ForexLive North American wrap: Ben straps the market to the helicopter rotors

Bernanke delivers Jackson Hole speech, highlights Hilsenrath writes ‘Bernanke leaves little doubt he's gearing up to do more' Spain's Catalonia region downgraded to junk by S&P Canadian Q2 GDP 1.8% vs 1.6% exp Chicago PMI 53.0 vs 53.2 exp Final U Mich consumer sentiment 74.3 vs 73.6 prelim Fed's Williams: should move toward open ended QE No ECB bond buying without conditionality; Dutch central banker ECB's Asmussen: New bond buying program would work better than the last ECB's Weidmann didn't threaten to resign - WSJ Large earthquake near Philippines, tsunami alert lifted Spanish 10-year yields +26bps to 6.86% Gold +36 to $1691 S&P 500 gains 0.6% to 1407, down 0.3% on week On day, CAD leads, USD lags On week, CAD leads, NZD lags The volatiltiy started well before Bernanke's speech as the US dollar was dumped ahead of time. EUR/USD broke through the 1.26 barrier to 1.2625. EUR/USD initially dumped 50 pips on Jackson Hole and then stormed back to a session high at 1.2637. It was very choppy. Later, the euro slipped back to 1.2560 on the Catalonia downgrade. Cable also ran through stops above Thursday's 1.5873 high but stalled ahead of 1.5900. USD/JPY was on the defensive but the market picked it back up at 78.19, ahead of semi-official bids rumored at 78.00. CAD was the big winner as Bernanke re-affirmed his put and GDP exceeded forecasts. USD/CAD closed at 0.9853, very close to the session low.