Greece threatens to go to the IMF for a rescue!

•  Yesterday's trading saw a number of economic reports hit the wires. Inflation data such as CPI failed to meet expectations by coming in at 0.0% for the month. The previous days PPI also failed to meet expectations suggesting inflation is not an immediate threat for the Feds monetary policy. Also markets keenly focus on the weekly jobs report in an effort to gauge the outcome of the monthly NFP results. Jobless claims came in at 457K for the week. Economist believe that for job growth to resume we need to see jobless claims between 425K and 460K per week. The Philly Fed report was out yesterday as well which printed a positive surprise of 18.9; Philly Fed is a forward looking indicator which measures market conditions and changes in sentiment. Yesterday however the USD strengthened on the back of rumors of an early rate hike but the Fed refused to comment on the matter. USDJPY price action yesterday was between 90.79 - 89.74 with plenty of offers in the 91.00 area and equally matched by bids in the 90.00 area.
•  In Europe yesterday we see an escalation in tensions between Greece and Germany. Financial Aid is available to Greece by the Econfin only in emergency cases and it will come in the form of coordinated bilateral loans with a premium attached. Which means it is probably cheaper for Greece to go to the IMF for help as it will be able to borrow cheaper than the current lending conditions in the EU or by any emergency lending programs. This dilemma goes to show that the solidarity of the European Union members is at stake and much of the confidence in the Euro money system is based on this assumption of Solidarity. The level of austerity measures needed in the EU by various members are likely to depress activity for some years to come and the ECB is highly unlikely to hike rates any time within the next year. EURUSD price action was between 1.3740 - 1.3585.   
•  In the UK we had the countries public finance figures released which showed an improvement of GBP 7.7 bln due to income tax increases. Public Sector Net borrowing also surprised positively at GBP 12.4 bln. Employment also yesterday dropped by 32.3 K which is a positive sign for the economy as jobs creation maybe back on track. GBPUSD price action yesterday was between 1.5329 - 1.5184.
•  Today's financial calendar will include the consumer price index report for Canada expected at 0.3% and the Canadian Retail Sales for January expected at 0.6%.

 Currency to watch out for: EURUSD & USDJPY

• § The EURUSD pivot point is at 1.1.3650 with a preference to enter into short positions at 1.3640
• § The USDJPY pivot point is at 90.10 with a preference to enter long positions at 90.15

 Today's calendar and market movers:

• § Canada Consumer Price Index for February expected at 0.3%
• § Canada Retail Sales for January expected at 0.6%

 Equity Markets:

•  US equities closed mixed yesterday with the DJIA and the SP500 closing 0.42% and -0.03% respectively.  The European bourses were negative yesterday with the FTSE down -0.04% the DAX and the CAC closing positive at -0.20% and -0.50% respectively. The NIKKEI and the HSI at the time of writing is 0.75% and 0.024 respectively.