PKey Newsbr•nbsp;Russia’s central bank probably doubled spending of foreign reserves to defend the ruble from its biggest weekly plunge against the euro in more than four years. (Bloomberg)brimg alt= src=http://local.content.compendiumblog.com/uploads/user/7e88b461-578b-47f3-88ec-038e212ad053/a56c87c5-8253-45b7-aa80-26c89da2fa75/120208-1.JPG _width=75 _height=75brnbsp;br•nbsp;The Canadian dollar recovered some ground versus the U.S. dollar on Tuesday but remained range-bound and at risk of pressure from falling oil prices and political uncertainty in Canada. (Reuters)/P PQuotable brThe great question is whether the government will succeed in reinstilling the inflationary spirit of reckless abandon in American lenders and borrowers.nbsp; Debasement is what the authorities are driving toward.nbsp; It’s why they keep inventing new [lending] facilities.”br Jim Grant/P PFX Trading – Can you say 1% Treasury Bond Yield?nbsp; brThe Fed’s announcement that it will start buying Treasury bonds, along with everyone else in the world it seems, pushes the Fed into official Quantitative Easing (QE) territory.nbsp; /P Pnbsp;img alt= src=http://local.content.compendiumblog.com/uploads/user/7e88b461-578b-47f3-88ec-038e212ad053/a56c87c5-8253-45b7-aa80-26c89da2fa75/120208-2.JPG _width=75 _height=75/P PbrA recent article, dated October 10th, carried in the ...

RBA cuts 100 BPS…  It IS a recession!  Paulson to ruffle feathers?  Yen to rally hard? And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Right out of the starters blocks this morning, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) pulled the rug right out from under the “high yield status” of their economy, with another HUGE rate cut overnight… This time, the RBA cut 100 BPS, to an internal cash rate of 4.25%. This brings the total since September to 300 BPS! WOW! Talk about effectively unwinding seven years of tightening! The statement following the rate announcement leads me to believe that the RBA is probably finished cutting rates for now… It will be a wait-n-see what happens globally, before the RBA entertains any talk of further rate cuts… At least that’s my opinion!

Had a long talk with the legal beagles yesterday… The just don’t like what / how I say things. This all stems

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by Edward Hugh: Barcelonabr /br /While we are likely to see a "substantial'' drop in euro-region inflation, Bank of Spain forecasts for the 15-nation euro area do not show price drops. That is they "show an enormous moderation in price gains, but they do show price gains,'' according to the latest statements by Miquel Angel Fernandez Ordoñez, ECB Council member and Governor of the Bank of Spain. Bank of Spain eurozone forecasts "don't show deflation" he told reporters in Madrid yesterday (Wednesday).br /br /The reason for this swift and adroit response to the question of the day in Spain was that EU Economy and Finance Commissioner Joaquin Almunia (not exactly your garden-variety world authority on macroeconomic topics) had earier said that the Europe's economies were "facing the prospect of deflation" amidst the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. In fact Fernandez Ordoñez is right, as is his want - right ...

Data shows just how bad things are…  Trade deficits narrow…  EU confirms they are in a recession…  RBA intervening again… And Now… Today’s Pfennig! We finally had some data releases here in the US which look to steer the markets, so I’ll just get right to it.

The dollar continued to strengthen yesterday after another round of bad weekly employment figures. Initial jobless claims increased to 516k during the first week of November, and last weeks numbers were revised up to 484k. The employment picture continues to darken here in the US, and it doesn’t look like it will improve any time soon. This is just what the US consumers don’t need right now. Not only are most consumers living paycheck to paycheck,

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No-one likes an economic correction, says Bill Bonner. But they are both “essential and helpful.” If left to its own devices, the market will sort out its own mess. But the Fed will never let this happen. And just like Japan in the 90’s, this will only draw out the suffering.

More from The Daily Reckoning:

Spare a moment to remember Marcus Aurelius. Obama hasn’t yet called our “Sovereign Hotline” for advice. But when he does, we’re going to recommend he read Marcus Aurelius’s meditations.

Obama has pledged to change things. That part will be easy; things are changing fast. Trouble is, they’re not changing in the way he would like.

When Marcus Aurelius was emperor, Rome was going through major changes too. There were periods of famine, war and plague. Most alarming, the barbarians were at the gates; Marcus Aurelius spent most of his career trying to keep them

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The winner is… Deflation!  Trading theme in place…  RBA cuts rates 75 BPS!  Manufacturing collapses! And Now… Today’s Pfennig! Good day… And a Terrific Tuesday to you! It’s Election Day! One more day of all that he said, she said, no I didn’t, yes you did, aggravating election advertising! That’s it! We’re finally finished with all of it! Thank Goodness it’s Election Day! TGIED!

This will be the end of another of the things that’s keeping the fundamentals in the back of the classroom. All we’ll have left is the credit squeeze… Unfortunately though I feel like we’re going to have to live with that one for some time to come! There are signs

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The winner is… Deflation!  Trading theme in place…  RBA cuts rates 75 BPS!  Manufacturing collapses! And Now… Today’s Pfennig! Good day… And a Terrific Tuesday to you! It’s Election Day! One more day of all that he said, she said, no I didn’t, yes you did, aggravating election advertising! That’s it! We’re finally finished with all of it! Thank Goodness it’s Election Day! TGIED!

This will be the end of another of the things that’s keeping the fundamentals in the back of the classroom. All we’ll have left is the credit squeeze… Unfortunately though I feel like we’re going to have to live with that one for some time to come! There are signs

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Daily Reckoning editor Bill Bonner says everything is going according to plan. An unsustainable credit-fuelled boom popped. And businesses, consumers and financial markets are left reeling. Bill says US stocks could fall much further before stabilising at a ‘normal’ level. Meanwhile, reckless money printing by the Fed will eventually take down the dollar, and light a fire a fire under gold prices.

More from Bill:

What MUST happen DOES happen. Sometime it takes longer than you expect. And often it doesn’t happen exactly the way you expect. But it is a relief to know that gravity still works… what goes up still comes down. ‘Regression to the mean’ is another old law still in force; when things become extraordinary, you can bet they will go back to normal sooner or later.

But what does this mean for stocks? And what about gold? The dollar?

Hey, you’re asking a lot from

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Huge trend reversal: Dollar busts, commodities boom… why, and will it last? Rate cuts round the world… U.S. and China slash, Japan considers. U.S. three months away from “official” recession. Two new bailouts: Who’s lining up for help, plus Uncle Sam’s October tab. Denning and Nelson on beating inflation with the right long-haul stock.

The U.S. dollar fell by its largest percentage in 13 years yesterday.

Et voila, the trend we believe is your friend returned with some impressive steam:

The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index popped 5.9% — diddly squat compared with equity moves lately, but still the biggest daily gain for the index since its inception, in 1956.

Alas, despite the rise, the CRB is still down 24%

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Gold was flat to the end of Hong Kong trading, but then pushed higher from there to mid-morning in New York, peaking at nearly $775, before declining slowly to finish at $755.30, up $11.50. Overnight, gold is trending higher.

Platinum sank to $760, below the price of gold, in the far East, but rallied from there to a mid-morning high above $820, before finally subsiding to end at $790/oz., down $35. Overnight, platinum is sharply higher.

Silver was the day’s big winner, taking off at the same time as gold and pushing as high as $10.15 before falling back below $10 around noon and trading sideways from there into a close at $9.89/oz., up 70 cents. Overnight, silver has pushed higher. (Click here for charts)

Gold had a solid day yesterday, with silver soaring while platinum continued to bring up the rear. Something of a tailwind was provided by a dollar

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