Isabel (Ms Investment Postcards) and I have just heard what we were not bargaining on – our flight from Washington D.C. has been delayed by 15 hours! Indeed, news from hell.

Stuck at an airport hotel with only our small cabin bags (i.e. no clothing besides what we are wearing!) is not quite what we have had planned for the night, but I guess it could have been worse. Image the mechanical problem having occurred in mid-air, or being stuck overnight in Dakar (where the South African Airways planes refuel).

I have pre-loaded a few snippets to be posted on the site over the next day or two, but I am afraid regular posting will now only get back on track by Wednesday. Please persevere and do not unsubscribe yet – this is not a “new normal” and the usual delivery will be restored later this week.

Meanwhile, we

I am visting Texas at the moment to, among others, attend John Mauldin’s 60th birthday celebrations in Dallas this weekend.

As you might have noticed, my blogging activity has been confined to republishing interesting snippets and guest posts while I am on the road. “Words from the Wise” will also be taking a break today (October 4) as I will not be able to put together the review as I tackle the long haul back to Cape Town. The normal blogging service will be resumed when I am home on October 6.

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I will be traveling to Texas later today to, among others, attend John Mauldin’s 60th birthday celebrations in Dallas over the weekend. This should be quite a party, especially as a number of acquaintances from the financial fraternity will also be in attendance.

Trust John to seize the opportunity between “knees-up” celebrations also to gather us for a round-table discussion about the lie of the financial land. It should be fun to debate first-hand the topics of the day with some of the investment leading lights.

The downside is that blog posting will be absent for most of the time while I am on the road and “Words from the Wise” will take a break next Sunday (October 4). The normal blogging service will be resumed on my return to Cape Town on October 6.

However, I will be “tweeting” regularly throughout my trip. You will find a Twitter

“The Fed and the Obama administration seem to be pursuing policies that are dollar-negative, and they give no hint of letting up,” said John Mauldin (Thoughts from the Frontline). I share this view and alluded to this in July (see “US dollar about to pop“) when I pointed out that the devaluation of the greenback was a likely policy tool to stimulate the US economy.

The combination of low interest rates and quantitative easing has made the US dollar an attractive currency for funding carry-trade transactions (i.e. selling low-yielding currencies to finance the purchase of higher-yielding currencies) and spells more downside, at least until the Fed starts withdrawing from its very loose monetary policy.

As investors started assuming more risk since March, the US Dollar Index headed lower, hitting a one-year low yesterday and trading in a confirmed downtrend as far as the key 200-day moving average and other

Gold bullion has risen by $105 (11.6%) since its low of July 9, breaching $1,000 a few days ago and now trading at levels last seen at an intraday high of $1,033 in March 2008.

Gold bulls argue that the yellow metal stands to gain from rising inflation expectations as governments engineer the biggest asset price reflation in human history. On the other hand, John Mauldin (Thoughts from the Frontline) is of the opinion the rise in gold does not really tell us anything about the future of inflation. It is his belief that if the Fed were to withdraw from the current economic battle, the forces of deflation would be felt in short order. Mauldin contends the answer to the question “Will we have inflation in our future?” is “You better hope so!” But gold may not be a bad performer in a deflationary environment either

This is a guest contribution by Damien Hoffman, editor-in-chief of the very popular Wall St Cheat Sheet blog. Make sure to put this site on your must-read list.

John Mauldin coined the incredibly popular phrase, “Muddle Through Economy.” If the next few years continue to drag along as we rebuild from the greatest credit bubble in history, then John’s term may become the catch phrase used by every financial journalist and economist in the land.

John is a passionate traveler with business partners all over the world. He also puts out a free newsletter to over one million people world-wide. This reach of friends and travels gives John an excellent macro view of the world economy. Further, his

I received quite a few requests from readers over the past couple of weeks about the link to this post and have therefore decided to republish the item.

After the financial crisis, we have a few tips to note when investing. Please spend at least 30 seconds to study the picture below.

If this is your first time looking at the picture and after 30 seconds you still didn’t realize that there is a shark at the back, you probably need to train your adversity quotient. It is the same when investing, you always get attracted to those “big” returns. Be careful of the hidden adversity that might be lying in wait.

Hat tip: John Mauldin (Thoughts from the Frontline)

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No currency movement to speak of… Buffett calls out the deficits… PIMCO does too! SNB selling francs to stem gains… nd Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Good day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Another day with the medicine in my knee and it feels better yet today… I did have to ice it last night though, I guess I’m still not out of the woods here, but I can see the exit!

There was very little in the way of movement in the currencies yesterday. The euro moved to 1.4150, but was brought back down

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…

This post provides links to a number of thought-provoking articles I have read over the past few days that you may also find of interest.

• Andy Kessler (The Wall Street Journal): The Bernanke market, July 16, 2009, We won’t get real growth until Congress and Treasury get policy right.

• Irwin Stelzer (Times Online): American account: Barack Obama’s cures may just kill any recovery, July 12, 2009.

• Paul McCulley (Pimco - Global Central Bank Focus): What if?, So what should Washington do, if and when - and I stress “if and when”; I’m not making a forecast here! - private sector aggregate (nominal) demand growth looks like it’s going to languish in Japan style for the indefinite future? The answer: Take one cup of Krugman’s advice for Japan and two cups of Bernanke’s advice for Japan - responsibly