Grunting and pointing… That’s about what the trading in currencies has been since yesterday morning… A tight trading range has formed around the euro (EUR), and that keeps everyone else corralled too. The euro tried a couple of times yesterday to mount a rally, but each time was knocked back down. The markets are in no mood to allow the euro to post big gains, when there is this Berlusconi budget vote hanging over the euro like the Sword of Damocles. Yesterday, I told you late in the letter, that there were rumors that Berlusconi (you know the Prime Minister of Italy) would step down… Well, rumor has it that he has agreed to step down, in exchange for support of his budget…
[Read more...]Euro Continues to Be Well-Bid Ahead of Summit
October 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The markets are looking for that silver lining in the Eurozone meeting that begins later this morning. The Eurozone leaders are saying all the right things, but saying and doing are two completely different things… The risk of disappointment remains hanging over the euro (EUR), folks… Don’t get all lathered up because the euro is well into the 1.39 handle… Should the Eurozone leaders disappoint this afternoon, and I truly believe they will, the euro will be taken to the woodshed, for all of this rallying in the euro has come about from optimism that the Eurozone leaders will in fact deliver the Eurozone from evil…
[Read more...]The Ghost of Smoot-Hawley?
October 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment
These past 9 years, with debt plaguing the performance of the dollar, have been quite interesting; watching the debt explode to the upside, and the dollar implode to the downside… But now, the Eurozone has taken on their own debt problems, and so it is that investors look for a safe haven… The US has debt coming out its ears, has had its credit rating downgraded, and has just scratched the surface of debt, with the unfunded liabilities staring us right in the face… The Eurozone peripheral countries, otherwise known as the PIIGS or GIIPS, whichever you prefer… for me, I just call them the debt ridden countries of the Eurozone! Well, the Eurozone no longer offers a respite from the dollar and all the US debt…
[Read more...]The Ghost of Smoot-Hawley?
October 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment
These past 9 years, with debt plaguing the performance of the dollar, have been quite interesting; watching the debt explode to the upside, and the dollar implode to the downside… But now, the Eurozone has taken on their own debt problems, and so it is that investors look for a safe haven… The US has debt coming out its ears, has had its credit rating downgraded, and has just scratched the surface of debt, with the unfunded liabilities staring us right in the face… The Eurozone peripheral countries, otherwise known as the PIIGS or GIIPS, whichever you prefer… for me, I just call them the debt ridden countries of the Eurozone! Well, the Eurozone no longer offers a respite from the dollar and all the US debt…
[Read more...]Gold’s Drop Below $1,800 Didn’t Last Long
September 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Good day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Thanks to each and every one of you dear readers, for your kind words and thoughts yesterday. I truly appreciate them! I’m very lucky to have so many readers that I feel are “friends”… I think about sitting down with a nice hot cup of coffee, and the Pfennig, and me talking to you, as if I was sitting right there with you… If I ever stray from that type of conversation, please remind me of my roots…
[Read more...]Gold’s Drop Below $1,800 Didn’t Last Long
September 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Good day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Thanks to each and every one of you dear readers, for your kind words and thoughts yesterday. I truly appreciate them! I’m very lucky to have so many readers that I feel are “friends”… I think about sitting down with a nice hot cup of coffee, and the Pfennig, and me talking to you, as if I was sitting right there with you… If I ever stray from that type of conversation, please remind me of my roots…
[Read more...]2008, Redux
August 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Who says there’s no such thing as time travel? It’s starting to feel like the fall of 2008 all over again. Indeed, the demons of 2008 are like those characters you see in the Halloween horror movies. You can kill and bury the monsters, but a few scenes later, they reappear.
So what’s happening? Is it 2008 redux? Or are things now worse than 2008 and we just don’t know it yet? Oh, for a copy of a tomorrow’s newspaper! Still, let’s do the best we can with what we’ve got.
[Read more...]Oil Market Smells a Rat
August 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Libyan rebels, we are told this morning, have captured Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s stronghold in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
Crude Oil: The Best Bet for 2012
Crude oil may not only be the best commodity play for 2012, it could prove to be the best commodity play of the next three to four years, soundly beating both gold and silver. I’m not talking about oil producers, refiners or drillers…or any individual stock — but the real thing: crude oil itself.
[Read more...]