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  • Falling In And Out Of Love...

    * Euro sinks to 1-year low... * RBNZ cuts rates 25 BPS... * Carry Trades continue to unwind... * Fannie and Freddie cause problems for banks... ** Falling In And Out Of Love... Good day... And a Thunderin' Thursday to you! Today we mark 7 years since the "monsters" attacked our great nation and thousands of lives were lost needlessly. My blood still boils at the thought of what happened on Sept 11, 2001, and the thoughts of the twin towers coming down still flashes in my mind. 7 years ago today, we witnessed the horrific scenes from terrorists in our country. I recall trying to come up with words the next day, and just couldn't, so I stuck to currencies, in attempt to keep things as normal as they could be. I hope everyone flies their flag today in remembrance of this day 7 years ago. OK... We're seeing a complete meltdown in the currencies this morning, folks.. The euro has fallen to the low 1.39 handle, and all is looking quite bleak for the single unit right now. Our metals trader, Kristin, sent me this note that she came across regarding the euro......
  • Does The Bail Out Constitute A CDS Event?

    * A potential CDS debacle... * Currencies rally back... * Brazilian real history... * Saber rattling or geopolitical pressure? ** Does The Bail Out Constitute A CDS Event? Good day... And a Terrific Tuesday to you! Right out of the starters blocks this morning, I have to apologize for the tardiness of the Pfennig yesterday... We were experiencing some technical difficulties... In fact, if you sent me an email, I didn't get it yesterday! Things look better this morning, so, maybe we're back on track! I know it's no one's fault when this stuff happens, but it sure doesn't make me feel good about getting up at X:XX AM (I won't say because you will think I'm crazy!) to come in and write the Pfennig, only to see it not go out until late in the day! Well... The stock market here in the U.S. sure liked the news about Fannie and Freddie! I guess, they, just like the dollar bulls, didn't get the memo that this will put billions of dollars of tax burden on taxpayers, and most likely is going to cause a major disruption in the Credit Default Swaps (CDS) that are on the books... Oh, well, we have to learn to deal with mental giants all our lives, this is just another case of that!...
  • Another Government Bailout!

    * Fannie & Freddie news... * Jobs Jamboree very disappointing! * Risk Taking back on the board! * Troubles brewing in China? ** Another Government Bailout! Good day... And a Marvelous Monday to you! We had some historic economic news over the weekend as the Gov't has decided to take over Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae... When I heard the news, I made sure I would check on the currencies later in the day when the Asian markets opened. At first, it was all dollar negative news, and the euro was flying high to near the 1.44 handle... So... I went to bed thinking that the markets would be a shambles this morning when I got to work, etc. etc. But, that's not the case, as I turned on the currency screens I saw the euro had lost all that ground it had gained and is back to looking sickly around 1.42 again. In fact, I just looked over, and the single unit has given up the 1.42 handle and is trading below... I'm searching and searching for news on this strong dollar move, and can't seem to find anything... So, I'll go on with the normal fun, and see if something pops up later as I go along......
  • 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......