The Most Futuristic 3-D Printer, Based on the Original Factory

We’ve so far covered the fundamentals of 3-D printing, along with a few key individuals and businesses leading this next industrial revolution. The result could revitalize manufacturing in the U.S., if not the world — a trend that would generate a real economic boom.

But let’s take the implications of this technology a step further…

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The Future of Manufacturing

When Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer¸ he probably didn’t realize he would summarize today’s global financial system in one scene…

Tom, the main character, actually convinces his peers to pay him, and give him things, for the privilege of doing his chores — specifically, whitewashing fences. And eventually, he’s got everyone doing it.

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Canadian Finance Minister Talks Up the Loonie

As I turn on the currency screens this morning, I see that the euro (EUR) – which remained well bid on Friday, thus losing that trading pattern we talked about, of overnight rallies for the euro and daytime sell offs – has backed off Friday’s high… The German IFO Business Confidence was responsible for the euro’s strong bid on Friday… Last night, the euro backed off a bit… The single unit actually traded above 1.36 on Friday afternoon, when the volume was thinning. This morning, the single unit is below 1.36 at 1.3575, as I type…

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2-Year High for Oil Pushes the Loonie Higher

Well… As I expected, the euro (EUR) really ran up on Friday’s trading, as shorts were covered and trading books were squared for year-end. I truly believe that this euro-buying could be reversed as we go through the first month of 2011… The reason I say that is I truly believe that the euro will come under pressure, as the Eurozone gets probed to come up with better solutions to their periphery countries’ problems. I expect Germany to balk at many things, and when they balk, the runners get to move up…the runners being the dollar, and gold…

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China Raises Interest Rates to Combat Inflation

Chris did a great job last week, keeping me up to date on what was going on… I thought he described it quite well, with the trading desks cut down to junior traders, and no one wanting to go far out on the limb with positions this close to end-of-the-year position squaring… I truly suspect that will be the case but only magnified to even slower movements and smaller volumes… But that doesn’t mean I won’t have anything to talk about!

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US Data Releases Could Move the Markets

Good day… We had another fairly quiet day in the markets on Tuesday, and it looks like most of the currency desks have already been placed on autopilot. Every year we get a lull in trading activity toward the end of the year, as most of the currency investors square up positions and don’t take large bets at the end of the year. Many of the desks are manned by junior staff while the big bosses head out for their holiday vacations (EverBank WorldMarkets included). But for the first time this week, we will have a pretty good bunch of data releases here in the US, so we could see a bit more action in the markets. With thinner trading volumes, a rogue piece of economic data can have a major impact on the markets.

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Global Currencies Rally Against the US Dollar

Well… I’ve spent a lot of time this week talking about the rise in Treasury yields… Apparently the rise in yields wasn’t confined to Treasuries, as municipal bonds are getting whacked too… I saw that my friend and former colleague, David Galland, had this to say about the problems with the municipal bonds…

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Sorting Out the Tax Cut and Unemployment Benefits Extensions

When I turned on the currency screens this morning, I saw that the euphoria of a currency rally, which we had talked about yesterday, had dissipated. I said to myself that it’s a case of “another day, another currency directionâ€�… It all began mid-day yesterday, with gold and silver once again leading the way…only this time the way was down! UGH! Gold was down $24 as I left for the day… It’s down another $5 this morning…

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The Futility of Tax Cuts Without Spending Cuts

Well… The dollar rally that was going on yesterday morning didn’t have the legs to carry on, and by mid-afternoon we were watching the currencies rebound… I truly feel that this time the currencies were led to higher ground by gold and silver!

The rallies in gold and silver yesterday were the things that legends are made of… Silver hit a 20-year high, and gold raced past its previous high water mark of $1,414.07 set on Friday… And the shiny metal is back at it again this morning, setting yet another record level of $1,426.30…

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Euro Falls Through 200-Day Moving Average

Well… November hasn’t been kind to the currencies and precious metals, that’s for sure… But then, it was about time for the markets and media to shift their focus in November, wasn’t it? Yes, it was… The thing I kept worrying about, happened, and here we are today with the euro (EUR) barely hanging by a thread to the 1.30 handle once again… Shoot Rudy, haven’t we seen this before, like last winter? Then it was the knee-jerk reaction to the GIIPS (Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Spain) that caused a huge sell-off of the euro from 1.45 to 1.18… But then the markets and media grew tired of this story, and their attention span ended for the GIIPS, and was shifted back to the problems of the US.

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