Dollar remains strong - September 12, 2008 10:34

The dollar continues to post impressive gains against its European counterparts, most notably the 15-nation Euro, and the British Pound. One Euro is currently (September 11) worth $1.3994, after dipping below $1.40 for the first time in several months Wednesday. The Pound has actually recovered a bit in 24 hours against the greenback, but is […]

Trying to Pump Up What’s Busted - September 10, 2008 19:09

EVIL DAYS indeed. Scared and scarred by losses in all other assets, the world’s wealth suddenly wants to sit in the safety of US Dollars and US Treasury bonds.

US Government bails out Fannie and Freddie - September 10, 2008 8:30

Huge news in the credit markets came this past weekend, as the US government took over failing mortgage finance companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The government takeover ended months of speculation amid concerns that failure of the two mortgage giants could have a catastrophic impact on already struggling credit and housing markets.

Gold Whipped by Fannie, Freddie Nationalization - September 8, 2008 13:29

THE SPOT PRICE OF GOLD whipped violently in Asian trade on Monday, shooting 1.8% higher after the US government nationalized the massive Freddie Max and Fannie Mae mortgage lenders, before giving back $10 of that move to trade at $808 an ounce by lunchtime in London.

Oil swings drive wild day - September 3, 2008 9:29

A strong early dive in oil prices helped drive a 250 point surge in the Dow on Tuesday (September 2). Oil dropped sharply to a low of $105.46 per barrel early in the day based on reports that the Gulf Cost oil refineries were largely spared as Hurricane Gustav swept through the southeast part of […]

US economy doing better than expected - August 29, 2008 11:43

The US economy performed much better than anyone had expected during the second quarter of 2008. Thursday’s (August 28) report from the Commerce Department showed a 3.3 per cent annual growth rate increase in the Gross Domestic Product.

Is Gold about to decouple - August 28, 2008 11:26

Gold has moved with the € and in the opposite direction to the U.S.$ for months now.The main reason is because U.S. Investors have linked the performance of the $ to the € as a true reflection of the $ currency value.Of course this implies that the € is the defining currency against which to […]

Operation Melt Down, Part I - August 28, 2008 11:22

FIFTY YEARS AGO – just as the fictional 007 was thwarting Auric Goldfinger’s plan to empty Fort Knox and take America’s gold to Soviet Moscow – the US Treasury feared a very genuine loss of its real gold reserves.

Second quarter bad for US banks - August 27, 2008 9:16

A new report Tuesday (August 26) shows that US banks suffered through one of their worst quarters in history during the second economic quarter of 2008. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), there were an incredible 117 banks that it considers to have been in “trouble” during the second quarter. This was up […]