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  • Veteran's Day

    * The China good feeling dissipates... * Currencies lose their edge... * Fannie Mae needs more! * Silver manipulation? ** Veteran's Day Good day... And a Terrific Tuesday to you! A Veteran's Day Tuesday! This is a Banking and Federal Holiday today, so the bricks and mortar banks are closed, and there will be no mail delivery, and of course your friendly neighborhood Government worker gets the day off. I'm here, in the saddle, writing the Pfennig like it's a regular work day, and the boys and girls will begin to gather in about 2 1/2 hours from now. We'll get all caught up, return some calls and head home today. Veteran's Day... I thought I would begin today with a snippet of a Veteran's Day poem by Jared Jenkins......
  • Change... What Change?

    * Currency Volatility! * Trading Theme creeps back! * ADP indicates a bad Jobs Jamboree... * Putting on my thinking cap... ** Change... What Change? Good day... And a Thunderin' Thursday to you! I say Thunderin' because we're expected to get Thunderstorms and rain today here in the St. Louis area... This will be the first rain we've received in some time, so, while it will bring cooler weather our way, it will still be much needed rain! Well... What a volatile day in the currencies yesterday! WOW! Running up and down the dial, all day long! At one point yesterday morning, the euro looked to be in the driver's seat, ooh, ooh, ooh ooh, driver's seat, yeah... Stop it Chuck, this is supposed to be a serious commentary! Yeah right! Well, at least seriousness is sprinkled in from time to time, eh? Anyway... What I was getting at before slipping off into a song by Sniff-n-The Tears, the euro was moving higher and higher, and was making the 1.29 and 1.30 handles look like picket fences when you pass them going 80 mph!...
  • FOMC Meeting Begins Today...

    * Mini-currency rally is cut short * Is it Japan or U.S.? * Gold stages a rally... * Swiss francs remain well bid... ** FOMC Meeting Begins Today... Good day... And a Terrific Tuesday to you! Well... We saw some profit taking in the currencies yesterday, which meant a mini-rally in non-dollar currencies for the first time in what seems to be a month of Sundays! At one point in the day, the euro had added more than 1-cent to its figure dragging sterling, Swiss, Canada and a host of others along. But, that didn't last in the overnight markets, and we're right smack dab back on square one where we left off yesterday. This morning we'll listen in on former Fed Chairman Volcker's speech, which ought to be a good one, don't you think? I mean, this is the guy that said a couple of years ago that the U.S. could see a currency crisis... And didn't it? OK, it's not now, but turn your clocks back to June, and you'll see what I'm talking about here. Volcker is a "hero" of mine in how he took on the inflation of the late 70's early 80's and didn't dance around the dance floor with it... He whipped it into shape, and then left it all in good shape for Big Al Greenspan... We all know what happened after that!...
  • Coordinated Rate Cuts!

    * Yen trades to 98! * Carry Trades unwinding hurt high yielders... * Gold rallies back to $900! * Central Bank rate cuts.... ** Coordinated Rate Cuts! Good day... And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Well... There's a ton of stuff to talk about today, one of which is the amazing run that Japanese yen has had in the past month, but particularly the last week! No need to sneak a peak at the currency round-up, Japanese yen is trading 98.80! WOW! I could be acting like a contortionist and trying to slap myself on the back, but that would unprofessional... And besides, the rest of the currencies are taking shots to the mid-section. Anyway... Blow the horn, the Carry Trade (for yen) is dead, may it rest in peace! OK... The currencies tried like all get out yesterday to rally VS the dollar, the euro did end the day 1% higher on the day, which after the bloodshed of the past month, I'll take that any old time! I would love to go back to 2005 (not really, but for this conversation's sake I will) and pull out some old Pfennigs where I talked about all the naysayers talking about a break up of the euro... We had the NO votes from France and Denmark on accepting the European Union's (EU) Constitution, we had riots in the streets of France, we had rising interest rates in the U.S. and dozens and dozens of naysayers called out the euro and said it would collapse under the weight. I said then, and I'll say now... HOGWASH!...
  • Iceland Melts Down...

    * RBA cuts rates 100 BPS! * Iceland to peg the krona... * High Yielders get whacked! * Gold rallies in the face of a strong dollar! ** Iceland Melts Down... Good day... And a Terrific Tuesday to you! Well... Folks... The wheels, what was left of them, are really coming off this economy. It's a sad sight to see, but it's happening nonetheless, and there's no bailout, stimulus check, mortgage bill, truck loads of money supply, or whatever, that's going to stop this recession bus.. Memo to Paulson and Bernanke... Don't throw yourself under this recession bus... Well... The dollar continued to push the envelope against a handful of currencies yesterday. Up front and center, the high yielders got beaten about the head and shoulders by the dollar. Aussie, kiwi, real, rand, all took major hits from the dollar. It was one of the worst days I can remember seeing for these currencies. This huge sell off showed two things going against the high yielders... 1. Commodities (other than Gold) are getting whacked, and 2. The Carry Trade is Dead......
  • King Henry Was Wrong Again!

