The US dollar surprised many by breaking out of its six-year downtrend in 2008. Currency expert Jack Crooks says the global economy will get a lot worse before it gets better. And the euro will come under severe pressure as individual members of the union crumble. Jack says this all poins to further greenback strength in 2009.

This from Sovereign Society:

Think back to the beginning of 2008. If you’re like most investors, you were probably wondering just how low the dollar might fall in 2008, and how much higher oil would surge. But, Mr. Market surprised us in a big way in 2008.

Now the question seems: How much higher will the dollar go, and will oil continue to plunge lower?

Many were so surprised by awesome and swift change of fortunes in 2008. So let’s take a look at some of the reasons for the swift reversal of

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strong/stronga href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SVFAWkhXc8I/AAAAAAAAL3k/ueQYKIgYSc0/s1600-h/hrvynia.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283074594387227586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 159px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SVFAWkhXc8I/AAAAAAAAL3k/ueQYKIgYSc0/s320/hrvynia.png" border="0" //abr /br /blockquotep“In Ukraine, the evidence is still that policymakers do not quite understand the seriousness of the challenges they face,”. Timothy Ash, analyst at the Royal Bank of Scotland. /pp“There is a burgeoning economic crisis in the European periphery,” Krugman said on the ABC network Dec. 14. “The money has dried up. That’s the new center, the center of this crisis has moved from the U.S. housing market to the European periphery.” /p/blockquoteMake no mistake about it. What is taking place right now in Ukraine is extraordinarily serious. The IMF have recently agreed a support loan to the country, but the politicians themselves still can't agree on whether or not they are actually going to abide by the conditions attached to it. Meantime, as we can all see on ...

by Edward Hugh: Barcelonabr /br /br /blockquoteIn view of Greece's EMU membership, the availability of external financing is not a concern, but the correction of cumulating indebtedness could weigh appreciably on growth going forward. While the risk of transmitting vulnerabilities to the euro area is very small reflecting Greece’s small relative size, large persistent current account deficits would increase the vulnerabilities to a reversal in market sentiment, leading to a corrective retrenchment of private sector balance-sheets in the face of rising indebtedness, and a possible appreciable rise in the cost of funding over time. These developments would have significant negative implications for growth.br /a href="http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=21937.0"Greece: 2007 Article IV Consultation/a - IMF Staff Report/blockquotepbr /br //ppa href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SUEsR712NQI/AAAAAAAALuU/VGFiqyCyzBw/s1600-h/bond+spreads+2.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278548924887872770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 170px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SUEsR712NQI/AAAAAAAALuU/VGFiqyCyzBw/s320/bond+spreads+2.png" border="0" //abr /The above quited paragraph from the IMF is a very good example of what used to be ...

by Edward Hugh: Barcelonabr /br /br /Well, before I go any further, yes you read the header right, with the contraction of 0.1% in Q3 over Q2 (seasonally and working day adjusted data) reported by the national statistics office (KSH) today (Tuesday) the Hungarian economy has now entered its strongsecond/strong recession since the start of 2007, since data revisions accompanying today's GDP detailed results from KSH show that they now estimat the economy contracted in strongboth/strong Q1 and Q2 of 2007 (by 0.2% in each case), thus satisfying the normal technical criterion for declaring a recession. Somehow I doubt the Hungarian press are filled today with headlines about this juicly little detail.br /br /br /pa href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/ST5xOIDvDbI/AAAAAAAALr0/p6-CDg5cYwY/s1600-h/hungary+q-o-q.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277780300820057522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 159px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/ST5xOIDvDbI/AAAAAAAALr0/p6-CDg5cYwY/s320/hungary+q-o-q.png" border="0" //abr /br /While the Q1/Q2 2007 detail is a purely technical recession, in the sense that ...

Almost everything we use in modern society contains large amounts of raw materials. And they can’t be mined fast enough to keep pace with demand, especially from emerging markets. Lundin Mining Corp. (NYSE:LMC) is a strong Canadian mining company, with no debt and world-class assets. And it is a steal at today’s beaten down prices.

