Empire Global FX ECN Broker. Trade 200 CFD'S in ECN.

[EmpireGlobalfx]

Empire Global FX ECN cfd's broker opens the world markets and delivers them to you with the following features for your convenience:

- Deep liquidity from 10 Major Liquidity Providers.
- Tight Variable spreads.
- Lightning execution, ideal for agressive scalping.
- Scalpers welcome, and supported : )
- MT4, EA's allowed and trading conditions with no restriction.
- Zero conflict of interests. Empire Global FX is a broker that stands by your side.
- Free MAM module for money managers.
- Full ECN.
- Free pre-paid card for withdrawals.
- Free EA's from our partnership with Straticator of Denmark! Both for live and demo customers!
- Our top feature, our Trading Research & Money Management Center! Access a top service in money management and simply watch your investment grow with our team !

Learn more about ECN trading with us, and grow with us in the world of financial services!

We wish you the very best trades!

[EmpireGlobalfx]

Empire Global FX: now you can deposit in JPY, HKD, AUD, NZD, SEK and THB.

Empire Global FX ECN now allows you to make deposit in 6 new different currencies.

Apart from facilities to deposit locally all over Europe in EUR; GBP, USD (england), and CHF (switzerland), our Broker now allows deposits in Japanese Yen, Hong Kong Dollar, Australian Dollar (with local deposit), New Zealand Dollar, Swiss Krone (with local deposit) and Thai Baht.

Credit card deposits will be available soon, with more currencies and local deposit facilities!

[EmpireGlobalfx]

Great news for our friends and customers from Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria and Malaysia! Apart from the new correspondent banks in different countries and new currencies ( EUR; GBP, USD (england), and CHF (switzerland), Japanese Yen, Hong Kong Dollar, Australian Dollar (with local deposit), New Zealand Dollar, Swiss Krone (with local deposit) and Thai Baht). , our Broker is now working with local Banks in these 4 new countries!

This means that if living in any of these 4 locations, you can now invest in the world markets through local deposits with our new correspondent banks.

We expect to have our corporate website translated soon into your local languages for your comfort and convenience.

Good trades!!!

[EmpireGlobalfx]

Obama urges higher taxes to curb deficit by $3 trillion


(Reuters) - President Barack Obama, in a rallying call to his Democratic base, will vow on Monday to veto any cuts in Medicare if Congress fails to raise taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans to curb the deficit.

Obama's recommendations to a congressional "super committee" would deliver deficit savings of more than $3 trillion over the next decade, his aides said, with roughly half of those savings coming from higher tax revenues.

Under fire from Democrats to defend Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs as he seeks to galvanize supporters ahead of the election next year, Obama will demand that all Americans share the burden of controlling the budget.

"He will veto any bill that takes one dime from the Medicare benefits seniors rely on without asking the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share," a senior administration official told reporters.

Medicare, for elderly and disabled Americans, and Medicaid for the poor, are viewed by analysts as the biggest contributors to the long-term deficit.

The so-called super committee of six Democrat and six Republican lawmakers is seeking at least $1.2 trillion in new budget savings by November 23. That is on top of $917 billion in 10-year savings agreed in an August deal to raise the debt limit.

Obama will lay out his recommendations in the White House Rose Garden at 10.30 a.m. EDT on Monday.

"In his remarks tomorrow, the president will make clear he is not going to support any plan that asks everything of some Americans, nothing of others," the official said.

The plan will include a "Buffett Rule," named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, that would set a minimum tax rate for anyone making more than $1 million a year.

A clearly populist step, the tax would only apply to a tiny minority of the millions of Americans who file tax returns every year. But White House aides said it would set a standard of fairness that would yield more revenue if it became law.

Congress can ignore his suggestions. With the House of Representatives controlled by Republicans who oppose any tax hikes, they are likely to be declared dead on arrival.

Obama's opening bid to find deficit savings by December 23 to head off painful automatic cuts will be under close scrutiny.

[EmpireGlobalfx]

S&P cuts Italy ratings one notch, outlook negative


(Reuters) - Standard and Poor's cut its unsolicited ratings on Italy by one notch on Monday, warning of a deteriorating growth outlook and damaging political uncertainty, in a move that took markets by surprise and added to pressure on the debt-stressed euro zone.

