The Bank of Canada maintained its target for the overnight rate unchanged at 1.00%; also holding the Bank Rate at 1.25% and the deposit rate at 0.75%.  The Bank noted: “In light of slowing global economic momentum and heightened financial uncertainty, the need to withdraw monetary policy stimulus has diminished.  The Bank will continue to monitor carefully economic and financial developments in the Canadian and global economies, together with the evolution of risks, and set monetary policy consistent with achieving the 2 per cent inflation target over the medium term.”

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — On Sunday, Target will give away 1 million reusable bags in celebration of Earth Day.

The 100% recyclable Tyvek totes will be in Target stores nationwide while supplies last, which is not expected to be very long.

“We anticipate that we’ll probably go through them on Sunday,” noted Jenna Reck, a spokeswoman for Target.

In keeping with a two-year-old policy, shoppers will get a five-cent discount when they use the bag — or any reusable bag — at checkout.

The retailer estimates that the initiative has cut the use of plastic bags in stores drastically and saved consumers nearly $2 million so far.

“We’re trying to empower our guests to be more sustainable in their lives,” Reck said. “Having an incentive is helpful.”

In previous years, Whole Foods has also given away reusable bags around Earth Day, which falls on April 22.

The grocery chain now sells reusable bags for 79 cents to 99 cents each and offers a refund of either five or 10 cents at checkout, depending on the store, to shoppers who bring their own bags.

Last year, customers at the six Whole Foods in New York City alone were refunded more than $380,000.

Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) also sells reusable bags but for half as much, and is testing a smaller 25 cent reusable bag in some areas like California and Hawaii. It has no plans to offer a bag refund at checkout.

But even without a refund, the use of reusable bags has become increasingly popular.

Target also said that since the company put recycling stations at each store a year ago, it has collected 170 million plastic bags that were remade into other products like composite decking. 

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Obama’s budget Monday will propose cutting $100 billion dollars from the Pell grant program and other higher education programs, but use those savings to ensure that eligible students would be able to receive the current maximum award of $5,500 per school year.

Jacob Lew, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said Sunday on State of the Union with Candy Crowley that the changes would affect two areas of the Pell grant program.

The proposal calls for the end to the policy where students could qualify for two grants in one year — one for the regular academic year and a second for summer school. Only one Pell grant per year would be awarded.

According to an Obama administration source, the savings would be $8 billion dollars next year, and $60 billion dollars over 10 years.

Lew said the second change would affect graduate and professional school students, reducing loan subsidies for these students.

Currently the government pays the interest on loans for some graduate and professional school students as long as they remain in school. Under the proposal, interest would build up while students were in school, though students wouldn’t have to start paying back loans until after graduation.

By ending this program, the government would save $2 billion next year and $29 billion dollars over 10 years, according to an administration source.

“In education, we invest very seriously to make sure that 9 million students can go to college using Pell grant, to make sure that K-12 education — we have 100,000 new teachers who are trained and experienced in science, technology, engineering and math,” Lew said on State of the Union. “But we also have cutbacks.”

In a conference call Friday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan was asked about cuts in discretionary spending and how that could affect Pell grants. Duncan said the administration is “committed to maintain Pell.”

Duncan said the budget would be “responsible” and “makes important investments in education reforms” including early learning, reforms in education and making college affordable.

When asked if more money for race to the top and new initiatives for early learning was realistic, he said he hoped it is. He continued: ” The president is making very tough cuts, painful cuts. Pieces of our budget is being hit hard but we have to continue to invest” in education for this country’s children. 

Dear George, It’s me again. Got some more bad news…….Regards Merve

• Determined to support the economy as well
• Choppy waters ahead for everyone
• Economy has improved in recent months

Cable so far is holding below key 1.5950 resistance while EUR/USD nudged above 1.5960 briefly.

