Currency rally gets wiped out…Geithner to talk about a strong dollar? Brazil cuts rates! The Fed to control everything? YIKES! And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Good day… And a Happy Friday to one and all! Another seemingly long week for yours truly… Where’s a 3-day Holiday weekend when you need one? Have you been following the goings on with the investigation into the Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) purchase of Merrill Lynch? Whoa, there partner! I thought for sure this would get all swept under the rug, but it’s all coming out, every dirty deed! Dirty deeds done

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By Edward Hugh: Barcelona br /br /The German economy is about to suffer its deepest recession since World War II according to economics Minister Michael Glos speaking in an interview with the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag due to be published tomorrow (Sunday). Glos said growth in Europe's largest economy is now expected to drop by as much as 2.5 percent this year (and there is still downside risk here). Earlier government estimates had been for slight positive growth (0.2 percent). This suggests that the miracle export-driven-recovery in German economic performance that so many were enthusing about in 2007 has actually been a short lived, one-off, affair, driven largely by an unsustainable lending boom in the UK, and Southern and Eastern Europe. If we take as good this year's government estimate, it gives us average growth for the German economy over the last 10 years of 1.07%, hardly ...

The German economy is about to suffer its deepest recession since World War II according to economics Minister Michael Glos speaking in an interview with the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag due to be published tomorrow (Sunday). Glos said growth in Europe's largest economy is now expected to drop by as much as 2.5 percent this year (and there is still downside risk here). Earlier government estimates had been for slight positive growth (0.2 percent). This suggests that the miracle export-driven-recovery in German economic performance that so many were enthusing about in 2007 has actually been a short lived, one-off, affair, driven largely by an unsustainable lending boom in the UK, and Southern and Eastern Europe. If we take as good this year's government estimate, it gives us average growth for the German economy over the last 10 years of 1.07%, hardly changed from the supposedly "correctional" pace ...

It was a brutal day for stocks as the euphoria from the Fannie and Freddie bailout dissipated in response to renewed concerns about weakness in the financial sector. The Dow dropped 280 points to close at 11,231.

Lehman Brothers Inc. (LEH) spooked the market when word spread that the troubled investment bank's negotiations with Korea Development Bank had stalled. Lehman has been aggressively pursuing additional capital in order to provide protection against deteriorating assets and strengthen its balance sheet. Lehman shares were down more than 40% on the day.

The downtrend in the overall market and financial sector was hastened by American Insurance Group, Inc (AIG), as investors speculated that the world's largest insurer would also need to raise more capital to protect itself from exposure to mortgage related assets. AIG has already posted $20 billion in losses over the last three quarters and raised $20

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