The British pound remains one of the weakest major currencies, and pairs like GBPUSD and GBPJPY are nearing critical support levels. GBPUSD ended Tuesday just above a rising trendline connecting the June and July lows at roughly 1.6330, as well as the neckline of a head-and-shoulders pattern near 1.6300. GBPJPY also ended the day just above the neckline of a head-and-shoulders pattern at 153.50. All told, the macroeconomic outlook for the nation remains bleak, especially after traders learned last week that the UK government posted a deficit of 8 billion pounds in July, the biggest since recordkeeping began in 1993, highlighting the dour state of the nation’s finances. Standard & Poor’s lowered its outlook on the UK’s AAA credit rating to “negative” from “stable” in May for this very reason, and if we see this trend continue, the risk for an actual downgrade will grow and put greater pressure on the British pound. Realistically, we could see a breakdown in GBPUSD and GBPJPY very soon.