.

A currency trader, who makes trades based upon fundamental analysis, will look at the supply and demand situation relevant to the particular currency being studied, and try to predict price movement by interpreting a wide variety of economic indicators and factors, government issued reports, news, etc.

Fundamental analysis focuses on economic, social and political factors as these drive supply and demand. Fundamental analysts look at various macroeconomic indicators such as economic growth rates, interest rates, inflation, unemployment etc. These factors impact upon currencies. A forex trader needs to be aware of announcements covering these important indicators as they may result in volatile trading especially if the announcement is an unexpected one.

Therefore, depending on which currency pair you are trading, you should keep abreast of the main economic reports for the countries your currencies belong to and be aware of when announcements are likely to be issued. For example, if you are trading the AUD/USD currency pair you should be aware and stay up-to-date with both the Australian and US economic reports, announcements and news.

IMPORTANT ECONMIC INDICATORS FOR THE US (Affecting any USD/X or X/USD currency pairs).

Employment report (Non farm payroll)

Federal Reserve Interest Rate Announcement

Consumer price Index (CPI)

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

International Trade / Current Account

Retail Sales

Consumer Confidence

Producers Price Index (PPI)

Breaking Down The Forex Mechanical System Trading

A variety of trading strategies are available to make the currency investment a successful venture. Which strategy is to be adopted by you while you trade with currency is totally dependent on the particular currency that you trade with and the recent price pattern in the currency market. A particular strategy that seems to be ideal to trade with a particular pair of currency need not be so for another pair of currency. For this reason one has to be very careful while choosing a particular strategy to trade with currencies.

Whatever be the nature of the currency trading that you are engaged in you should have at least one mechanical trading system with you if you want to make fortunes out of your forex trading.

Until recently forex mechanical system trading was found to be very expensive and unaffordable for individuals. As only a few brokers were there to provide forex mechanical system trading, one had to invest a fortune to get the assistance of a mechanical trading system for his currency trading.

With the development in software technology forex mechanical system trading also has become cheaper and affordable for all traders. A number of brokers are now offering free automated trading platforms for the investors to experiment with. By using the free service offered by the brokers you will get a chance to evaluate the different system before you actually invest in one.

If you are thinking of developing a system for your trading purpose, you will have to disclose your trading strategy including trade entry and exit to the programmer of the system. A concrete idea of your strategy narrating the proper currency marketing condition for entry, trade set up and final confirmation should be communicated to the programmer before you purchase a forex mechanical system trading for your use. Trade exit also muse be defined in the same way while programming a system to regulate your currency trading activities.

Best Forex Online Platforms Trading

The term forex refers to Foreign Exchange. The foreign exchange market deals basically with the trade of a particular currency for another. It is considered to be the world's largest financial market. The forex market includes various levels and forms of trading. It includes the trade carried out between various banks, currency speculators, central banks, governments, multinational corporations, and various other financial markets and institutions.

The main advantage which forex trading has over the conventional New York Stock Exchange and other similar stock exchange markets is that the traders can trade any time of the day. The conventional stock exchange markets limit the trading in the actual trading hours of the market. The best forex online platforms trading is preferred nowadays by most people owing to the fact that it enables forex trading anytime of the day and from anywhere in the world. This is done by giving access to traders of the online community of forex trading through online trading platforms.

The forex market is a great success compared to the other stock markets owing to the fact that the currency exchange market of the world operates around the clock. The prime requisites for a trader thus are time, money, a computer with the Internet facility and a telephone. The traders or the banks just need to log in to their forex trading account to start trading.

The best forex online platforms trading are also highly beneficial owing to the numerous advantages. The forex market is estimated to witness the trade of around one trillion dollars. The primary process can be understood in simple terms. It involves the trading of one country's currency for another country's currency.

Forex Trading Can Be Like Day-trading

Forex trading, or foreign currency trading, has become a bit of a craze of late, especially since it is something available to anyone who owns a computer. And anyone who is willing to put in some training time can profit from forex trading.