S&P's downgraded its unsolicited ratings on Italy to A/A-1 from A+/A-1+ and kept its outlook on negative, sending the euro more than half a cent lower against the dollar.

The agency, which put Italy on review for downgrade in May, said that the outlook for growth was worsening and there was little sign that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's fractious center-right government could respond effectively.

Under mounting pressure to cut its 1.9 trillion euro debt pile, the government pushed a 59.8 billion euro austerity plan through parliament last week, pledging to balance the budget by 2013.

But there has been little confidence that the much-revised package of tax hikes and spending cuts, agreed only after repeated chopping and changing, will do anything to address Italy's underlying problem of persistent stagnant growth.

"We believe the reduced pace of Italy's economic activity to date will make the government's revised fiscal targets difficult to achieve," S&P's said in a statement.

"Furthermore, what we view as the Italian government's tentative policy response to recent market pressures suggests continuing future political uncertainty about the means of addressing Italy's economic challenges," it said.

Berlusconi's coalition has been plagued by infighting and policy disagreements and the prime minister himself has been battling a widening prostitution scandal which has distracted the government and badly damaged his personal credibility.

On Monday, Italian sources said the government was preparing to cut its growth forecast to 0.7 percent in 2011 from a previous forecast of 1.1 percent and cut the 2012 forecast to "1 percent or below."

SURPRISE MOVE

Italy, the euro zone's third largest economy, has been dragged to the center of the debt crisis over the past three months as concern has grown over a debt burden equal to some 120 percent of gross domestic product.

But the move from S&P came as a surprise as the market had thought Moody's was more likely to downgrade Italy first. Moody's last week said it would take another month to decide on its action.

"Was it anticipated tonight? No. But again is it really shocking given what yields have done?" said James Paulsen, Chief Investment Strategist, Wells Capital Management.

Only the European Central Bank, which has been buying Italian bonds to prop up the market, has kept Rome's borrowing costs from spiraling out of control, but yields have crept back up steadily since the ECB stepped into the market in August.

On Monday, yields on Italian 10 year bonds stood at 5.59 percent, within sight of the levels above 6 percent they reached just before the ECB intervention.

The intervention has caused growing strain within the central bank, causing Chief Economist Juergen Stark to announce his resignation and prompting open opposition from the Bundesbank.

The S&P downgrade, which came as Greece struggles to meet demands from lenders for yet more austerity measures, underlined the mounting seriousness of the euro zone crisis, which has seen global markets hammered.

"It's just more of the same negative news," said Stephen Roberts, a senior economist at Nomura in Sydney.

"It only adds to the contagion risk over Greece and has encouraged the flight to safety in markets here," he added, pointing to a sharp fall in the Australian dollar on the news. The Aussie dollar is influenced by expectations for commodity prices and so sensitive to the outlook for global demand.

S&P 500 futures also dropped 0.7 percent and early hopes for a bounce in Asian shares on Tuesday looked to be still-born now.

European stocks had already slid on Monday, while yields on Italian and Spanish bonds rose sharply on fears of a Greek default, compounded by the failure of EU finance ministers to agree new steps to resolve Europe's debt crisis at weekend talks.

International lenders told Greece on Monday it must shrink its public sector and improve tax collection to avoid running out of money within weeks as investors spooked by political setbacks in Europe dumped risky euro zone assets.

[EmpireGlobalfx]

Empire Global FX: Gold to clear $2,000 in 2012 as rally cools: LBMA poll

(Reuters) - Gold's rally will extend beyond $2,000 an ounce in the next year, but won't match the record-breaking 50 percent surge of the last 12 months, according to an annual survey of gold investors and analysts at the world's biggest bullion traders event.

With no let up seen in the financial markets uncertainty that fanned the safe-haven investment spree, bullion is expected to rise to $2,019 an ounce by November 2012, according to an anonymous survey of delegates at the conclusion of the London Bullion Market Association's (LBMA) annual conference on Tuesday. That is about 12 percent above current levels.

If history is any guide, the consensus view from the biggest gathering of gold market traders, experts and users may prove too conservative -- for the past three years, prices have outpaced the survey. A year ago delegates predicted gold would rise to $1,450 in 12 months; on Tuesday it hit $1,800.

Most were optimistic on the outlook in spite of the past month's extraordinary volatility, which has caused some traders to question gold's credentials as a haven of stability. But few expect a repeat of the past year's torrid rally.

