Being a technical trader myself I spend hours in fine tuning my technical analysis in order to predict future price reaction at different levels, zones etc. However, as a trader we also need to be aware of fundamental aspect of currencies we are trading. Here are succinct summations of events for week ending May 2, 2014

Positives:
1. April Nonfarm Payrolls came in at 288k, well ahead of the 210k expected.
2. Unemployment rate fell to 6.3%, down from 6.7% last month — lowest number in five years.
3. Dow Jones Industrials made a new all-time closing high.
4. FOMC is still on pace to end the stimulus by the close of 2014, says “growth has picked up.”
5. Consumer spending on services saw the biggest gain since 2000.
6. Pending home sales were up 3.4% m/o/m versus expectations of a 1% rise — first increase in nine months.
7. Japan household spending rose 7.2% y/o/y, much higher than the 1% expected.
8. Dallas Fed manufacturing survey came in at 11, well ahead of the 6 estimated.
9. Case-Shiller home prices were up 0.76% m/o/m and 12.86% y/o/y, in line with expectations.
10. Chicago ISM came in at 63, well ahead of 57 expected and up from 55.9 previously.

Negatives:
1. GDP grew at a 0.1% in Q1, the slowest pace of growth since 2012.
2. Weekly mortgage applications fell 5.9% last week to a four-year low.
3. U.S consumer confidence fell in April to 82.3 v 83 expected.
4. The labor force participation rate fell to 62.8%, the lowest level since 1978.
5. Initial jobless claims came rose 14k last week to 344k v 320k expected.