The forex market finds traders from all around the globe monitoring currency fluctuations, not unlike the way a day trader may monitor a stock's fluctuation on the Dow Jones.

In forex trading, a trader will pair two types of currency, for example the U.S. dollar and the British pound. As it requires more of one currency to purchase another, that currency loses value. Not unlike, stock trading, forex traders try to accumulate currency when it weakens in hopes of selling it when it goes up in value. Forex trading is not unlike the buy low, sell high approach found in stock trading.

The way a trader on the forex market exchange goes about acquiring currency is by giving a bid/ask quote, saying he is willing to buy, for example 1.6 marks per dollar and sell them at 1.625 per dollar. One must be a market trader to have access to this process. So most people who are forex trading on line buy the currency through a bank, where they'll pay a commission, then have to figure the commission paid to the bank into the calculation of their spread, or profit margin, when they sell it.

Forex trading is not an easy path to riches. And some people have lost considerable money in miscalculating the market. With its increased popularity, on some days the forex market exchange can see more than one trillion dollars exchanged. Packages for teaching a new forex trader how to invest in the market can range in price.

What You Need To Know About E-Currency Trading

Yes! E-currency trading, ever heard of it? Its what is making those that have long heard about it very wealthy, legally! So if your seat belts are tight enough, lets take a ride into the world of E-currency Trading.

Well, E-currency per say means the exchange of one e-currency for another e-currency. Simple as that!

Ok lets look at it in terms of a real money example. If you're going to another country that does not accept money from your country, you would want to convert your money to the currency of the country you’re going to. Companies that provide this service charge a fee for doing so. The same applies to e-currency.

If you exchange one e-currency for another, there are “Merchants” who perform this transaction for you. These Merchants take a certain percentage for performing this service.

Now, to get started in E-currency trading, you have to know “how” it works and what to do to make the most profits out of it.

Now, with as little as $25, yes $25 you could be on your way amassing large monthly income with that amount you invest. All you do is invest that $25 in e-currency trading, reinvest its weekly earning and without putting further funds in, you could expect to generate a monthly income of over $4,800 in just three years, based on an average growth of 2% per week. All from just $25 investment!

So what do you do to improve your earning status? Here’s what you do,

1. Create an e-currency account

2. Fund your e-currency account (there are a lot of e-currency exchangers, just do a research on google.com and you will find them)

3. Create an exchange account with DXINONE.COM (that’s the company that runs a secure e-currency trading)

4. Inject funds into the DXINONE system

5. Buy digots/shares with your injected funds

6. Get your DX Debit

7. Pay your fees regularly and continue trading!

So there you are, the snap glance of E-currency trading. Hope you have a great day!

Currency Trading Tutorials-How To Choose The Right One For You!

If you are searching for the perfect currency trading tutorial for you, then you are definitely looking to learn how to trade on the foreign exchange market. I know, just the thought of being able to trade on the forex market, might get you money hungry, after all the foreign exchange market is the world's largest financial sector, which on any day may involve transactions of up to $1.8 trillion or even more. Yes, you read right, that is per day, every single day.

What exactly is currency trading? In simple terms, currency trading can be described as the trading that involves the purchase and sale of large quantities of foreign currency to leverage the shifts in relative value between the different currencies into profit. With this in mind, it can be argued that currency trading provides more opportunities and returns, which are almost impossible in all other low leverage markets, like the stock markets.

Currency trading is more commonly referred to as foreign currency trading, in short Forex trading. With the emergence of many internet brokers, it has now become easier for ordinary people to trade in currency. The funny thing is, what seems like a new way of trading for you and me has been around for ages, banks, governments, and large corporations have been exploiting this market for decades and decades.

Although, currency trading is very attractive to many individuals because of the possibilities of high returns in a short period, there tends to be a lot of risk involved with this type of trading, so it is very important that you understand what you are doing before, jumping in head first. Your success therefore solely depends on the quality of your choice of currency trading tutorials. Be very careful and picky when choosing your learning materials.