"We've heard so much about the perfect storm that has driven gold to where it is now, that the odds of it increasing a similar amount have to be a lot less," Robin Bhar, an analyst at Credit Agricole, told Reuters at the conference.

"There are good reasons why gold has been taken to where it has, but can we really assume that those factors are going to remain, for it to power on to $3,000, $4,000? We are assuming global GDP will grow and the fear factors will lessen, so there will be less reason to be owning gold."

Well over 500 analysts, traders, fund managers, refiners and miners, as well as official sector and wider industry delegates, attended the meeting, one of the most significant in the precious metals calendar.

Attendance at the meeting has swelled as gold has become an increasingly sought-after asset in recent years, with prices hitting a record $1,920.30 an ounce on September 6. They have since retreated, however, and are down 2.5 percent so far this month after a period of intense volatility.

The view was largely similar at a simultaneous conference of major gold miners halfway across the continent, in Colorado Springs, where executives from the likes of Newmont Mining Corp (NMC.TO) (NEM.N) and AngloGold Ashanti Limited (ANGJ.J) saw prices rising to $2,200 an ounce and beyond.

"I'm a big believer that all of the ingredients for a higher gold price are there: geopolitical risk, economic uncertainty, inflation," Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) Chief Executive Peter Marrone said on Monday. "It just seems natural to me for gold prices to go to substantially higher levels."

STRETCHED, BUT NOT TO BREAKING POINT

Analysts have suggested this volatility pointed to overstretched conditions, but delegates disputed that it marked the start of a deeper correction.

"The higher levels of volatility is a function of increased economic uncertainty... but it doesn't portend a reversal of the gold market," HSBC analyst Jim Steel, who has a 2012 gold forecast of $2,025 an ounce, said on the sidelines of the conference.

"The macroeconomic climate remains positive for gold. The fact that there's a high level of volatility in the market doesn't take away from its safe-haven status. You've got to look at it over time compared to paper assets. If it were treated as a currency, it would have outperformed every other currency in the last 12 months."

John Fallon, president of hedge fund Pia Capital Management, said gold is "in an orbit by itself" among commodities and remains his favorite investment in the sector, due to its high liquidity and the support offered by solid physical demand.

"Gold still has our undivided interest," he told Reuters at the conference. "We favor both the (gold) ETFs and the actual spot OTC market."

There were few outright bearish views.

Christoph Eibl, CEO and founding partner of the $2 billion Swiss commodity hedge fund Tiberius Group, was a rare voice of stern caution, warning that gold could fall back below $1,000 an ounce in line with production costs for miners.

But even Eibl, who considers himself a converted contrarian after years as an unabashed gold bug, wasn't prepared to bet big against bullion's newfound popularity.

"We know it's too dangerous to stand in front of a truck that may run you over," he said.

Unsurprisingly, delegates expected leading gold consumers China and India to remain main demand drivers for the yellow metal, with the World Gold Council estimating that Chinese demand could grow 10 percent this year.

Chinese consumers are willing to spend more on gold jeweler as product quality and disposable income increase, and due to the investment function of gold, Wai-Chan Chan, a partner at China's OC&C Strategy Consultants, said.

PLATINUM FAVORED

Among other precious metals, delegates forecast a platinum price of $2,163 an ounce in November next year, giving it a touch more upside than gold from its current price near $1,770 an ounce. Palladium was forecast at $826 an ounce, compared to its current $710.

Platinum group metals prices will have to rise, or the rand to weaken, to ease pressure on South African platinum miners, Aquarius Platinum chief executive Stuart Murray argued in a well-received presentation on Monday.

Once tax, royalties, costs and investments were taken care of, he said, shareholders and capital providers were seeing a return of less than 3 percent.

"The reality is that for us, for the risks that are taken, for the effort that goes into mining an ounce of platinum, returns greater than 3 or 4 percent are needed," he said.

Delegates forecast silver prices at $47 an ounce next year.

Silver was favored by Claymore Investments president Som Seif, who argued in a presentation on Monday that rising demand from the industrial and investment sectors and supply constraints argued for higher prices.

However, analysts said investors were likely to remain wary of silver after its sharp correction from record highs earlier this year. Prices lost a third of their value in the six trading sessions after they peaked near $50 an ounce in April.

