Broker Currency Trading

Report: Japan to Raise Growth Forecast

TOKYO — Japan plans to raise its economic growth forecast for fiscal 2006 to 2.1 percent due to data showing strong personal consumption and capital expenditures, a news report said Friday.

Japan's Cabinet Office expects to raise its growth projection for the year through March 2007 by 0.2 percentage point, Kyodo News agency said, citing unidentified government sources.

Let's debate cold, hard facts

Maybe our extreme weather in recent weeks will have turned more people into climate change believers. And, conversely, more people into sceptics. How can cold and wet have anything to do with global warming, the latter will protest.

The sceptics better believe. The weather is unfolding just as Niwa predicted in its climate change analysis. More violent weather patterns are a consequence of global warming. It is already taking a toll on agriculture and infrastructure.

We should be worried - a lot. Among developed countries, we are by far the most dependent on the primary sector, the economic activity most vulnerable to climate change. Overall the primary sector generates about 17 per cent of our GDP, 15 times the contribution found in most other developed countries.

TradeStation Group, Inc. Announces the Date of Its 2006 Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call

WHO: TRADESTATION GROUP, INC. WHAT: TRADESTATION GROUP, INC. CONFERENCE CALL ON THE WEB SECOND QUARTER 2006 EARNINGS WHEN: Thursday, July 20, 2006 11:00 AM (Eastern Time) / 8:00 AM (Pacific Time) HOW TO LISTEN: You'll need the Windows Media Player or Real Player to participate. DETAILS: In conjunction with TradeStation Group, Inc.'s (Nasdaq GS: TRAD) second quarter earnings announcement, which will be released at approximately 7:40 a.m., Eastern Time, on Thursday, July 20, 2006, you are invited to listen to the live webcast of the discussion of the results at http://www.tradestation.com/ . The Company's Monthly Business Metrics (Daily Average Revenue Trades and Total Client Assets) for the month of June 2006 will be announced at approximately the same time on Thursday, July 20, 2006. The live webcast will be accompanied by slides of graphs and charts.

PMC CFO Departure Seen As Near-Term Bump

NEW YORK — Shares of PMC Sierra Inc., a maker of integrated circuits used in the telecom industry, plunged in morning trading on Friday after the company said its financial chief would step down.

On Thursday the company said that Alan Krock, current CFO, will leave after a "reasonable" transitional period. PMC Sierra also backed its second-quarter sales guidance.

Pennies may soon be a thing of the past

PLYMOUTH, Mass. -- In this village settled by thrifty Pilgrims, you can still buy penny candy for a penny, but tourist Alan Ferguson doubts he'll be able to dig any 1-cent pieces out of his pockets.

He rarely carries pennies because "they take up a lot of room for how much value they have." Instead, like so many other Americans, he dumps his pennies into a bucket back home in Sarasota, Fla.

Pity the poor penny!

It packs so little value that merry kids chuck pennies into the fountain near the candy store, just to watch them splash and sink. Stray pennies turn up everywhere: in streets, cars, sofas, beaches, even landfills with the rest of the garbage.

A penny bought a loaf of bread in early America, but it's a loafer of a coin in an age of inflation and affluence, slowly sliding into monetary obsolescence.

Aftermarket Movers: Take-Two Takes Hit

NEW YORK (AP) - Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. shares got slammed in the after-hours trading session Thursday, after the New York City-based company said its second-quarter loss widened dramatically, partly due to charges related to asset write-offs and studio closings.

Shares of the maker of the "Grand Theft Auto" titles were trading at $14.69 on the INET electronic exchange, down $2.08, or 12.4 percent, from Thursday's closing price of $16.77 on the Nasdaq.