Looking Ahead: May 13 through May 17, 2013

Equities continued to advance last week while central banks including the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Bank of Korea reduced interest rates to spur on their respective economies and at the same time lower their currencies to reduce the pain for their export industries. The U.S. dollar exhibited strength against all of its major counterparts. The Japanese yen crashed through the 100 yen to a dollar barrier and continued to slide. First estimates of first quarter growth will be released for Japan, the Eurozone and many of its member states. Investors will continue to keep an eye on currency moves especially with the U.S. dollar.