This post provides links to a number of interesting articles I have read over the past few days that you may also enjoy.

• Economist.com: Cross my palm with euros? November 11, 2009. The dollar’s days as the world’s reserve currency are far from over.

• Randall Forsyth (Barron’s): Good and bad news in China’s currency shift, November 12, 2009. Allowing the remnimbi to rise may cut global imbalances but also tighten tap of liquidity.

• John Plender (Financial Times): Decline but no fall, November 11, 2009. As US president Barack Obama begins a tour of Asian capitals, the standard assumption in the west is that his meetings will be with leaders of nations that rank as America’s junior partners. Yet the reality is more complex. Amid the rubble of the financial crisis, the US position as singular superpower and

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The S&P/Case-Shiller 10-City Home Price Index increased by 1.3% in August following an increase of 1.7% in July, and up 1.4% in June.  Over the year, the index has fallen by 10.6%, less than the 12.8% 12 month decline observed in July.  The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index increased by 1.2% over the month after increasing by 1.6% in July, up 1.4% in June, and a 0.5% increase in May.  The index is down by 11.3% over the year compared to a 13.3% decline last year.  This is the 7th consecutive month the indices have improved.  19 of all 20 indices showed improvements in the annual decline, with Cleveland as the exception.

The Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 47.4(1985=100) in October after dropping to 53.4% in September from 54.1% in August.  The index was expected to increase with the consensus at 53.6%.  The Present Situation Index decreased

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Velocity Energy Inc. announced the purchase of producing natural gas wells and partially developed acreage in the Appalachian region in the Northeastern United States. Velocity Energy Inc. purchased the assets from a private company and did not disclose the purchase price.

Velocity Energy Inc. said that the sale included 13,500 net acres of oil and gas properties, which are currently producing 2 million cubic feet per day of natural gas from several shale formations. These formations include the Ravencliff, Maxton, Big Lime, Berea, Gordon and the Cleveland and Huron Shales. The company said that the purchase would give it 60 future locations on which to drill for future reserves.

Don Vandenberg, the President of Velocity Energy Inc. said, “We have been pursuing this acquisition and other Appalachian acquisitions as we believe that the long history of successful exploitation of Devonian Shale and other shale horizons found throughout the

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Anpath Group, Inc., a producer of cleaning and disinfecting products that help prevent the spread of infectious microorganisms while minimizing the harmful effects on people, equipment and the environment, recently announced that the company has expanded its distribution capabilities with the signing of an agreement with ZayMat Distributors of Cleveland, Ohio.

ZayMat Distributors is owned and operated by Terrell Dillard, president and master franchise owner of Jan-Pro Cleaning Systems. Under the terms of the agreement, ZayMat will distribute Anpath’s products, including EnviroTru®, through its Jan-Pro network. Registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for meeting the requirements for Toxicity Category IV, EnviroTru® is a multi-purpose disinfectant, sanitizer and deodorizing cleaner effective against various organisms.

Commenting on the distribution agreement, Mr. Dillard stated, “We currently provide full-service cleaning solutions, products and chemicals to several hundred clients, daily.” He concluded, “The addition of EnviroTru® to our offering provides us with a distinct advantage.

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In our history, the American nation committed obvious sins against select groups of people, and we’ve paid bitterly for some of that. But now it’s our sins against the land itself that threaten to sink the USA as a viable enterprise.

It’s odd, that in his otherwise excellent blow-by-blow account (”Eight Days,” in the Sept 21 New Yorker Magazine) of the September 2008 Wall Street meltdown that left Lehman dead, and AIG croaking in a ditch, and the banking system in general functionally crippled, reporter James B. Stewart never got around to really describing the cause of it all — namely, the on-the-ground material catastrophe of American suburbia.

It was the worthlessness of the tradable securitized debt associated with all those overpriced (and overvalued) chipboard and vinyl houses, smeared recklessly over the American landscape, that started all the trouble in the first place. And it is our inability to come to

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With increasing public interest in “green” initiatives, companies that invest in environmentally-friendly products gain public notoriety and success. Adhering to this creed, emerging alternative-energy leader Energy Quest, Inc. announced a new application for its Pyrolysis Steam Reforming process. The company’s hydrogen process, known as PyStR™ or “pie star,” is a system that converts biomass and most any carbonaceous material into hydrogen and carbon dioxide.

EQI’s innovative technology involves pyrolysis and steam reforming of virtually any solid, liquid or gaseous fuel. The result is separate high purity streams of hydrogen (H2), carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen (N2) in relatively low cost stainless steel or refractory-lined vessels.

The new process is a valuable asset as the ability to create a pure separate stream of CO2 creates unique opportunities, such as injecting into depleted oil well to extract more oil, coal bed methane extraction using CO2, and presence in the food and beverage

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“To celebrate growing older,” Regina Brett, a columnist at The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, in 2006 wrote the 45 lessons life taught her. She subsequently, upon turning 50, added another five. (By the way, she is 53 years old and not 90 as some Internet websites state.) The column follows below.

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.

8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

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The Federal Reserve just released its "Beige Book," which is largely a collection of anecdotal information about the state of the economy in the various Federal Reserve districts. Below are some of the key passages and my reactions to them. In the interest of space and to highlight the key trends, I have edited out most of the individual district information. However, if you want to read the full report, go to: http://www.federalreserve.gov/fomc/beigebook/2009/20090909/default.htm "Reports from the 12 Federal Reserve Districts indicate that economic activity continued to stabilize in July and August. Most Districts noted that the outlook for economic activity among their business contacts remained cautiously positive." This is a much better tone than in recent months, with talk of actual stabilization. Up to this point, the best that could be said that things were generally getting worse at a slow rate. Now, overall, it looks ...

Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) recently raised the size of its senior notes offering to $1 billion from the originally planned $800 million. Investors lapped up the notes due to their higher yield over US Treasury bonds. The company will use proceeds from the sale to retire commercial paper and for financing its capital expenditure.

Duke Energy issued senior notes totaling $500 million due in 2014 with a 3.95% coupon rate semi-annually and another $500 million due in 2019 with 5.05% coupon rate annually.

The company needs funds for its ongoing capital expenditures. Duke Energy is currently expanding its Cliffside Steam Plant on the border of Cleveland and Rutherford counties and a new plant at Edwardsport gasified-coal facility in Indiana. The company is also investing to control carbon dioxide emissions from its coal-based plants. This is vital in the light of recent progress in the American Clean Energy

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The S&P/Case-Shiller 10-City Home Price Index increased by 1.4% in June, following a 0.5% increase in May (revised from an originally reported 0.4% increase, a 0.7% decrease in April, and a 2.1% decline in March.  Over the year, the index has fallen by 15.1%.  The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index also had increased by 1.4% in June, following a 0.5% increase in May, and a 0.6% decrease in April.  The index is down by 15.4% over the year.  The indices now stand at early-2003 levels.  Over the past month, 18 of the 20 MSAs showed improvement in returns, the highest being in Cleveland, up 4.2%.  Las Vegas posted negative returns of -2.0% and Detroit of -0.8%.  Over the year, all metropolitan areas show negative returns.

The Consumer Confidence Index bounced back to 54.1% in August, from 47.4% in July, better than the expected 47.8% level.  The Present

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