Retail spending in the UK is anticipated to slow during the month of February and fall 0.2 percent from January to help drag the annual rate of growth down to 3.6 percent.

Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) are expected to write off about $1 billion. Deutschebank says the writedowns will be about $9 billion over the next 6 months. DB itself has more than $50 billion of leveraged loans to private equity on its books. Goldman has nearly $40.

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 75 basis points, turning the US dollar into the second lowest yielding currency in the developed world.

The Federal Reserve cuts rates by 75 basis points, but inflation concerns are building.

Fading risk aversion pushed the US dollar back and forth as market participants looked for a 100 basis point rate cut by the Fed, but the central bank failed to meet market expectations as they reduced the interest rate by 75 basis points.

The biggest event risk for the UK markets this week comes from the release of the minutes from the Bank of England’s March meeting, as they are likely to echo much of the same wary sentiment reflected in the monetary policy statement that was released in February.

The Chinese were going to put up some money to prop up Bear Stearns. There might be many explanations for why the Citic deal didn't go forward, but here we suggest one that is the most far-reaching: the foreigners are growing wary of the United States.

Federal Reserve interest rate announcements have traditionally been big market movers for the US dollar, but with a major liquidity crunch taking a heavy toll on the financial sector as a whole, equity traders may be watching the news most closely of all.

After surprising the markets with a 25 basis point discount rate cut on Sunday and extending the discount rate window to investment banks, the Federal Reserve is set to make another historic move by cutting interest rates 100bp tomorrow.  Or will it?

Currency strategist Boris Schlossberg analyzes the major currencies for the week of March 17.