The boom in the West is a phony boom.

Today’s turmoil in the financial markets has put traders, analysts, and even central bankers in shock.

Canadian employment conditions are expected to tighten further in July, as 20,000 workers are estimated to have been added to the labor force, which would keep the unemployment rate at a 33-year low.

The Chinese yuan was supported in the overnight making gains across the board.

Currency technical analyst Jamie Saettele analyzes the British pound against the Japanese yen, Swiss franc, and Australian dollar.

The alternate bearish count should now be favored.

The currency markets were roiled by the continuing fallout from the sub-prime crisis after BNP Paribas announced that it is freezing redemptions in three asset-backed securities funds due to inability to fairly value their holdings.

Professional system trader Art Collins shares his daily biases in the index, bonds and currency futures markets for August 9.

Both the US dollar and bond prices have sold off drastically on news of China’s threat to dump US Treasuries and US dollars.

The Australian labor market is anticipated to improve even further in July, as the employment change is estimated to rise 25,000.