Nonetheless, the Royal Canadian Mint said its silver bullion sales were on track for a 30 percent rise this year, taking them to 25 million ounces.

[EmpireGlobalfx]

Nikkei drops 2 percent after Fed; Softbank plunges

(Reuters) - The Nikkei stock average lost more than 2 percent on Thursday after the Federal Reserve cited significant risks to the U.S. economy, while Softbank Corp (9984.T) plunged to its lowest since July 2010 on a report it would lose exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in Japan.

Some strategists said selling could intensify after September 27, which is the last day for investors to buy many Japanese stocks and still get dividends on them for the April-September half year.

"Once the dividend-buying factor is no longer supporting the market next week, we could see a tough situation, and the Nikkei could break below 8,500," said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, a strategist at SMBC Friend Securities.

Market participants said Tokyo's losses were also due in part to domestic position adjustments ahead of the end of the April-September half-year this month, when investors often lock in profits.

But market players say attractive valuations still support the Tokyo market. The Nikkei has lost more than 15 percent since early July, when it last traded above 10,000, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index markets/index?symbol=us%21spx">.SPX lost about 13 percent in the same period.

The Nikkei finance/markets/index?symbol=jp%21n225">.N225 ended down 2.1 percent at 8,560.26. It was trading below its 25-day moving average of 8,756, but remained above support at its September 14 low of 8,499.34, which was its lowest intraday level since March.

The broader Topix index .TOPX slipped 1.7 percent to 744.54.

Also weighing on Japanese shares on Thursday were reports from China that suggested the world's No. 2 economy may not be able to pick up the slack from flagging U.S. and European growth.

A preliminary survey showed China's manufacturing sector contracted for a third consecutive month in September, while separate indicator showed inflation picked up.

"The China data just adds to negative factors already on everyone's mind, such as U.S. economic worries, the yen's strength against the dollar and the euro, as well as Europe's debt problems and whether Greece will default," said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments.

U.S. WOES

The decline in the Nikkei was, however, more moderate than Wall Street, which slid 3 percent for its worst drop in a month after the Fed's announcement, with selling accelerating as volume spiked in the last hour of trading.

The Fed said there were significant risks to an already weak U.S. economy, including strains on global financial markets, even as it launched a new plan to lower long-term borrowing costs and bolster the battered housing market.

The U.S. central bank said it would sell $400 billion of short-term Treasury bonds to buy the same amount of longer-term U.S. government debt.

Shares of Softbank, which has long been the sole provider of Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhone in Japan, plunged 12.3 percent to 2,282 yen. It earlier sank as low as 2,271 yen, its lowest point in 14 months, on a report that rival KDDI Corp (9433.T) will start selling the iPhone 5 in November.

KDDI initially rose, but then gains unraveled and its shares fell 0.8 percent to 624,000 yen. Softbank and KDDI were the heaviest-traded shares by turnover.

Financial shares fell after a slide in their U.S. counterparts, after Moody's Investors Service lowered debt ratings for Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) on Wednesday, saying the U.S. government is getting less comfortable with bailing out large troubled lenders.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316.T), the fifth-most traded issue by turnover, fell 1.8 percent to 2,089 yen, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T) shed 1.5 percent to 332 yen. Nomura Holdings (8604.T) lost 4.8 percent to 281 yen.

Volume was slightly below recent daily averages, with about 1.70 billion shares trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main board. That fell short of last week's average of 1.75 billion shares, but topped Wednesday's volume of about 1.44 billion.

[EmpireGlobalfx]

Greece sees possibility of 50 percent haircut on debt: reports

(Reuters) - Greece's finance minister has told lawmakers he sees three scenarios to resolve the debt crisis, including one involving an orderly default with a 50 percent haircut for bondholders, two Greek newspapers reported on Friday.

A government spokesman dismissed the reports, which said the other scenarios would be a disorderly default or the implementation of a second, 109 billion euro ($146 billion) bailout plan agreed between Greece and its lenders on July 21.

Newspaper Ta Nea, citing a person who heard a speech by Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos to ruling Socialist party lawmakers, quoted him as saying "it would be dangerous to request" the 50 percent haircut.

He also said: "This would require an agreed and coordinated effort by many," the paper reported.

A finance ministry spokeswoman said she could not comment on the reports, but deputy government spokesman Angelos Tolkas said the government would stick to the bailout plan agreed between Greece and its lenders two months ago.

