Yesterday was an absolute “10” on the crazy meter, and yet “We the People” just continue to sit and take whatever the government and media tell us is “best for us in these uncommon times.” I’ve got some interesting words on this later in the letter… It’s time for me to get on my soapbox once again, so… At least I’ve prepared you! But first… Some currency news!

Well… Yesterday, I left you with the thought that the currencies were selling off, after the Asian central banks all made statements regarding their support of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency… Here are some further thoughts on that.

Roll up to the mystery tour… The Magical Mystery Tour is waiting to take you away…

Yes… It’s U.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner’s Magical Mystery Tour (which should be re-named the Magical Currency Tour)! OK… Remember yesterday I told you the Asian countries of S. Korea,

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Euro goes back and forth over 1.43…Eurozone unemployment rises to 9.2%…Australia’s GDP surprises! Is it protectionism? And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Good day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! I’m draggin’ the line today, as I was helping my oldest son, Andrew, with things in his brand, spankin’ new house, last night. Congrats to Andrew, for finding a great bargain, with a low, fixed, interest rate!

OK… Whew! What a day in the currencies yesterday! Another day, and another day of wild swings.. Volatility is the name of the game these days… Watching, for instance, the euro trade down to 1.4220, and then up to 1.4320 and not just on a one-way ticket! Oh No! this is a bounce here a bounce there… But just like it was going from 1.41 to 1.42, it took a few times over the 1.42 figure before it finally stuck, and headed to 1.43… All the other

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With American and British equity markets closed on Monday, there wasn’t a lot of activity in the gold and silver markets either. Both got sold off a tad in Sunday night electronic trading and during Monday in the Far East…but both recovered during European trading hours at, or after, London opened for the day. The highs…such as they were…were after the London close.

On Monday evening a more serious seller showed up in the New York access market, and by the close of Tuesday afternoon trading in Hong Kong, gold had about $17 shaved off its price. That was its low of the day, and a rally ensued in London that lasted until Comex trading began in New York at 8:15 a.m. yesterday morning, when another not-for-profit seller showed up. The New York low in gold was at precisely 9:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. From there, another rally lasted until shortly

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Industrial Production declines…  Stocks sell off, leading currencies down…  Indian election spurs a rally…  China stockpiles commodities… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Well… As much as I dislike having to say so, because I told you this might happen… The currencies have given back some major ground VS the dollar since Friday morning. It’s all tied to the fact that the euphoria going around the markets the previous week regarding stocks and the U.S. economy, came to a screeching halt last week. I pleaded and begged for the currencies to break this link to stocks, but it wouldn’t / didn’t happen and voila!

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Initial Jobless Claims rise…  PPI does too!  Euros get hung out on a line…  Gold makes a comeback! And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Good day… And a Thunderin’ Thursday to you! It may not be Thunderin’ where you are, but apparently it was yesterday in my little river town, as I heard we had some shingles blow off… And… It certainly is Thunderin’ over in the Eurozone this morning, I’ll tell you why in a minute. So, let’s get going don’t want to get caught in any of that Thunder!

I finished the last of my 3 presentations yesterday, and called it quits, as far

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by Edward Hugh: Barcelonabr /br /span style="font-family:arial;font-size:78%;"/spana href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SgiAR06lzrI/AAAAAAAAN1E/-NbHseEOV1Q/s1600-h/ecb+one.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334654802370875058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 399px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 264px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SgiAR06lzrI/AAAAAAAAN1E/-NbHseEOV1Q/s400/ecb+one.png" border="0" //abr /br /blockquote“The 60 billion euros they announced is peanuts for an economy the size of the euro zone,” economics professor and former Bank of England policy maker Willem Buiter said at a conference in Dublin yesterday. “I expect they will announce more or that the recession in the euro zone will be longer and deeper than would otherwise be necessary. They have a record of being somewhat behind the curve.” /blockquoteblockquoteEuropean car sales dropped 12 percent in April.... Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s registrations dropped by almost one-third to 55,633 even as the German market expanded 19 percent, helped by the government’s 2,500 euro ($3,400) sales bonus .........Spain extended its auto-sales slump with a 46 percent plunge in registrations, the largest among the continent’s ...

By RGE Monitor

A few years back, before this crisis erupted, several economists were concerned about the sustainability of the large global imbalances fueled by the so-called Bretton Woods 2 (BW2) system. These economists recognized the tendency of emerging (export-led) economies to manage their exchange rate systems - the origin of large trade and current account surpluses that, via large foreign reserve accumulation, were financing the mirror of those surpluses, namely the large US trade and current account deficits.

These surpluses, primarily in several exports-led Asian economies, and also in oil producing countries, ballooned to extensive proportions in 2007 and 2008. The purchases of US government bonds by these investors helped keep long-term interest rates low and led many investors to seek out high-yielding investments especially in some emerging markets.

Although we are not (yet) witnessing a US dollar crisis,

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Gold declined from Hong Kong through the first hour of New York trading on Monday, shedding about $15, rallied back until the noon hour, but then fell right through the Globex to finish at $906.20/oz., down $6.80. Overnight, gold has fallen off.

Platinum really hit the skids, plummeting straight through with little interruption, ending at $1140, down $35. Overnight, platinum is sharply lower.

Silver fared much better than its sister metals and, even though it too peaked in early far East trading, it managed to hold above $13 all the way through the Comex, before easing on the Globex to close at $12.90/oz., up a penny. Overnight, silver has fallen steeply. (Click here for charts)

Precious metals fanciers couldn’t have been too disappointed with yesterday’s action, given that silver held steady and gold fell only modestly in the face of both a rising dollar and slumping oil.

Most of the market

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Wall St slides on bank jitters, earnings outlook caution… US dollar rallies broadly as equities worldwide tumble… Government debt shines on banking worries flare up… Oil drops over 8 pct on economic outlook, dollar rise

Oil prices and stocks around the world tumbled on Monday after a jump in troubled loans at Bank of America and renewed signs of economic weakness cooled investors’ optimism the worst of a global slowdown was over.

The U.S dollar rallied broadly to trade at one-month highs as the slide in worldwide equity markets boosted safe-haven demand for the greenback, U.S. and European government debt and gold.

Bank of America stock shed 17 percent after reporting its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co helped to more than double first-quarter profit, but credit quality deteriorated sharply, hurt by a flagging economy and growing unemployment.

Also weighing on sentiment was a key gauge of

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Industrial production in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, dropped for the sixth consecutive month in February as the global recession hit demand for German product, both at home and abroad. Output fell a seasonally adjusted 2.9 percent from January, when it slumped 6.1 percent, the most since data for a reunified Germany began in 1991. From a year earlier, output was down by 20.6 percent.br /br /a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sd3cGgsj5cI/AAAAAAAANeY/C0huGfcX930/s1600-h/german+ip.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322652339035956674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 219px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sd3cGgsj5cI/AAAAAAAANeY/C0huGfcX930/s400/german+ip.png" border="0" //abr /br /Although the pace of decline was slower than in January, this month’s drop was led by a 4.5 percent slump in production of investment goods, according to the Economy Ministry, and this certainly does not bode well for the future. The rate of decline in manufacturing activity continued to slow in March, although activity in the sector continues to contract at a sharp ...