Chuck Butler (The Daily Reckoning): What a ride yesterday for the currencies! Gold? Well, at one point gold had shot up $24 on the day! It topped out at $1,142… The shiny metal then gave some back on profit taking, but gold holders have got to love it! Those who keep waiting for a pullback. Well, they might still be waiting when the cows come home.

Yesterday, we had a couple of Fed Heads talking, but the Big Kahuna stood out and moved the markets with his statements… Here’s the skinny…

Big Ben was giving a speech, and said, “The Fed will monitor closely the currencies, and the Fed’s policies will ensure that the dollar is strong.” Now, when he first uttered those words, the dollar got bought and the non-dollar currencies were sold… But then, a few of us had this feeling… It was a feeling that we

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

Russia’s Fin Min talks up the dollar!  Currencies, commodities, stocks all lose ground…  Who’s car is uglier … Gold hit a 3-week low… And Now… Today’s Pfennig! Good day… And a Marvelous Monday to you! How about that weekend? I actually didn’t get a chance to experience much of it outside, but it sure looked great! We have new champions in basketball and hockey, so congrats to the Lakers and Penguins on their Championships! Now, the housecleaning is out of the way… It’s time to get to the meat… Where’s the beef? HA!

OK… Well, the Russian Finance Minister, Kudrin, threw a cat among the pigeons yesterday, when he stated that Russia has confidence in the U.S. currency. The markets have reacted violently to this statement, sending the dollar much higher, and the currencies led by the euro, much lower. An overreaction? I think so! But… These are the types of things you watch happen, and

Silver has a long history. Ancient cultures used silver for trade, jewelry, and crafts.  Silver ore was first processed by the Chaldeans around 2500 BC as well as in Asia Minor (Turkey).  In an effort to meet rising societal demand, ancient Mediterranean cultures eventually looked to silver deposits in modern-day Armenia.

Later, Rome exploited deposits from the Laurium mines in the Black Sea region.  The Romans used silver and other metals for coinage. The Carthaginians looked to Spanish mines for their silver ore supply. Most cultures have valued that shiny metal known as “gold’s poor cousin.”

As for modern times, silver prices were stagnant for decades before exploding upward the last few years.  A huge gain in silver, along with a similar move in gold, is causing many investors to revisit precious metals……..

…….#3 – iShares Silver Trust (SLV)

As you know, we

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Matt—so what you're saying, essentially, is that you agree with me.

There IS a word to describe what my views on gold have been over the last year or so. And that word is "correct." And there's also a word to describe your views on the shiny metal. And that would be "confused."

While I'm not sure I'd be putting a ton of stock in how the hedge funds are invested right now (after all, hedge funds got crushed as much or worse than the rest of us last year), I certainly get the sentiment. If you look at the lay of the land: 1) you've got to be incredulous at the current bull run (the rule of thumb is that you come out of a bear market flat and deflated [emotionally], and we're still on a roller coaster; 2) we are staring an incredibly inflationary dollar-bearish market in the eyes right now. And THAT,

Initial Jobless Claims rise…  PPI does too!  Euros get hung out on a line…  Gold makes a comeback! And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Good day… And a Thunderin’ Thursday to you! It may not be Thunderin’ where you are, but apparently it was yesterday in my little river town, as I heard we had some shingles blow off… And… It certainly is Thunderin’ over in the Eurozone this morning, I’ll tell you why in a minute. So, let’s get going don’t want to get caught in any of that Thunder!

I finished the last of my 3 presentations yesterday, and called it quits, as far

China to grow 8%? An end for Mark-to-markets?  What will the ECB do today?  Gold at a discount…. And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

We have the Bank of England (BOE) and the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting today. Look for rate cuts from both of them, as recessions are deepening in both camps. The BOE doesn’t have many arrows in their quiver, while the ECB has held some in reserve. I doubt the ECB would go for a “huge honkin’” rate cut today, as they are normally more stick in the mud thinking… The

No follow through on the Eurozone bond idea…  Mirror, mirror on the wall…  AIG to set record for losses…  And Now… Today’s Pfennig! Well… The Eurozone bond story that I brought to you yesterday failed to materialize yesterday, recall I told you that Germany was against the idea, and this failure to launch… Pushed the euro back down from the high 1.29 handle late Friday afternoon, to the 1.27 handle this morning… I see where the euro has rebounded back above 1.28 as I went through the explanation of Shrove Tuesday, so at least it shows a pulse every now and then!

The Risk Takers have crawled back under rocks and into the walls again, as Risk Aversion weighs heavily on the currencies… I saw a headline this morning that made me laugh out loud… Some writer believes that the “Dollar Is Best Looker in Ugly-Currency Parade”… Hmmm, apparently he didn’t

Currencies rally…  IFO unexpectedly rises…  Norway looks good…  Gold hits $900 again! And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Hey! What a day for the currencies yesterday! Geez Louise, it’s seems like it’s been a month of Sundays since I could say that! And there’s been follow up overnight, although, I do believe I’m seeing some profit taking right now… I went to radiation yesterday with the euro trading around 1.2965… I came back 2 hours later, and it was 1.31! And it didn’t stop there, trading up to 1.3175, but running into a wall of resistance there… But that was temporary, as the overnight market pushed the single unit higher to 1.3250… It did trade all the way up to 1.33 and change on news that the German Business Confidence, as measured by the think tank IFO, unexpectedly rose for the first time in 8 months. This improvement was a result of the

Yen continues to kick!  Jim Rogers disses sterling…  China’s 4th QTR GDP…  Singapore announces stimulus… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

A nasty day in the currencies yesterday, except Japan of course. The Dow jumped 290 points yesterday, maybe an Obama bounce? You all know that I subscribe to an Obama bounce for stocks and the dollar in the first part of this year… But given what I know about, and what you now know about, after I drew it all out yesterday, the additions to the deficit that Obama will make, the focus on the fundamentals should return by late spring, early summer… That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!

Well… As I