Whatever you do, make sure you really know what you are doing before you invest any of your hard earned money. If you are not too sure, don't take any chances, get yourself a dummy currency trading account so you can practice, without risking losing your money.

When looking for a good currency trading tutorial, try to select one that exposes you practically to the actual currency trading environment, or at least something close or similar to it. At the same time your course should also teach you and help you develop your own forex trading theories and ideas.

Currency Trading Three Reasons Why It Beats Stock Trading

There are several different ways to trade but these days it seems everyone is talking about Forex and currency trading. Check out these three reasons why it beats stock trading.

Profits in a Bear or Bull Market

Currency can bring growth during both a bull and bear market which is one of the three reasons why it beats stock trading. There is no short selling restrictions and there is profit potential no matter where the market is going. With Forex you sell on currency and then buy another. Even in fluctuating markets a trader has the ability to profit in both short and long positions.

50 Times More Leverage Than Stocks

It quickly becomes apparent why you want to go with currency trading over stock trading another reason why it beats stock trading. Foreign exchange trading with Forex will land you up to 50 times the leverage of what your stock accounts can do.

Diversity Here Is Like No Other

Forex can offer a broad diversity. The balance of trade between nations is detrimental to the value of the currencies. If a nation imports more than it exports it will have a deficit trade balance which is considered not favorable to currency value. So you see currency trading beats stock trading.

A prudent investor will know that they need to diversify their US dollar balance through holding a variety of currencies which can be somewhat challenging since almost all US banks offer only a few other currencies. Through Forex and foreign currency trading you can control hundreds of thousand of dollars worth of currencies that will give you more than 50 times the leverage of the stock market which again proves why the currency trading beats stock trading.

Open For Business 24 Hours A Day 7 Days A Week

You can trade Forex 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Your trading can start at 5:00 PM EST with markets in Sidney and Singapore. Only a few hours later Tokyo opens up, next is London opening at 2:00 AM EST and soon New York with it’s world currency markets have already been open for 15 hours. The stock market offers you no such easy access which is why currency trading beats stock trading. In fact Forex is the largest, most liquid market, open 24 hours a day for trade.

Choose One Currency - The Importance Of Focus In Forex Trading

Many beginner forex traders start out making a common mistake. They will begin trading one currency but within a month and sometimes much less, will have traded almost all the major currencies. If you take a peek at some of the forex chat forums on the Internet, you will see enthusiastic newbie traders making the same mistake. They will ask questions, discuss and trade the yen, the pound, the euro, the Swiss franc and go back and forth between them all.

Why do they do this and why is it foolish?

Let’s see. If you ask them why they do this, they will probably reply that either they saw an opportunity for a profitable trade on their charts that was too good to pass up or that they were just increasing their chances of success by spreading their bets. Fair enough, that seems like a perfectly fine answer.

Imagine this however: You are a pretty strong guy and you think you can handle yourself in a street fight. Then you are thrown into a ring with a guy who’s been training boxing for years. The outcome of this fight? Well, there really is no fight – you will get slaughtered.

Forex trading is the same. To be a success, you must always be looking at ways to swing the odds in your favour. The fundamentals that influence the yen are totally different to that of the Swiss franc or that of the Australian dollar. If you are trading them all, while it may appear the same, its not. Just like the fight against the boxer, you are up against highly paid institutional traders and currency analysts - experts in a particular currency.

When a news announcement breaks, without thinking they know and incorporate its effect on a particular currency and its relationship to other currencies, the interest rates, bonds and gold market. The Australian dollar is a commodity price driven currency; the Swiss franc will do well when global security is a problem; the yen is a currency reflecting a nation with a huge export surplus and so on. All these currencies have different characters, moods and personas. They are influenced by different and conflicting information that you need to be aware of.