    * Bailout package is voted down! * Biggest one day point drop for the DOW! * Dollar rallies hard... * Carry trades unwind... Again! ** King Henry Was Wrong Again! Good day... And a Terrific Tuesday to you! Well... Guess who was wrong AGAIN! That's right, King Henry Paulson, he of the U.S. Treasury Sec. throne... He told the world on Friday, that the bailout package was a "done deal"... And he told us again on Sunday that it was a "done deal"... The markets rejoiced, the stock jockeys danced in the streets, the karma flowed and all the stars were in alignment... And then... A (not so) funny thing happened on the way to the forum... King Henry's men revolted, and the bailout package did NOT have the votes to pass it, and the "done deal" was "undone"! Once again this man has led investors down the wrong path. I've documented the wrong statements by this man in the past year, and still, investors hang on every word by King Henry... When will they ever learn? When, will, they, ev-er learn?...
  • Bailout Package Is Ready...

    * Ready to spend $700 Billion... * Wachovia wants to sell itself... * Dollar rallies hard... * The rot on the vine spreads... ** Bailout Package Is Ready... Good day... And a Marvelous Monday to you! A Wonderful Weekend for yours truly, as the weather was Chamber of Commerce like, I got to see all the kids, and little Delaney Grace two days! I also got to enjoy two football games, one that Alex played in, and one that Alex went with me to! Fabulous stuff! OK... The data on Friday was the stuff that should have sent the dollar to the woodshed, but like all the data lately, it just gets swept under the rug, as the market movers are myopic with the Bailout package. Lawmakers worked all weekend to iron out the details of the package, and King Henry (U.S. Treasury Sec.) has announced again that the package has been agreed on by Congress. The vote doesn't actually take place until tomorrow or Wednesday, but that hasn't stopped King Henry from pounding his chest over his latest victory. I like what I heard from former Fed Gov. (and Mark Twain Bank economist) Laurence Meyer, who said: "This has a reasonable chance of pulling back from the brink and having some success, but it's far from certain that will be the case."...
  • Some Healing...

    * largest one-day move up in the euro! * largest one-day move up in Oil! * Gold and Silver rebound! * Renminbi finally moves! ** Some Healing... Good day... And a Terrific Tuesday to you! I heard from one of my two sisters that live in the Houston area yesterday. They rode out the Hurricane together, have some damage to her house, and is still without electricity. I can't imagine what that's all like. But they are both safe at that's what's important at this point. Well... The euro had it's largest one-day move upward VS the dollar since its inception in 1999, yesterday... We've seen some profit taking in the overnight markets, but just for good measure... I think it appropriate to show that the euro reached 1.48 yesterday... That was a 3.5 euro move, and after falling to a low of 1.3869 on 9/12 (before bouncing big that day), the euro has now recovered about 7%... I would call that "some healing"......
  • Goldman and Morgan Stanley Are Now Banks!

    * Currencies see some healing... * $1 Trillion and counting... * Gold and Silver rebound! * The Currency Capitalist... ** Goldman and Morgan Stanley Are Now Banks! Good day... And a Marvelous Monday to you! Someone along the road last week stopped by to tell me that I was too "Cheery" each morning with my salutations! He laughed, because of course he was kidding... But as I told him... If you're told what I was told last summer, each and every day is a day to be cheery about, no matter what's going on in the markets! Well... That was quite the trip last week, 3 cities in one week... In October I do 5 cities in 10 days... And then of course we had the goings on of last week... I really was upset and angry last week when I sent those notes to Chris for Friday's Pfennig. Our Gov't has spent 100's of Billions of dollars, and looking to spend more to avert a crisis... Yes, it was a Crisis, and something had to be done, but the way we did it, wreaks of socialism... My good friend, John Mauldin, whom I spent some time with last Friday, said, "I would sure like to see some regulation in Credit Default Swaps for all the money we spent!"...
  • A week of interest rate decisions...

    * A week of interest rate decisions... * Pound Sterling drops again... * Brazil and Mexico continue to dominate... * Gold and Silver fall... ** A week of interest rate decisions... Good day...The dollar stayed in the pretty tight range it has established over the weekend, gaining some strength over the weekend after losing some ground on Friday. Should be an exciting week as it is 'Interest Rate Decision' week as a number of central banks will be announcing their new rates. I think the rate announcements will reinforce my feelings that the world's economies are heading down divergent paths, with some economies heading down a recessionary path while others maintaining good growth rates. As expected, the US unemployment rose to the highest level in more than four years as employers cut jobs again in July. But the decrease in payrolls was slightly less than forecast, so some were saying 'it isn't as bad as we thought'....
  • A Jobs Jamboree Friday!

    * The dollar's mini-rally fades... * Weekly jobless claims jump to 407K! * Swiss inflation rises! * Final Four weekend!...
  • Another Large Rate Cut From The Fed...

    * Are there more rate cuts coming? * Yen and Swiss kicking sand... * Emerging Markets High Yielders fall... * Buying Opportunities in Gold and Silver?...
  • Finally... A Breather!

    * Japanese yen looking good! * High Yielders knocked off the roost! * More recession looking data in the U.S.... * What Me Worry?...
  • A Moon Shot for the Euro!

    * Euro hits 1.50! * A general rout on the dollar overnight! * No Plunge Protection Team sighting yet... * Data sends the dollar to the woodshed!...
  • Another Bad Week for the Dollar...

    * Another bad week for the dollar... * A monoline bailout plan in the works? * Kiwi near a 22-year high! * Precious metals are telling us something......