"What we are choosing is (for Greece) to stay in the heart of Europe by implementing the July 21 decisions," he said. "The big challenge is to avoid any default or collapse."

Two Socialist deputies who said they were present at the speech in which Venizelos tried to rally support among the ruling party for a new wave of austerity measures, denied that he had floated the 50 percent haircut scenario.

"I categorically deny it. There is no such scenario," lawmaker Theodora Tzakri told Reuters.

Venizelos is traveling to Washington for a weekend meeting with inspectors from Greece's lenders, the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.

The reports came as Moody's Investors Service cut the credit ratings of eight Greek banks. It cited a struggling domestic economy and falling deposits among reasons for the move, which markets had expected.

Moody's said the outlooks for all the ratings remained negative. The downgrade concluded a review begun on July 25.

Some European banks in July agreed to contribute to a rescue plan for Greece by taking a 21 percent loss on bonds maturing before 2020.

The deal, which involves banks swapping debt for longer maturity bonds of 15 or 30 years, prompted banks to take a loss on their bonds in second-quarter results.

The European sovereign debt crisis has kept banks hostage to market worries about their capital strength and access to funding.

Earlier this month, Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) Chief Executive Josef Ackermann said many European banks could go under if they had to accept a haircut at current market valuations on their entire sovereign debt holdings instead of the 21 percent writedown that has been proposed on Greek sovereign debt.

[EmpireGlobalfx]

Silver, gold tumble as recession fear grips markets

(Reuters) - Gold and silver prices tumbled on Monday, led by a nearly 10 percent drop in spot silver prices, as investors liquidated their positions on fears of an impending recession.

Spot gold fell more than 3 percent to $1,604.29 an ounce, wiping off gains over the past two months.

U.S. gold dropped 2 percent to $1,607.2, tracking the weakness in spot prices.

U.S. silver shed 6.6 percent to $28.10.

[EmpireGlobalfx]

Stocks rise on hopes for bank support steps


(Reuters) - World stocks rose for a second day Thursday while government bonds fell as expectations grew policymakers would take steps to support European banks, under threat from the impact of a possible Greek default.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday Berlin was ready to recapitalize its banks if needed, adding to pledges by European finance ministers to safeguard banks in the face of mounting concerns about a Greek default [ID:nL5E7L53W7]

The Financial Times reported Thursday that the European Banking Authority, mid-way through a two-day crisis meeting to assess the potential hit of mass sovereign restructurings, is re-examining the strength of the region's banks.

Investors are focusing on euro zone and UK central bank policy meetings for hints on future monetary easing.

A majority of analysts predict the European Central Bank will refrain at least until next month from cutting interest rates and the Bank of England from pumping more money into the economy. But there are those in both markets who see a risk of such moves already Thursday and the ECB is expected to take further steps to help banks.

Hopes for near-term policy measures -- both from politicians and central banks -- are helping investors to take a break from a sell-off triggered by growing concerns about the damage to the banks from any Greek sovereign default.

"Significant talk of bank recapitalization is certainly the driving factor behind positive sentiment," said Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

"But there is still a lot of uncertainty. Speed is of the essence and that would make a difference. If we see another week or so go by without some significant step forward, that is likely to inject nerves back into the markets."

The MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS was up 0.9 percent, having hit a 15-month low earlier this week. The index is around 5.6 percent above this low.

U.S. stock markets also finished higher Wednesday. VIX index .VIX, Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 7 percent to 37.81 Wednesday, down sharply from this week's peak of 46.88, lending support to investors cautiously putting some risk back on in the near-term.

European stocks .FTEU3 rose 0.4 percent and emerging stocks .MSCIEF added 2.2 percent.

U.S. crude oil gained a quarter percent to $79.91 a barrel.

Bund futures fell slightly on the day.

Spain will sell up to 4.5 billion euros of bonds, with comments from the IMF that it may buy peripheral bonds seen helping, although the fund later stepped back from a firm pledge to do this.

The dollar .DXY against a basket of major currencies

The euro fell 0.2 percent to $1.3324.

"Inflation fears may not allow the ECB to cut rates, but we're bound to see some form of support for Europe's banking system -- and that should help the euro rise," said Katsunori Kitakura, chief dealer at Chuo Mitsui Trust and Banking in Tokyo.