This from Investment U:

Consider that your computer could contain up to 38 separate chemical elements and that all of those elements needed to be mined and refined. Everything from cell phones to housing supplies requires massive amounts of raw materials.

Our modern lifestyle encourages us to buy the latest products, all made with increasing amounts of technology - and more raw materials.

But industrialized nations aren’t the only players clamoring for these commodities. Developing nations around the world are pounding the table for more of everything. They want what the industrialized west has had for

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Unearth Big Gains from the Commodity “Supercycle”

The latest research from the Investment U Advisory Panel Friday, November 28, 2008: Issue #893

Consider that your computer could contain up to 38 separate chemical elements and that all of those elements needed to be mined and refined. Everything from cell phones to housing supplies requires massive amounts of raw materials.

Our modern lifestyle encourages us to buy the latest products, all made with increasing amounts of technology - and more raw materials.

But industrialized nations aren’t the only players clamoring for these commodities. Developing nations around the world are pounding the table for more of everything. They want what the industrialized west has had for years. And they want it now.

And that’s just the problem. There isn’t enough of it being produced fast enough to satisfy everyone. An imbalance exists between producers, supplies and ...

It’s becoming clear that subprime lending wasn’t limited to the housing market. Companies in the auto-loan business are battling hard to keep their heads above water. Andrew Snyder says small firms like AmeriCredit (NYSE:ACF), United PanAm (NASDAQ:UPFC) and Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ:CPSS) will struggle to survive.

This from Today’s Financial News:

If you thought lending in the home-mortgage lending industry was tight, you will be shocked by the woes in the auto-lending world. This subprime debacle is destroying one company after the other.

Just this morning, GMAC (NYSE:GJM) announced it has stopped issuing car loans in seven European countries. October 31 will be the last day for folks from Finland, Norway, Greece, the

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It’s becoming clear that subprime lending wasn’t limited to the housing market. Companies in the auto-loan business are battling hard to keep their heads above water. Andrew Snyder says small firms like AmeriCredit (NYSE:ACF), United PanAm (NASDAQ:UPFC) and Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ:CPSS) will struggle to survive.

This from Today’s Financial News:

If you thought lending in the home-mortgage lending industry was tight, you will be shocked by the woes in the auto-lending world. This subprime debacle is destroying one company after the other.

Just this morning, GMAC (NYSE:GJM) announced it has stopped issuing car loans in seven European countries. October 31 will be the last day for folks from Finland, Norway, Greece, the

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by Edward Hugh: Barcelona Yesterday, the Ukraine received a USD16.5bn loan from the IMF and the IMF at the same time said that it would agree with the Hungarian government on a rescue package in the coming days. Under normally circumstances this would be good news for CEE assets. However, it seems like the markets are totally giving up on CEE. This morning the Hungarian stock markets have dropped more than 10% despite the promise of an IMF package. ......it is worrying that the CEE markets continue to sell-off despite IMF’s clear commitment to support the region’s markets and economies. One might in fact see the lack of positive response to IMF’s rescue packages for Hungary and the Ukraine as an indication that these packages are in fact making the markets even more nervous that something “is seriously wrong in CEE”. Lars Christensen, Chief Analyst Danske Bank, CEE: Markets fail to respond ...

History of Zinc (from International Zinc Association, (http://www.iza.com/uses.html) Centuries before zinc was discovered in the metallic form, its ores were used for making brass and zinc compounds, its ores were used for healing wounds and sore eyes. It is believed that the Romans first made brass in the time of Augustus (20 B.C. - 14 A.D.). In the 13th century Marco Polo described the manufacture of zinc oxide in Persia. At Zawar, India, both zinc metal and zinc oxide were produced from the 12th to the 16th century. From India, zinc manufacturing moved to China in the 17th century where it developed as an industry to supply the needs of the brass industry. In 1743, the first European zinc smelter was established in Bristol in the United Kingdom. A major technological improvement was achieved in Germany which led to the erection of ...