Below are the key trading announcements for this week. As I write the FTSE 100 is currently down 200 points, so who said shorting doesn’t pay! I hope you followed my advice in my currency blog to short both the GBP/USD and EUR/USD – both trades are showing significant profits but I’m not ready to close out just yet, althought the GBP/USD may be forming a double bottom. On the oil contracts these are again short with a target of around $85. I have just posted my weekly update on the fixed odds trading blog . The key announcements this week are as follows :

Monday October 6th:

EU – 08:30 – Sentix Investor Confidence.
US
– 17:30 – FOMC Member Fisher Speaks.
UK
– 23:01 – NIESR GDP Estimate.

Tuesday October 7th:

UK – Tentative – Halifax HPI M/M.
UK – 08:30 – Manufacturing Production M/M.
UK –
08:30 – Industrial Production M/M.
GE –
08:30 – Factory Orders M/M.
EU –
13:30 – ECB President Trichet Speaks.
US –
15:00 – FOMC Member Stern Speaks.
US –
16:00 – Fed Chairman Bernanke Speaks.
US – 18:00 – FOMC Meeting Minutes.
US –
19:00 – Consumer Credit M/M.
US –
23:01 – Nationwide Consumer Confidence.

Wednesday October 8th:

FR –
06:45 - Government Budget Balance.
FR – 06:45 - Trade Balance.
UK –
08:30 – BRC Shop Price Index Y/Y.
EU –
10:00 – Industrial Production M/M.
US –
11:45 – FOMC Member Plosser Speaks.
US – 14:00 – Pending Home Sales M/M.
UK – 14:30 – CB Leading Index M/M.
US – 14:35 – Crude Oil Inventories.

Thursday October 9th:

GE – 06:00 - Trade Balance.
GE –
06:00 - German WPI M/M.
EU –
08:00 - ECB Monthly Bulletin.
EU –
08:30 - Trade Balance.
UK –
11:00 - MPC Rate Statement.
UK –
11:00 - Official Bank Rate.
US –
12:30 - Unemployment Claims.
US – 12:30 - Wholesale Inventories M/M.
US – 14:35 - Natural Gas Storage.
US –
17:30 - FOMC Member Stern Speaks.

Friday October 10th:

FR – 06:45 - French Industrial Production M/M.
US – 12:30 - Trade Balance.
US –
12:30 - Import Prices M/M.
US –
18:00 - Federal Budget Balance.
ALL -
ALL – G7 Meeting.

EU – Europe wide
FR –
France
UK –
United Kingdom
US –
United States
GE – Germany