Market Watch | Tuesday, December 20.

Catching a Trend Reversal I discussed the options for the USD/CHF in “The USD/CHF has broken out, now what?”. One scenario was if the uptrend continues and the other if the intraday trend reverses. The trend has subsequently taken a nose dive through support. Here’s how the set up I explained in the last update played out… ★ 18 via Daily Forex Trading Edge Eurozone EU demands £25bn lifeline from the UK European finance ministers will aim to agree a new €200 billion (£167.7 billion) loan to the International Monetary Fund as part of a deal to save the single currency. Three quarters of the money is expected to come from eurozone members, but Britain will also be asked to provide funds… ★ 36 via Daily Telegraph News Why The European Debt Crisis Might Actually Be Over... Last week we wrote a lot about what's rapidly becoming the hottest question in Europe: Did the ECB pull off a backdoor bailout of the various governments by making it super-cheap for banks to borrow money, with which they can then turn around and buy sovereign debt at juicy yields?… ★ 32 via Business Insider Divisions in eurozone over ECB bond-buying The eurozone was facing fresh splits today after one of the European Central Bank’s most senior figures said the bank should not be used to fund national debts and that if it was forced to, it would mean the end of the single currency… ★ 42 via Telegraph City financiers plot to block reform of commodity markets The City is at it again. The same self-serving, disingenuous arguments used to campaign against banking reform are being wheeled out on a new front. This time it's about rules to check rampant speculation in commodity markets. Rules that could cut prices for food and raw materials in some of the poorest countries in the world… ★ 21 via Guardian UK Around the World Beijing Weighing Lower Overseas Investment Limits China is weighing measures to give its citizens greater ability to directly invest overseas as part of its efforts to diversify the country's mammoth foreign-exchange reserves, according to people familiar with the matter… ★ 31 via WSJ Asia Saxo Bank's 10 “Outrageous Predictions” For “2012: The Perfect Storm” As we wind down 2011, the time for predictions for what is to come as nigh. Having posted what UBS believes their biggest list of surprises for 2012 will be earlier, we next proceed with out long-term favorite — Saxobank’s list of "Outrageous Predictions" for what the bank has dubbed "2012: the Perfect Storm." Mostly proposed tongue in cheek… ★ 22 via Zero Hedge Stocks: The quiet storm The week ahead on Wall Street could be a choppy one, as investors remain worried about the debt crisis in Europe. Trading volume is expected to be low, with many market players taking time off ahead of the holidays. That could make for a volatile week, since low trading volume tends to exaggerate swings in the market… ★ 25 via CNN Money S&P Downgrade Proves Absurd as Investors Prefer Assets in U.S. Four months after Standard & Poor’s stripped the U.S. of its AAA credit rating and said the world’s biggest economy was no longer the safest of borrowers, dollar- denominated financial assets are doing nothing but appreciating… ★ 20 via Bloomberg The Innovativeness of Nations Why do some nations prosper while others struggle? Businesspeople, policymakers, and social scientists have sought to answer that question for centuries, starting as early as 1776, when Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations. A closely related question is, Why are some nations more innovative than others?… ★ 18 via Strategy + Business