The prospect of the Fed beginning to taper its QE program ‘within the next few meetings’ has sent the markets into a whirlwind of activity. It has also led to a renewed focus on economic data. Thus, it appears that we have returned to a situation where US economic data is once again paramount for the USD’s fortunes and therefore central to the FX market. In this regard, HSBC analyzes what kind of numbers we would want to see from various economic data in order to be confident that the US economy is on track to meet the Fed’s forecasts. HSBC calls these the 'Fed Breakeven Levels'. If these levels are achieved then we ... (full story)