Given the falls on GBP/USD and GBP/EUR our assertions to hedge are still valid. GBP has seen intraday jumps of 1-2 cents over the past 2 weeks however the recovery is not yet here and the past day’s moves has highlighted the shortsightedness of ‘hanging out’ for better rates when data and opinion is moving against you.

UK CPI is due today at 09.30 with a fall below the 3% barrier expected. Obviously this should allow the Bank of England to focus on the tool box they have to get us out of this mess as quickly as possible without having to deal with the threat of stagflation.

Tonight is also a great and exciting night for the world as a whole. At 5pm GMT Barack Obama will become the first afro-american President of the United States. He takes the reins in probably harder circumstances than most of his 43 predecessors but has assembled a team around him that look eager for a challenge, hungry for a fight and ready to fix America and, through it, the world. Soaring rhetoric aside we will have analysis of the Inaugural speech tomorrow.

The morning update is now available in video format. Check it out at http://uk.youtube.com/user/WorldFirstJC

Please feel free to contact me (jeremy.cook@worldfirst.com) if you have any questions or thoughts regarding these updates or if you are interested in a particular event in the calendar. If you would like to discuss your foreign exchange requirements, please contact our:

Corporate Foreign Exchange Team on 020 7801 9050 or our Private Client Currency Exchange Team on 020 7801 9080.

To view any past or present currency blogs please click on the following link www.worldfirst.com/blog

Disclaimer: The above comments are only our views and should not be construed as advice. You should act using your own information and judgement. Although information has been obtained from and is based upon multiple sources the author believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy and it may be incomplete or condensed. All opinions and estimates constitute the author’s own judgement as of the date of the briefing and are subject to change without notice.

Any rates given are “interbank” i.e. for amounts of £5million and thus are not indicative of rates offered by World First for smaller amounts. E&OE. Definitions of jargon/market terms can be found in our Glossary of Foreign Exchange Terms.