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Oil Price Slides!

* Big Ben in a predicament! * The euro retreats after new high... * Retail Sales disappoint! * Yen and francs on the menus again! ** Oil Price Slides! Good day... And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! 3 straight days without rain here in St. Louis! WOW! It did however, rain on the currencies' parade yesterday. About mid-morning, the brakes were applied to the run on the dollar, and the car was put into reverse. Retail Sales disappointed, and PPI is not anything to laugh about... All that and more, as we head into the day after a 15-inning All-Star Game! Front and Center though is the good cop, bad cop thing that played out with Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke (bad cop) and SEC Chairman Cox (good cop)... Big Ben sent the dollar packing in the morning with his statement that highlighted the Fed's predicament... Big Ben noted the parts of financial markets remained seriously disrupted (which screams, no rate hike), but that dollar weakness had helped cause inflation to rise (Here he goes again trying to blame everyone else for the Fed's creation and feeding of inflation... Oh well, this statement screams, no rate cut!). The currencies all took turns taking a swing at the piñata (dollar)... And... It looked like the volcano was about to blow... Oh, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know where I'm a going to go when the volcano blows! (Ahhh, a little Jimmy Buffett on a Wonderful Wednesday!)...

Published Wed, Jul 07 2008 8:55 AM by Chuck Butler

Filed under: Oil, Euro, Ben Bernanke, Yen, Swiss franc, Carry Trade, Retail Sales, IndyMac

Credit Woes Sink The Dollar!

* No Bailout for Freddie and Fannie... * The euro reaches a new record high! * More risk today... * Aussie hits 25-year high! ** Credit Woes Sink The Dollar! Good day... And a Tip Top Tuesday to you! I thought I would change it up there today... Well... Overnight, we've seen the euro reach a new record high VS the dollar, only to give some of that ground gained back on some weak German data. There was more news yesterday regarding the Freddie and Fannie saga, but I've grown tired of that talk, we dance now! Seriously, though, I have grown tired of all that Freddie and Fannie talk, that I'm going to go through an exercise explaining what GSE's are and then go on with life... So... The euro reached a new record high overnight of 1.6038! WOW! This was reached based on the fears that credit problems in the U.S. are going to put the kyboshes on what little economic growth we now have. But the shine on the euro was rubbed out by a very weak ZEW... German Investor Confidence as measured by the think tank, ZEW, fell to a record low this month on the surging inflation problems, and rising interest rates. So for now, the euro is back below 1.60, but hear me now and listen to me later... This ZEW will soon be in the rear view mirror, and the euro won't have that albatross around its neck as it revisits its overnight high....

Published Tue, Jul 07 2008 9:37 AM by Chuck Butler

Filed under: Australia, Currencies, Dollar, Bailout, Euro, Ben Bernanke, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Credit Crisis

Are Freddie and Fannie Insolvent?

* Poole slams Freddie and Fannie... * The dollar gets sold again... * Bad data for the dollar today... * Renminbi matches '07 performance! ** Are Freddie and Fannie Insolvent? Good day... And a Happy Friday to one and all! A Fabulous Friday indeed! The euro broke out of that tight trading range yesterday, we had a distorted Weekly Jobless Claims number, and the un-dynamic duo of Ben and Hank got taken to the woodshed by Ron Paul... All this and more as we head into the 2nd Friday of July! OK... First on this Fabulous Friday, I forgot to talk about ex-St. Louis Fed President William Poole's comments about Freddie and Fannie yesterday... These comments were responsible for bringing the mortgage meltdown front and center to the markets once again... So... What did Poole say? Well... Poole flatly stated that, "Freddie and Fannie Mae are insolvent"... Uh-Oh! As I thought earlier this week that this meltdown of Freddie and Fannie Mae could be the risk event I've been talking about... Well... If Poole is correct... We're here......

Published Fri, Jul 07 2008 9:13 AM by Chuck Butler

Filed under: Dollar, Consumer Confidence, Ben Bernanke, Trichet, Carry Trade, Eurozone, Jobs, Renminbi, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac

Fighting Deflation Instead of Inflation?

* A bounce in the euro overnight... * Iran tests long range missiles... * Japan's Machine Orders soar! * Is Big Ben giving us a hint? ** Fighting Deflation Instead of Inflation? Good day... And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Things settled down a bit yesterday, with the rumors of bailout for Fannie and Freddie Macs fading, and some awful Housing data being swept under the rug. The dollar gained back the ground it had lost to the euro the previous day, and Japan printed a very strong Machine Orders report... And now Iran tests long range missiles... All that and more as we begin our Wednesday... OK, front and center this morning... The Housing data from yesterday. Since the media decided to sweep this under the rug, I thought I would make certain that at least Pfennig Readers were aware of the rot on the Housing vine. The index of Pending Home resales fell -4.7% in April, a much larger decline than the "experts" forecast. I think what you're seeing here is simply that would be buyers are holding off as they expect further declines in prices.....