To increase your chances of success in trading, it is much better to master one chosen currency. This will help you build focus and trading discipline. Sticking to trading one currency will eliminate the need to have to focus on numerous sets of information. However, the most important thing: with time, as you understand your chosen currency and its character traits inside out, you will gain conscious confidence in your trading – something invaluable in this game.

Boost Your Income And Learn All About Forex And Currency Trading

If you've been trying to find out all about Forex and currency trading, but just don't know where to start, here are the basics.

Thousands of investors are now turning the benefits of Forex trading into great returns.

Once you learn all about Forex and currency trading, you'll be ready to join the ranks of happy and profitable currency investors.

Learning all about Forex and currency trading may seem like an insurmountable task especially if you're totally new to the Forex market.

With the right tools learning the basics and how to tackle currency trading can be accomplished in a relatively short period of time.

Many online sites now offer educational sections.

These educational sections start with the very basics and continue on helping you learn more advanced strategies and methods of analysis.

Practice Currency Trading As You Learn

Online Forex broker sites will also allow you to set up a mock account to practice what you'relearning before you actually invest any of your money.

This method of paper trading helps you to fine tune your investment practices. The practice account can quickly help you learn in real time all about Forex and currency trading.

The trades, the terms, and the methods applied to trade currencies are quite different than with traditional investments. The trading occurs in pairs. Currency trades are made based upon the value of one currency as compared to another. These relative values are in constant change.

Price quotes are in pips (percentage in point). If a particular currency quote goes higher, it means that currency is stronger. If it goes lower it means the currency weaker. When you make a Forex trade you're buying one currency and selling another.

Certain basic factors commonly used to determine how and when to place trades are: relative interest rates, economic stability, political stability, and the trade status of the country. Typically the trade is made with one strong currency traded in conjunction with a weaker currency.

The times you can trade is vastly different than in traditional stock, bonds, and mutual funds. . The Forex market trades on a 24 hour, 6 day a week schedule. This helps you be more able to make trades and decisions at times when your schedule allows, not on the traditional 9 to 4 stock market hours.

On a daily basis, eighty percent of Forex trades involve nine major currencies: the U.S. dollar, Euro, Yen, Swiss franc, British pound, Canadian dollar, and the Australian dollar. As with stocks, bonds, and mutual funds there are several strategies and methods taught and used to determine when to make a trade.

Strategic charting and analysis of those charts are of primary importance to many who trade the Forex market. You'll find many sources of courses and education materials to help you learn to evaluate and master Forex.

Now its easy to get started in Forex trading. There are many online sites available to help you learn and implement your newfound knowledge by investing in the currency markets. No longer is trading on the Forex exchange limited only to large companies and banks. Even an investor with a very small amount can participate in Forex trading.

What You Need To Know About E-Currency Trading

Yes! E-currency trading, ever heard of it? Its what is making those that have long heard about it very wealthy, legally! So if your seat belts are tight enough, lets take a ride into the world of E-currency Trading.

Well, E-currency per say means the exchange of one e-currency for another e-currency. Simple as that!

Ok lets look at it in terms of a real money example. If you're going to another country that does not accept money from your country, you would want to convert your money to the currency of the country you’re going to. Companies that provide this service charge a fee for doing so. The same applies to e-currency.

If you exchange one e-currency for another, there are “Merchants” who perform this transaction for you. These Merchants take a certain percentage for performing this service.

Now, to get started in E-currency trading, you have to know “how” it works and what to do to make the most profits out of it.

Now, with as little as $25, yes $25 you could be on your way amassing large monthly income with that amount you invest. All you do is invest that $25 in e-currency trading, reinvest its weekly earning and without putting further funds in, you could expect to generate a monthly income of over $4,800 in just three years, based on an average growth of 2% per week. All from just $25 investment!

