Euro adrift in a narrow trading range

The euro continues to drift in a narrow trading range, and may be on the verge of making the U.S. dollar look "strong" again. March euro futures closed on Friday at $1.4657, up 0.39 cents from $1.4618 last week. And this is even in the face of the 0.75% Fed rate cut.

Far from being bullish on the euro, futures all the way out at June 2009 are priced only at $1.4448, which indicates the dollar gaining strength.

Although foreign exchange "strategists" do a lot of talking about "fundamentals" and how weak the dollar is, the truth is that it is all a giant shell game with speculation and short-term trading as its aim and nothing to do with long-term fundamentals.

Despite the "weakness" of the dollar, the euro, pound, and Canadian dollar have not made any headway against the dollar for over two months now.

-- Jack Krupansky