The dollar remains well bid…G-7 to hand currencies off to G-20? Car Sales collapse…Auditing the Lehman cash movements…And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Good day… And a Happy Friday to one and all! Yesterday, I welcomed you to October. I had been prepared to tell you about a famous radio station here in St. Louis, that has long called October… Rocktober… But forgot, as usual! But anyway… It’s the first Fantastico Friday of Rocktober!

Today is a Jobs Jamboree Friday too! And… I’m not getting a good feeling about today’s labor report at the Jobs Jamboree. The forecast is for jobs losses to fall from -216,000 to -175,000, but the unemployment rate to tick up to 9.8% from 9.7%… I got the feeling, baby, baby, I got the feeling… Oops, a little James Brown on Fantastico Friday never hurts! But what I was saying was I’m getting the feeling that there are risks

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Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: ACTC, CHIP, CUR, CVM, ENZ, IMUC, IWEB, SRCO, SVUL, XSNX

Markets finally snapped their winning streak last week, as weakness in housing markets and durable goods orders led to broad-based declines in all of the major indices. All told, the Dow surrendered 155 points on the week to close at 9665, down 1.6% on the week but up 10.1% on the year. The Nasdaq lost 2.0% on the week to close at 2090, up 32.6% on the year, while the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 posted losses of 2.2% and 3.1% respectively, paring their yearly gains to 15.6% and 19.9%.

Unexpectedly poor data from the housing sector was the big economic story on the week as both new and existing August home sales failed to live up to expectations. New home sales increased modestly to 429,000, falling short of estimates calling

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German unemployment falls!  RBA disappoints the markets…  China to buy Canadian company…  ISM to print positive? And Now… Today’s Pfennig! Good day… And a Terrific Tuesday to you! And Welcome to September! Well… Here’s a thought to get our engines started this morning… Bill Bonner of the Daily Reckoning ( www.dailyreckoning.com )had this to add to my ranting about our National Debt going to over $20 Trillion in the next 10 years, due to deficit spending…

“The Obama administration, for example, expects to run $9 trillion in deficits over the next 10 years – and that number is based on a recovery! Imagine what will happen if the economy doesn’t recover?”

Now, that’s a nice comforting thought to start our day right? NOT! WAKE UP! Morning has broken, and the coffee is on… If you are still of the thought that this is all going to end up seashells and

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Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: CVM, ICLK, IMUC, ITUI, IWEB, MBCI, NXOI, OMCM, ONEZ, PHC, SRCO, SVUL, XCR

Markets closed moderately higher yet again this week, as mostly better than expected economic data helped stave off profit taking to leave most indices in positive territory on the week. All told, the Dow ended the week up 0.4%, closing at 9544, up 38 points, bringing its YTD gains to 8.7%. The Nasdaq also gained 0.4% on the week to close at 2028, bringing its yearly gains to 28.6%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.3% and the Russell 2000 lost 0.3%, bringing their yearly gains to 13.9% and 16.1% respectively.

Economic news was in focus yet again this week in the absence of any market driving earnings data, as new home sales for July rose at 9.6%, posting its strongest gains since 2005. This positive development coupled with

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Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: CVM, ICLK, IMUC, ITUI, IWEB, MBCI, NXOI, OMCM, ONEZ, PHC, SRCO, SVUL, XCR

Markets closed moderately higher yet again this week, as mostly better than expected economic data helped stave off profit taking to leave most indices in positive territory on the week. All told, the Dow ended the week up 0.4%, closing at 9544, up 38 points, bringing its YTD gains to 8.7%. The Nasdaq also gained 0.4% on the week to close at 2028, bringing its yearly gains to 28.6%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.3% and the Russell 2000 lost 0.3%, bringing their yearly gains to 13.9% and 16.1% respectively.

Economic news was in focus yet again this week in the absence of any market driving earnings data, as new home sales for July rose at 9.6%, posting its strongest gains since 2005. This positive development coupled with

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Currencies trade in a tight range…Pesos, loonies and reals in the spotlight…The Mogambo on a Thursday!YAHOO!…Jobs reports dominate today & tomorrow…And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Good day… And a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday to you! Once again yesterday, we traded all day in a very tight range with the currencies. The ADP/Challenger data didn’t give anyone a warm and fuzzy about the labor picture, and tax receipts are in the news… So, let’s go to the tape!

OK, front and center this morning, I have to talk about this deal with tax receipts in this country. So, I’ve chronicled the April and June debacles for tax receipts, but just in case someone is new to class, and missed that, let’s review… The U.S. used to count on the months of April and June for HUGE cash receipts from tax returns, but this year, both April and June’s tax receipts were so bad, the expenditures

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Currencies trade in a tight range. Pound Sterling, the star performer? Something smells fishy…Do you see trend with Gov. Reports? And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Good day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! We had a very tight range trading day yesterday in the currencies, which have left them trading in about the same clothes they were wearing when I signed off yesterday! We’ve got that to talk about, and… Another $2 Billion for the CARS program has been allocated…

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A strong currency move Monday… RBA leaves rates unchanged…And moves bias to neutral…Central Bank warnings have no teeth! And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Good day… And a Terrific Tuesday to you! First day back yesterday was a killer for yours truly… Went home, and went to sleep… But, I’m back today, and feeling good. I did something to my left knee on vacation that left me hobbling, and leaning on my cane more than I usually do.

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The economic data continues to improve, but is still weak. The latest evidence of this comes from the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISP) manufacturing index, known as ISM (raw data and the table below from http://www.ism.ws/ISMReport/MfgROB.cfm?navItemNumber=12942), which came in at 48.9 for July. Any reading below 50 indicates that manufacturing is contracting, but the 4.1 point rise from June means that the rate of contraction has slowed significantly. More significantly, the forward-looking parts of the index, like new orders, are now comfortably above 50. The overall ISM has now been down for 18 months in a row -- a record -- but we are within easy distance of moving into positive territory. The reading was also well above the consensus expectation of a 46.5 reading. This is the seventh consecutive month where the ISM index has risen since it hit 32.9 back in December. The ...

Good day… And a Marvelous Monday to you! Hereeeeeee’s Baaaaaacccckkkkk… Oh no! Just when you thought it was safe to open the Daily Pfennig and not get lectured on deficit spending… He’s back! Oh well, It’s been over two weeks, first to Vancouver, then on vacation.

We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, eh? Mike and Chris did a Fantastico job of taking the conn on the Pfennig in my absence… So thanks to them… But it’s back to me, and besides a couple of days in San Francisco later this month, I’m all yours! (I bet that just makes you smile like a Cheshire Cat… NOT!)

OK… Rather than beat around the bush this morning, Chris left me this note from Friday’s price action, so let’s go to the Friday round up and then onto today! Here’s Chris!

The currency markets were fairly calm Friday morning, but at around 9:00

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