So what do you do to improve your earning status? Here’s what you do,

1. Create an e-currency account

2. Fund your e-currency account (there are a lot of e-currency exchangers, just do a research on google.com and you will find them)

3. Create an exchange account with DXINONE.COM (that’s the company that runs a secure e-currency trading)

4. Inject funds into the DXINONE system

5. Buy digots/shares with your injected funds

6. Get your DX Debit

7. Pay your fees regularly and continue trading!

So there you are, the snap glance of E-currency trading. Hope you have a great day!

Currency-Trading: Finding Your Niche

Currency-trading is quite similar to trading stocks on the market. While you may or may not have any familiarity with those options, you should know that trading in this form is quite popular and it keeps gaining in popularity. There are many reasons for that but in most cases it is popular because it works and is quite straightforward which makes it very well worth your time.

Currency-trading is a method of trading based on the value of currency. In most cases, the world’s economy is the judge of how much you can and will make. This is different than with stocks which rely heavily on the United State’s economy. In this case, you are dealing with world markets and world currency rates.

The basis is very simple. You simply will purchase currency at a time in which it is worth less. For example, the dollar is worth more. You purchase low and then as the economy strengthens in that country, you can sell to make a profit. Basically you turn in your money for dollars again.

But, that is quite a simplistic look at it. There are many things that influence currency-trading. What makes it attractive to anyone anywhere is that you can invest pennies or quite a bit of money. Obviously you can make more money on the more you invest, but you still make money either way. Currency-trading is a market that many are looking to get into for that very reason.

There are many currency-trading options available to you to help you as well. You will find that people often have a system in place to help them monitor and make sales. This software is able to be found throughout the web and can be quite beneficial if you want to do the trading yourself. If you do not, you can easily get the help of any of the currency-trading advisors out there. It’s a great opportunity!

Best Forex Online Platforms Trading

The term forex refers to Foreign Exchange. The foreign exchange market deals basically with the trade of a particular currency for another. It is considered to be the world's largest financial market. The forex market includes various levels and forms of trading. It includes the trade carried out between various banks, currency speculators, central banks, governments, multinational corporations, and various other financial markets and institutions.

The main advantage which forex trading has over the conventional New York Stock Exchange and other similar stock exchange markets is that the traders can trade any time of the day. The conventional stock exchange markets limit the trading in the actual trading hours of the market. The best forex online platforms trading is preferred nowadays by most people owing to the fact that it enables forex trading anytime of the day and from anywhere in the world. This is done by giving access to traders of the online community of forex trading through online trading platforms.

The forex market is a great success compared to the other stock markets owing to the fact that the currency exchange market of the world operates around the clock. The prime requisites for a trader thus are time, money, a computer with the Internet facility and a telephone. The traders or the banks just need to log in to their forex trading account to start trading.

The best forex online platforms trading are also highly beneficial owing to the numerous advantages. The forex market is estimated to witness the trade of around one trillion dollars. The primary process can be understood in simple terms. It involves the trading of one country's currency for another country's currency.

The best forex online platforms trading are also the fastest and the most efficient modes of online forex trading. The traders can gain large profits owing to the structure of the market

FOREX Trading 101

Welcome to the exciting and often very profitable world of foreign exchange trading or FOREX for short. Forex trading is the trading of different foreign currencies against one another, taking advantage of their ever fluctuating values to make very nice profits.

Forex trading, or currency trading, used to be out of the reach of the everyday investor until recent technological advancements took Forex out of the hands of large banks and institutional traders, and put it right in front of anyone with a computer and internet connection. Now there are dozens of Forex trading platforms available from a wide selection of brokers. Now anyone can learn to make money trading the currency market!

Although the major focus of the investment world appears to be on stocks and bonds, the currency market is the oldest and largest financial market in the world. The FOREX is a world-wide market, therefore, it is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This eliminates the closing/opening gaps you see with traditional stocks ever morning. The Forex market trades approximately $1.2 trillion every day, making it a very liquid market, you'll never have a problem filling your buy or sell orders.

