CNN Money is running an interesting feature by David Goldman entitled "10 countries, 10 solutions" which details the particularities of the global economic crisis facing 10 key countries. In typical old-media fashion, the layout makes no sense from a user-friendliness perspective, so I'm going to take significant liberties in reposting their original content. They also have a single table layout of the 10 countries here. Time Warner lawyers, if you're watching this, get your editorial guys to put their content into a more sensible format that doesn't require constant clicking and I won't have to go such lengths to discuss it and in turn will actually drive more traffic to your site. Got that? Good. Now then, first some

...

Stocks push the currencies higher…Norway pulls out of recession…Jackson Hole boondoggle…Oil helps rally commodity currencies…And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Good day… We had more rain here last night, but the storms have cooled things off and it is starting to feel a bit like fall around here. Chuck flies off to San Francisco today to speak at the Money Show, so I will be bringing you the Pfennig for the next few days. The dollar has rallied just a bit overnight, clawing back some of the losses which occurred mid morning yesterday.

And what, you might asked, caused the dollar to rally yesterday? You can re-read a bit of yesterday’s Pfennig for the answer: “The data cupboard has been emptied out and is looking to get restocked today… So the only thing besides sentiment moving the markets today will be the direction of stocks…” Yes, Chuck was right on in predicting what would

...

Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte S.A. de C.V. (OMA) (OMAB), a Mexican airline company, has reported a 17.7% and 39.7% decrease in total passenger traffic in April and May 2009 respectively. Decrease in passenger traffic was mainly attributable to the recent outbreak of swine flu in Mexico. It has not only affected business travelers, but also local travelers.

The airline industry faced its worst downturn in 2008, as oil prices shot up in the first half of the year and the global credit crisis deepened in the second half. The Mexican airline industry is still reeling from the effects of swine flu. The flu has forced major airlines to cancel and reduce flight frequencies to Mexico. The Mexican tourist industry has also suffered as hotel-occupancy rates have fallen.

At this point, it is not certain how long it will take for the situation to improve. However, the

...

Following the energy companies through their earnings for a number of years now it as become apparent to me that while it is extremely difficult to predict earnings going into the future, nobody even does a mediocre job at this for a number of energy companies.  This is very understandable for small capitalization companies as well as refiners as well as exploration and production companies because their mid-quarter transparency is not very high for the most part.  This shouldn’t be true many of the majors integrated companies, and it definitely is not true for companies such as Noble Corp. [NE: 30.21, 0.00 (0.00%)], one of the three largest deepwater drilling companies.  The actions of analysts before and after the earnings release and conference call continue to confuse me, especially when you consider that Noble’s revenues come from

...

Highlights include Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (PAC), Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte (OMAB) and Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASR).Despite the cautious remarks from the World Health Organization (WHO), there are some signs of hope in controlling the H1N1 ("swine") flu. According to some reports from the Mexican government, the number of new cases is declining, and the peak of the contamination process was between April 23 and 28. According to Richard Besser, interim director of the Center of Desease Control in the U.S., the swine flu does not appear to be more aggressive than the normal flu.Maybe it is too early to state that the swine flu problem is over. However, it seems that the initial hysteria is calming down. Considering the more benign situation, we see no reason to change our current Hold recommendation on Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (PAC) and ...

MIAMI, April 2, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Omega Commercial Finance Corporation (OTCBB:OCFN) is pleased to announce that their new media presentation for The Los Corales Resort, a 298 unit high-rise hotel/condominium beachfront resort is now available.

As previously announced, Omega has signed a Definitive Agreement to acquire 100% ownership of 3.9 acres of beachfront property including the development of the project located in Puerto Penasco, Mexico.

Puerto Penasco is a majestic beach resort community located at the base of the Sea of Cortez in Mexico (Gulf of California), and can be found in the same geographical region as Cabo San Lucas. The Mexican city is a short 3 hr. drive from the Phoenix/Tucson, AZ area and is ideal for people living in southwest areas of the U.S. who are looking for a quick vacation destination without the hassles of flights and long travel itineraries.

To view the media presentation, please visit:

...

The Mexican government is investing $1.5 billion in a stretch of Mexican coast. This is a real estate opportunity you could profit from.

Infrastructure improvements are one of the biggest drivers of overseas real estate values. I’m talking airports, roads, bridges, and cruise ship ports. Anything that improves the accessibility of a piece of real estate makes it more desirable.

The development of a viable tourism infrastructure also drives values. Golf courses, hotels, man-made beaches, boutiques, restaurants, and marinas all bring visitors. Visitors spend money, which creates jobs. And jobs in turn heat up real estate values. Of course, it helps if the infrastructure improvements happen in a place with a great climate and a short flight from major affluent population centers.

Just north of Puerto Vallarta, along a stunning stretch of coast know as The Riviera Nayarit, the Mexican government is investing $1.5 billion to improve accessibility and develop tourism

...

When people ask me if I think crude oil is going to $50 or $150, I nod sagely and say: “Yes, probably.” I’m not being flip. I’m simply giving both the short-term and the long-term timeframes. Short-term, crude oil is probably heading lower, even though it’s nearly 60% off its highs. The last chance to hold the line on oil prices was at OPEC’s emergency meeting. And the oil cartel choked like a cat on a hairball. They cut 1.5 million barrels per day of production when they needed to cut about 3 million barrels per day. The OPEC meeting was the last obstacle in the way of deflationary forces that are driving oil prices lower in the short-term. Long-term, there are forces that should drive oil much higher. And one of ...

I’ve clearly laid out my reasons why the U.S. dollar has rallied sharply versus most of the world’s currencies … and why it’s got a lot of room left to climb. But in case you missed my previous analysis, here’s a recap: Contagion from major credit market illnesses has gone global … Global economies big and small are taking a hit … Demand for natural resources and everyday exports has shriveled up … Global investors are pulling capital out of riskier, foreign markets and bringing it to the U.S. … And demand for U.S. dollars and safer, dollar-based assets has risen. In short, a major foreign exchange rebalance is underway. During this rebalancing, a lot of attention was paid to the euro and the ...

One would wonder why miners hunt for a base metal such as gold. It takes extreme effort and months of aggravation just get the stuff out of the earth. Consistent value would be one possible answer, and then only part of the time. Fortunately, once the gold has been found and infrastructure put in place, there it remains waiting for those with the time and money to take it out and profit by it.

U.S. Precious Metals Inc., a gold and base metals exploration and development company, works to develop and exploit mineral deposits primarily in Southern Mexico. The company currently holds concession rights to the La Michoacan Mexico mineral region and exploration drilling rights to 6 other properties nearby.

The company has been concentrating its exploration and development activities at its Michoacan site. Test holes have indicated reserves at the site to be approximately 300,000 oz. of gold, with

...