Another currency rally….  Bank of Canada cuts 75 BPS!…  A Santa rally?… What Asia thinks… And Now… Today’s Pfennig! OK… Another day of “healing” for the currencies, as the 1.29 handle was achieved and held on to in the overnight markets. Slowly… Like sand through the hourglass, these are the days of currency healing! HA! That show, Days of our Lives, was burned into my brain as a kid, as it was my mother’s fave soap.

The single unit was higher within the 1.29 handle overnight than it is right now, as it has given back a bit of ground on the news that a European Union Commissioner, Buti, said that, “economic indicators point

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Another currency rally….  Bank of Canada cuts 75 BPS!…  A Santa rally?… What Asia thinks… And Now… Today’s Pfennig! OK… Another day of “healing” for the currencies, as the 1.29 handle was achieved and held on to in the overnight markets. Slowly… Like sand through the hourglass, these are the days of currency healing! HA! That show, Days of our Lives, was burned into my brain as a kid, as it was my mother’s fave soap.

The single unit was higher within the 1.29 handle overnight than it is right now, as it has given back a bit of ground on the news that a European Union Commissioner, Buti, said that, “economic indicators point

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Dollar firms vs euro ahead of expected ECB rate cut… Traders eye U.S. data, central bank rate cuts for impetus… U.S. November car sales tumble 37 pctGold eased on Wednesday as the dollar firmed against the euro, denting the metal’s appeal as a currency hedge, with traders awaiting a raft of key economic news due later this week.

A spate of interest rate decisions, including that of the European Central Bank on Thursday, are set to influence the currency markets, and key U.S. non-farm payrolls numbers will be released on Friday.

Spot gold slipped to $773.05/775.05 an ounce at 1000 GMT from $781.50 an ounce in New York late on Tuesday.

“This is a big week for news, and a lot of people will be on the sidelines ahead of that,” Afshin Nabavi, head of trading at MKS Finance, said. “This is going to be

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RBA cuts 100 BPS…  It IS a recession!  Paulson to ruffle feathers?  Yen to rally hard? And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Right out of the starters blocks this morning, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) pulled the rug right out from under the “high yield status” of their economy, with another HUGE rate cut overnight… This time, the RBA cut 100 BPS, to an internal cash rate of 4.25%. This brings the total since September to 300 BPS! WOW! Talk about effectively unwinding seven years of tightening! The statement following the rate announcement leads me to believe that the RBA is probably finished cutting rates for now… It will be a wait-n-see what happens globally, before the RBA entertains any talk of further rate cuts… At least that’s my opinion!

Had a long talk with the legal beagles yesterday… The just don’t like what / how I say things. This all stems

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Dollar rises vs euro as risk aversion persists…  Yen supported on persistent global economy fears…  Euro zone inflation plunges

The dollar rose against the euro on thin trade on Friday, as weak equities markets and fears of a deepening global recession led investors to seek the U.S. currency as a haven.

Worries about consumer spending helped weigh on U.S. and European shares, while the low-yielding yen gained ground.

Extreme risk aversion and repatriation flows have been supporting the U.S. currency recently.

The euro weakened against the yen and sterling on growing expectations that slowing euro zone inflation may lead the European Central Bank to cut interest rates more aggressively next week from the current benchmark rate of 3.25 percent.

Trading volumes were lower than usual as U.S. markets reopened for only half a day after Thanksgiving Holiday.

“Trading is very thin,

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Coordinated rate cuts...  Did the Fed reignite soaring inflation?  More pain in Iceland...  Revisiting the 90's in Japan... And Now... Today's Pfennig!

Anyone looking at the headlines coming in from the Northern Hemisphere in the last couple of days would be forgiven for being a little nervous. I have received many calls from savers asking about our banks.

Even over the weekend the news has got worse. British mortgage bank Bradford and Bingley is likely to be nationalised by the government there after it failed to find a buyer. Dutch/Belgian bank Fortis is in crisis talks about either a forced sale or a government bailout. America’s sixth-largest bank, Wachovia, is hunting for someone to rescue it, although it is possible it could be allowed to fail so buyers can snap up assets in a fire sale.

The US$700 billion bailout of US banks by the US taxpayer looks more likely to pass Congress this week after leaders from both sides of the House re-railed the derailed plan. But many

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The public perspective of inflation is mostly vis-à-vis consumer prices — what we're paying for food, gas, t-shirts and plumbing services. But even while these prices have been the poster child of inflation measures in recent years, there's more to it than meets the eye. When it comes to Europe, wage push inflation plays a crucial role. Higher Costs Here, Higher Prices There — Pretty Soon It's No Longer Real Money! Producer prices are simply the costs required to produce goods and services. Naturally, when producers' costs increase they'll demand higher prices for the goods they produce. In other words, they pass on their costs to their buyers. Regardless of what type of costs are rising and pushing up prices, those companies who pony up the extra dough to purchase these goods will ...