Forex trading is done with pairs, that is either buying or selling one currency against another currency. You profit from Forex trading when you take a position in a currency that you appreciates against the currency it is paired against. The great majority of daily Forex trading involves four major currency pairs. Currency trading usually involves the British Pound against the US dollar, the Euro against the US dollar, the US dollar against the Japanese Yen, and the US dollar against the Swiss Franc.

These four pairs are displayed on the FOREX as: GBP/USD, EUR/USD, USD/JPY, USD/CHF.

One major benefit of trading the Forex market, is leverage. Because of the liquidity of the Forex, most brokers offer the option to trade on margin with a leverage ratio as might as 400! Providing you with the opportunity to invest with a much small amount of capital and still pull in substantial profits.

Will Capitol site add a $70M building?

As officials prepare to reoccupy the beautifully restored state Capitol later this year, some people on Capitol Hill want the adjacent 45-year-old State Office Building torn down and replaced at an additional cost of around $70 million.

The $250 million spent on the Capitol and its grounds will be within budget, but remodeling the 3-year-old West and East office buildings -- constructed to temporarily house executive and legislative top officials while the Capitol was reworked -- will cost about $3.5 million more than originally budgeted.
That remodeling of the two buildings (newly renamed the House and Senate office buildings) will go forward, despite the extra cost, and will take around a year to complete, said Capitol Hill Preservation Board executive director David Hart. The additional funds will likely be taken from the Capitol's contingency account, he said.

Inside and outside of the 90-year-old Capitol the detail to historic accuracy and the earthquake-proofing have received praise.

Those who have toured the Capitol under construction say the Capitol Preservation Board, Hart and the thousands of construction workers have achieved a wonder. The Capitol is now scheduled to open to the public Dec. 19.

But there is still a lot of money yet to be spent. As Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and the 104 legislators prepare to move back into the Capitol,

about $4 million is needed to buy new or refurbished furniture and equipment. The main idea, said Hart, is an attempt to have furniture, carpets and other furnishing that will reflect styles and colors seen when the Capitol first opened in 1915.

Long-term goal

Meanwhile, the old State Office Building, even though extensively remodeled just a few years ago with expensive removal of asbestos, should be torn down, some state officials said.

A new, north office building would then be built in the style of the House and Senate office structures. Senate President John Valentine said that is a "long-term" goal for the Capitol Hill complex.

The original vision of the Capitol's architect was for the main Capitol backed by several multistory office buildings to be faced with local granite, Hart added.

Hart said it would cost taxpayers roughly $70 million to tear down the State Office Building, which was constructed in the early 1960s, and replace it with another three-story building matching the House and Senate office structures.

Valentine, R-Orem, stressed that the ideas for the State Office Building were only in preliminary discussions. His opinion was echoed by House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, who added that replacing the office building would complete the "Capitol Complex" plan as originally drawn nearly a century ago.

But where Capitol buildings are concerned, sometimes Huntsman and GOP legislative leaders can move quickly -- as when they decided last summer to build a new $15 million parking structure east of the Capitol with only a few weeks of public discussion and with only with a college engineering class making the recommendation.

Private offices

When the latest Capitol Hill remodeling is finished, each of the part-time 104 legislators for the first time will have a private office -- either in the Capitol itself or in the House and Senate office buildings. The offices won't be large, about 12-by-18 feet is the average, Hart said.

Each office will have a desk, a bookcase, a credenza and a small table with a few chairs around it.

"The offices will be private -- not cubicles -- where the legislator can have a closed-door meeting with a constituent," said Hart. All of the 29 senators should have private offices by the 2008 Legislature, but 32 of the 75 House members won't have offices until remodeling of the House Office Building is finished sometime late next year.

It's difficult to estimate the cost, through construction and furnishings, of giving each of the 104 legislators their own offices, Hart said.

