Well… Those lofty figures from yesterday for the currencies and metals held for most of the day and night, until… China printed their latest export report, which showed exports slowing… Exports rose the least in seven months… Now… Seven months ago, 14 months ago, and so on, economists and analysts have forecast a collapse of the Chinese economy and they have been wrong… I’m sure we’ll hear more from the Chicken Littles on this… I’ll tell you one thing that’s sure to happen… (That is, I’m pretty sure, but there’s no guarantee!) If exports continue to slow, the Chinese government won’t be so quick to allow a faster appreciation of the renminbi (CNY)… They’ll have no incentive to do so!
[Read more...]Jobless Claims Rise Back to 400,000
October 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The sweet sounds of risk taking have been playing the past few days, and unless the trap door gets sprung again today, the euro (EUR) will most likely end the week on the good foot, as James Brown would say… After a couple of weeks of euro bashing, the euro has quietly rallied… And it can all be pinned down to the idea I told you about the other day, regarding a rumor about recapitalizing European banks…
[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...]Brazil Launches Salvo of Trade Sanctions Against US
March 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
According to the head of economic affairs at Brazil’s foreign ministry, Carlos Marcio Cozendey, the plan is “to distribute the retaliation broadly in order to maximise pressure.”
The “retaliation” he refers to includes trade sections on 100 US goods, ranging from cars to milk powder. The tariffs are in response to cotton producer subsidies the US has kept in place despite a 2008 WTO ruling that found the practice discriminatory.
[Read more...]
Currencies Rally on Eurozone Agreement
The currency rally that stalled yesterday was back on last night… I have to tell you that I was up most of the night on Sunday and after getting poked and stuck at the doctor’s office yesterday, I went home, straight to my recliner and slept for the next five hours! Then I woke up, went to my computer and checked the overnight markets, and I saw the currencies had turned around, along with gold. So naturally, I began to scour the news to see what was going on.
[Read more...]