Price action on EUR/USD (a 4-hour chart of which is shown) as of Thursday (10/07/2010) has risen substantially from its 1.3800 resistance breakout point to reach and slightly surpass its 1.4000 target before retreating, establishing a fresh 8-month high in the process. This occurs within the context of a steep uptrend channel that has characterized this pair since the September low around 1.2650. The current directional bias, in line with the strong bullish trend, continues to be to the upside. For more technical analysis on this currency pair, please click here for Thursday’s (10/07/2010) Chart of the Day.

James Chen, CTA, CMT

* For information on my DVD set, High-Probability Trend Following in the Forex Market, please click here.
* For information on my book, Essentials of Foreign Exchange Trading (Wiley), please click here.
* For information on my new book, Essentials of Technical Analysis for Financial Markets (Wiley), please click here.

Price action on GBP/USD (a daily chart of which is shown) as of Friday (7/30/2010) has consolidated above 1.5500, a prior resistance region that was broken to the upside earlier in the week. This occurs within the context of a strong accelerated uptrend extending originally from the 1.4230 area lows in May, and after price just hit a fresh 5-month high on Thursday. For more technical analysis on this currency pair, please click here for Friday’s (7/30/2010) Chart of the Day.

James Chen, CTA, CMT

* For information on my DVD set, High-Probability Trend Following in the Forex Market, please click here.
* For information on my book, Essentials of Foreign Exchange Trading (Wiley), please click here.
* For information on my new book, Essentials of Technical Analysis for Financial Markets (Wiley), please click here.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — On June 6, Target will become the first brick-and-mortar retailer to sell Amazon’s Kindle electronic reader at its stores across the United States, the company said on Wednesday.

In late April, Target (TGT, Fortune 500) began selling the Kindle at its flagship Minneapolis store and 102 others in south Florida, as part of a test program. Wednesday’s announcement marks the roll-out of the device to stores nationwide.

“Our guest’s response to Kindle has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Mark Schindele, senior vice president at Target in a prepared statement.

The discount retailer, which is best known for its “cheap chic” merchandise, said it will sell Amazon’s (AMZN, Fortune 500) popular e-readers for $259 each, the same price as on Amazon.com.

In 2007, the Kindle became the first device of its kind to allow wireless downloads of digital books, magazines, newspapers, and even personal documents. Customers could sync their Kindle books to other electronic devices, including the iPhone and Blackberry (RIM).

Since Kindle’s launch, a flood of copycat devices have hit the market, as technology companies such as the Sony (SNE) and Hewlett Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500), as well as traditional book retailers such as Barnes and Noble (BKS, Fortune 500), vie for top dog status in the e-reader market.

In recent months, however, Apple’s (APPL) iPad, which also downloads digital books and magazines, has shown the first real signs of shaking Amazon’s grip.

According to a ChangeWave survey conducted in early May, Amazon’s Kindle has the largest share of the U.S. e-reader market at 62%, but the iPad, which has sold over 2 million units since its April debut, is gaining fast.

Target operates 1,740 stores in 49 states, which could help boost sales of the Kindle, Amazon’s best-selling product.

The Kindle Store, found on Amazon.com’s website, currently boasts over 550,000 titles in its library. That’s up from 90,000 when it launched just three years ago.  

After the dramatic drop this entire week (and especially on Thursday) that has established a new 14-month low around its expected 1.2500 support target, price action on EUR/USD (a daily chart of which is shown) has made an anticipated bullish correction. Despite this counter-trend correction, the strong bearishness that has characterized this currency pair for the last several days is likely not yet over. For more technical analysis on this currency pair, please click here for Friday’s (5/07/2010) Chart of the Day.

James Chen, CTA, CMT

* For information on my DVD set, High-Probability Trend Following in the Forex Market, please click here.
* For information on my book, Essentials of Foreign Exchange Trading (Wiley), please click here.
* For information on my new book, Essentials of Technical Analysis for Financial Markets (Wiley), please click here.