Published Wed, Jul 07 2008 9:53 AM by Chuck Butler

Filed under: Dollar, Oil, Inflation, Deflation, Euro, Ben Bernanke, Interest Rates, Japan, G8, John Mauldin, Iran

Dollar's Mini-rally ends...

* Record iron ore price! * Ben Stein in the Pfennig! * Top 11 currency returns... * Mogambo on Gold... ** Dollar's Mini-rally ends... Good day... And a Terrific Tuesday to you! The dollar's mini-rally yesterday stalled overnight, and once again the dollar bulls are having to cover euro shorts they put on. Yes, they NOW believe the Fed will not come through on it's claim to be an inflation fighter, and leave rates unchanged. That will keep the positive yield differential in the euro's favor (well, it would have anyway, but it keeps it unchanged). Remember though, who called out Fed Chairman Big Ben Bernanke when he said early this month that the "falling dollar had caused an unwelcome increase in inflation, and that he was "attentive" to the problem." Hogwash, said I!...

Published Tue, Jun 06 2008 9:15 AM by Chuck Butler

Filed under: Currencies, Dollar, Gold, Ben Bernanke, The Fed, Icelandic Krona, Renminbi, Mogambo, Iron Ore, Ben Stein

German Business Confidence Falls...

* The euro gives back 1-cent... * The Economist agrees with Chuck! * RBNZ takes a shot at kiwi... * FOMC week! ** German Business Confidence Falls... Good day... And a Marvelous Monday to you! Friday turned out to be Fantastico, as I hoped it would, and it ended with a nice surprise retirement party for long colleague, John Kaupisch. I couldn't talk about it Friday, because it was a surprise... But it was real nice, and John was surprised... His last day is July 3... First guy to retire here... I'll probably be the next, but with a 13-year old, I doubt that happens any time in the near future! The currencies held steady Eddie on Friday, with the euro popping up to 1.5660 at one point, only to end the day around 1.5620. Still, a nice day given all the negativity the euro had been receiving because of the Fed's rhetoric, and other minor stuff in the Eurozone... Overnight though, the euro has gotten treated like a red headed step child (OK no nasty comments, it's just a saying). The German Business Confidence as measured by the think tank, IFO, fell to the lowest level in more than two years this month... Business leaders are feeling the pinch of record Oil prices and the threat of higher interest rates....

Published Mon, Jun 06 2008 9:13 AM by Chuck Butler

Filed under: Euro, Ben Bernanke, Carry Trade, GDP, Germany, FOMC, Reserve Bank of New Zealand

Paulson Speaks With A "Double Tongue"

* The U.S. economy in a wreck! * More problems to come... * Funky accounting at the Fed... * SNB leaves rates unchanged... **Paulson Speaks With A "Double Tongue" - Good day... And a Tub Thumpin' Thursday to you! I was alone last night, and decided to write... Oh Boy! Are you, dear reader, in trouble when I begin writing at night for the next morning! My Cardinals were losing again, so my attention turned to putting down all these thoughts that keep coming into my head... Like Michael Keaton in Night Shift (what a great movie!) I need a recorder to put all these thoughts down... Like... Feed the mayo to the tuna! OK... Front and Center this morning, the euro's rally that went on all day yesterday and into the early Asian session (all the way to 1.5580) ended this morning... Someone, somewhere decided that the U.S. will be able to squeeze by this slowdown... Unfortunately, I don't agree! I see the U.S. being involved with the multi-car accident on the highway... But as Pfennig readers you already know that... However, instead of just hearing from me all the time about this meltdown of the U.S. economy, let's hear from an organization that tracks these things......

Published Thu, Jun 06 2008 9:38 AM by Chuck Butler

Filed under: Dollar, Inflation, Euro, Ben Bernanke, The Fed, Economy, FOMC, Henry Paulson, Swiss National Bank

Calling Out The Fed...

* TIC's look funny... * Germany's ZEW is weaker... * A note from the Washington Post! * Tons of data today... **Calling Out The Fed... Good day... And a Terrific Tuesday to you! Well... Someone from the Washington Post is a Pfennig Reader (I think!), as there was a great article in the paper calling out the Fed on their "rate hike" rhetoric... I'll give you snippets of that, and a snippet from my friend, the Mogambo Guru, along with the usual currency talk, on this Terrific Tuesday... Ready, set, let's go! Front and Center this morning is the dollar getting sold all day yesterday, as the euro recovered all the way to 1.5515 in the overnight markets. Unfortunately, the single unit was stopped in its rally tracks by an awful printing of German Investor Confidence, as measured by the think tank ZEW... German Investor Confidence dropped to the lowest level in 15 years this month, as rising inflation is eating away at the economy. I don't expect this report to put too much a dent in the single unit's performance today, but for now it has slipped back below 1.55......

Published Tue, Jun 06 2008 9:10 AM by Chuck Butler

Filed under: Dollar, Oil, Inflation, Euro, Ben Bernanke, The Fed, Germany, TIC Flow