Remodeling the House and Senate office buildings after the Legislature and executive-branch bosses move back into the Capitol will cost between $5.5 million and $6 million, he said. The temporary House Chamber on the first floor of the West/House building will become an auditorium, while the second-floor Senate chamber will become a large hearing room.

The governor's offices in the East/Senate building and his board room will be turned into three new legislative hearing rooms, Hart said.

All of the new furnishings, both within the Capitol itself and in the soon-to-be-remodeled Senate and House office buildings, will cost just over $3.5 million.

That includes $120,000 to "refurbish" the 28 desks for the senators in the Senate chamber and $225,000 to build 74 new desks for the House floor. The Senate president and House speaker sit at the dais. The old House desks were built a decade ago, and they need to be replaced to better fit the remodeled House Chamber and accommodate new telephones and laptop computers, Hart said.

Fountain appoints police chief

The Fountain City Council approved the city manager's recommendation Wednesday night to appoint the acting police chief as the police chief.

"His proven leadership and knowledge were instrumental in implementing the community-oriented policing philosophy in our Police Department," City Manager Greg Nyhoff said.

Morse joined the department in 2001 after working with the Colorado Springs Police Department for nine years.

He graduated from Mitchell High School, then earned a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Colorado.

He also earned a master's degree in business administration from Regis University and a doctorate from the University of Colorado, where he did doctoral research on community policing.

Morse also worked as a paramedic and certified public accountant.

As a lieutenant, he oversees all daily operations at the department, including the patrol, detective, motorcycle units, SWAT and emergency service dispatch.

Morse will fill the position vacated by Chief David Moore, who resigned in October to become chief of the Laurel, Md., Police Department.

Malaysia-Japan FTA boosts exports, narrow trade deficit

In a press conference to announce the country's 2006 trade performance, Rafidah said that since the Economic Partnership Agreement, as the FTA is officially known, came into effect last July, there have been ''positive effects'' on Malaysia's export performance to Japan.

Exports utilizing the preferential ''Certificate of Origin'' accorded under the agreement for the second half of 2006 were valued at 3.06 billion ringgit.

The main products exported under the preferential access included palm oil, articles of ethylene and veneered panels.

Other products that have gained better access into Japan were tropical fruit such as pineapples and watermelons, which increased fourfold during the six-month period after the implementation of the FTA, Rafidah said.

Electrical and electronic products remained Malaysia's number one export to Japan, totaling 16.47 billion ringgit, but that was 1.5 percent lower than in 2005 as Japan turned to cheaper sources such as China and Taiwan.

Liquefied natural gas was the second largest export from Malaysia with a value at 13.2 billion ringgit.

Exports of wood products, including veneer, plywood and particle board, accounted for half the increase in exports. Exports of wood products were valued at 4.81 billion ringgit last year.

Overall, as Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had announced late Thursday, Malaysia's total trade breached the 1 trillion ringgit mark for the first time last year at 1.069 trillion ringgit, 10.5 percent higher than the preceding year.

Exports rose 10.3 percent to 588.95 billion ringgit while imports rose 10.7 percent to 480.49 billion ringgit in 2006.

Rafidah is optimistic the growth momentum will continue in 2007 despite concern the rising ringgit will crimp exports.

The currency is now trading near a nine-year high at around 3.50 to the dollar.

''One factor that will support the (export) growth is the forecast stronger expansion of the Southeast Asian economies, from 5.2 percent in 2006 to 5.6 percent in 2007. ASEAN accounted for 26.1 percent of Malaysia's exports in 2006,'' she said.

Demand for Malaysia's electrical and electronic products that account for more than 45 percent of total exports, is also expected to remain robust as the U.S.-based Semiconductor Industry Association has forecast global semiconductor sales will expand 10 percent this year to $273.8 billion.

