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* The dollar rallies big time! * A dollar conspiracy? * Bailing out the automakers? * Weathering the storm in N.Z.? ** The Junk Yard Dog Bites! Good day... And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Well, the Junk Yard Dog got a hold of the euro yesterday, and even though the U.S. Banks, thus the majority of currency desks, were observing Veteran's Day, the move down in currencies VS the dollar, led by the euro, was drastic! The Junk Yard Dog I'm talking about is Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the Euro group... I stopped the euro in its tracks from its nascent rise in the past month, by saying the "euro's recent rise was undesirable"... He also deep sixed the euro, and thus all the currencies save yen, by saying he "didn't see any reason there couldn't be more rate cuts by the ECB"... (the ECB is of course the European Central Bank) Well... These two comments tore through any gains the currencies had mounted VS the dollar in recent weeks, like a Junk Yard Dog tears though some raw meat! It was a knife to the euro's heart......

* Grave words about the economy... * OPEC warns of a higher Oil prices... * FDIC in need of $150 Billion? * Citigroup calling for a higher euro... ** Cash For Trash... Good day... And a Tub Thumpin' Thursday to you! Well... The President sure painted a rosy picture for the U.S. economy last night didn't he? NOT! Whoa there partner! With words like 'collapse' and 'danger' and 'panic', President Bush was telling the country that we're in deep dookie! In telling the public that the government must put $700 Billion of taxpayer's money at risk to bail out the financial system, he said... 'We're in the midst of a serious financial crisis. Our entire economy is in danger. America could slip into a financial panic.' Now... Those are some serious statements, folks... And were followed up by the comments by the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, who said, 'Whatever you think about whether or not there was a need for a bailout... Once the president, secretary of the Treasury, and the Federal Reserve Chairman have announced that if you don't do this, there will be a collapse, there's probably going to be a collapse if you don't do it.'...

* US$ saved by oil... * US Recession? (not according to Paulson)... * New Zealand worst performer in July... * Big Mac Index says buy Asia... ** US$ saved by oil... Good day...And welcome to August. The markets had a little more movement yesterday as the US GDP report came in lower than expected, and had a hidden surprise for dollar bears (more on that later). In addition to the poor GDP numbers, Personal consumption dropped and the GDP Price Index also showed a decrease. The employment cost index was flat, and the weekly jobless claims were slightly higher than expected at 448k. More Americans filed initial unemployment claims last week than at any time in more than five years. The only positive piece of data released in the US yesterday was the volatile (and somewhat unreliable) Chicago Purchasing Managers number which showed an increase back above 50. With all the bad data, the dollar sold off rather sharply and the Euro jumped a full cent to trade over 1.57 for a short while. But the dollar bears didn't celebrate for long, as the dollar sharply reversed course as crude oil prices rode to its rescue. As I explained earlier in the week, the price of crude oil and the US$ have had a very tight relationship lately, with a correlation of .9. Just after the dollar fell due to the GDP releases, crude oil began a sharp $3 drop and saved the US$ from further losses. The price of oil has continued to slide, and is now down over 11% in the past month. This has helped prop the dollar up in spite of a number of poor economic reports here in the US....

* Euro loses 1 1/2-cents... * Currencies get taken to the woodshed... * Bernanke joins Paulson, but why? * A China comment explanation......