Forex trading investors have been in for a roller coaster ride over the past days as they awaited the announcements of US Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke regarding stimulus policies. During his announcements, the dollar fluctuated widely, even falling to a 10 month-low against the euro and a 15-year low against the yen. The USD/JPY traded at a high of 81.40 and a low of 81.13, while the EUR/USD reached a low of 1.3861 and a high of 1.3895

In the US, core retail sales came out at 0.40% as expected, core CPI came out at 0% instead of the expected 0.10%, and the Fed budget balance came out at -34.50B instead of the expected -32B. Dow Jones fell by -0.29%, NASDAQ gained by 1.37%. Gold fell by -0.4% to close at $1,372 per ounce, and crude oil fell by 1.7% to close at $81.25 per barrel. In Europe, CPI results remained unchanged at 1%. Investors will have to be wary with all of the topsy-turvy changes going on in the market.

For forex trading investors, the dollar has always been a safety currency. These days, however, it seems that the dollar is under a lot of pressure, causing it to fall against many of the majors. This is in part due to worries over Federal Reserve policy, but another contributing factor is the poor economic data from the US. Initial jobless claims came out at 462K instead of the expected 449K, and trade balance also came out worse than expected at -46.40B instead of -44.50B. The Dow Jones fell by -0.01%, the NASDAQ fell by -0.24%, gold increased by 0.6% to close at $1378 per ounce, and crude oil fell by 0.5% to close at $82.69 per barrel.

The euro gained against the dollar, trading at a high of 1.4122 and a low of 1.3980. The GBP/USD pair also went up to trade at a high of 1.6067 and a low of 1.5932. In perhaps the biggest news of the day, the JPY/USD pair hit a 15-year low, trading at a high of 81.72 and a low of 80.89.