What to do about the gas 'crisis': maybe nothing

DESPITE what you may have heard, oil and gasoline prices have yet to reach record levels--once we adjust for inflation. Even so, the gasoline price spike that began in the fall of 2002 is the second most dramatic in American economic history--steeper than those in 1973, 1990, and 2000, and nearly as great as that experienced between 1979 and 1981. A back-of-the-envelope calculation finds that the average household today spends between $63 and $79 a month more for gasoline than it did just three years ago.

Perhaps the absence of an identifiable villain has dampened political outrage. Oil companies are making record profits, but there's no evidence that they're holding anything back from the market. Likewise, neither terrorists nor Iraqi insurgents have had any significant impact on OPEC production. Global oil production was 66.8 million barrels a day in 2002, 69.2 million in 2003, 72.5 million in 2004, and is at record levels in 2005.

Regardless, gasoline prices aren't particularly consequential in the grand scheme of things. Sure, we're approaching the record prices paid for gasoline in 1981--about $2.42 a gallon in today's dollars--but on average we're a bit more than half again as wealthy today as we were then. If we consider gasoline prices in relation to per capita disposable income, they are only 58 percent of what they were in 1981, 44 percent of what they were in 1955, and about 90 percent of what they were in 1972. That probably explains why gas-guzzlers are still selling as well as ever and politicians are hearing little outrage from constituents.

What's driving the oil market is demand--not primarily from American SUVs, mind you, but from the awakening economic giant that is China. U.S. consumption grew by about 700,000 barrels a day between 2002 and 2004, but Chinese consumption grew more than twice as fast: by 1.47 million barrels a day. But, even accounting for China, global oil consumption has increased by only 5.3 percent since 2002. How could that have resulted in a near doubling of world oil prices? There are two reasons.

First, the excess production capacity that characterized the world oil market since the price collapse of 1986 had finally all but disappeared by 2002. Accordingly, the recent surge in demand caught the market short. The only way to increase supply substantially is for producers to spend billions of dollars on new production capacity that won't come online for several years hence. Producers, however, fear another boom-and-bust cycle of over-investment followed by a price collapse. That explains why the recent surge in oil prices has not led to a corresponding surge of new supply for the market.

Second, consumers have been slow to adjust their behavior in response to rising prices. Trading in SUVs for Dodge Neons, moving closer to work, and rearranging commute routines to take advantage of mass transit and car-pooling can be costly in time and money. Motorists aren't about to pay those costs without evidence that the price hikes are here to stay. Even then, consumers may not respond as robustly as they have in the past, given that those increased gas prices are less of an annoyance thanks to higher incomes.

With both supply and demand relatively inelastic in the short run--meaning that neither responds very much to price signals--small changes in either will lead to very large price movements. That's because it takes a big price spike to get producers to cough up even a little more product and to get consumers to moderate their demand for oil.

How long will the current spike last? That depends on a couple of things. If the recent increase in demand is for consumption in the here-and-now, only two events will reverse the tide. The first is new supply--which could be several years into the future given the lag time between investment and production. The second is a break in demand, which could occur if China's economy cools off, if the global economy slides into a new recession, or if persistently high prices begin to encourage conservation and fuel switching.

However, if the oil demand we've witnessed is partially driven by inventory buildup, prices may fall when inventories are full or when investors become convinced that possible profits tomorrow are worse bets than sure profits today. Oil would then flow out of inventories, demand for oil would decline with speculators out of the market, and prices could come crashing down.

The majority view among market analysts is that the former story is more likely to be the case than the latter. Yet oil inventories have been growing steadily over the past year and storage capacity is dwindling. Accordingly, a price collapse cannot be ruled out--which further explains why producers are leery of spending billions for new production capacity.

Things could get worse before they get better. In a tight market with inelastic supply and demand, anything that interrupts supply--political unrest in Venezuela, Nigeria, or Iran, terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia, increased insurgent activity in Iraq, hurricanes in the Caribbean, industrial accidents in refineries or along oil pipelines--could increase prices dramatically. Similarly, surges in demand from continued economic growth, unseasonable weather, or even currency revaluation in China could feed the spiral.