Standard & Poor’s revises Greece’s outlook to negative as Economy Weakens! Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s revised Greece’s outlook on Tuesday to negative, increasing the likelihood that the troubled nation will need more support from European Union lenders. Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s revised Greece’s outlook on Tuesday to negative, increasing the likelihood that the troubled nation will need more support from European Union lenders. Standard & Poor’s also affirmed that Greece’s CCC rating which is already eight levels below investment grade was revised from stable to negative. The ratings agency said it sees the Greek economy shrinking by 10% to 11%, cumulatively, during 2012-2013. It is getting more and more likely that Greece will leave the EU by the end of the year and sooner if they are not given more funding! The Italian PM has stated that they will not require any financial help which has helped the Euro – but do you believe it? We heard the same thing from Spain! The UK is the one under pressure this week. Although retail sales, manufacturing and Industrial production figures were not as bad as expected, it was still very poor and indicates that the situation in the UK is getting worse! Growth forecasts have been cut to 0% from an initial prediction 0.8%! The way things are shaping up – this looks to go into negative. We also have the Inflationary report today which is likely to show that inflation has come down further. If we analyse this – fuel, heating and food prices have not really come down so reduced inflation is really coming from people spending less on luxury goods, which is not a good thing. It also means that there is no chance that the BoE will increase interest rates and in fact could increase pressure on reducing them to encourage people to spend more in the high street shops! Everything points towards a weaker Pound –however this is being overshadowed by the ever increasing crises in the Eurozone! Today’s Fundamentals 06:00 Germany: Trade Balance s.a. (Jun) – This is expected to stay the same at €15B which will bring stability for the Euro. 09:30 United Kingdom: Bank of England Quarterly Inflation Report 10:00 Germany: Industrial Production s.a. w.d.a. (YoY) (Jun) – Consensus predicts a slight increase at 0.3% from the previous position 0.0% which will be positive or bullish for the Euro. 17:00 United States: 10-Year Note Auction – Expected to stay the same at 1.459% which will bring stability for the USD. To get a live exchange rate login to RationalFX now, or call +44 (0)20 7220 8181