The BOC will likely follow the US Federal Reserve’s lead and make monetary policy more accommodative, which may spark major volatility in the nation’s bond, FX, and equity markets.

Lawrence G. McMillan reviews the options market in his weekly column for January 18.

If we are right, that stocks are in a bear market, the wise reader will stop worrying about making money and begin to fret about keeping it. He will wish he had befriended gold when the price was around $300, or $500. He will think twice about taking it in at $900. He will think even a third time on the day after gold goes down $20, as it did yesterday.

If UK retail sales data proves to be better than expected, the news could lead Cable to trek higher. Moreover, with aggressive rate cuts by the Bank of England already priced into GBP/USD, the declines may be overdone and the pair could respond more severely to slightly bullish economic figures.

There is no magic elixir, no panacea, no free lunch. When you borrow money, you have to pay it back. And when everyone is trying to pay down debt, no one has money to bid up asset prices.

Australian labor market data could propel AUD/USD higher, and if the employment change is actually stronger-than-expected, the markets may ramp up speculation that the RBA will move to hike rates.

Price Headley writes that the desire to be perfect cost him plenty of money in the early days of his trading career.

If the US is headed for a recession, where should you put your money?

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's ultra-dovish commentary last week triggered a major sell-off for the US dollar and led fed fund futures to fully price in a 50bp cut on January 30, along with a 50 percent chance of a whopping 75 bp cut.

Central bankers and politicians have not really mastered the business cycle. Instead, what they have done is elaborated the art of socializing risk. That is, they’ve found new and more socially acceptable ways of taking losses from those who deserve them and passing them along to the general public.