Search results matching tags 'Japan' and 'AIG'

A Jobs Jamboree for Friday 01/08/2010...

ChuckButler — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:01:32 GMT

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In This Issue..

* The dollar holds gains...
* Japanese saber rattling...
* Geithner in trouble?
* Commercial Real Estate in trouble...

And Now... Today's Pfennig!

A Jobs Jamboree Friday...

Good day... And a Happy Friday to one and all! The first Friday of 2010! So, let's call it a Fabulous Friday, and save the Fantastico for a day when we'll see the temperature at least reach the freezing mark! Our "snow day" is over, everyone was safe...

You see, and I hope you don't mind me taking this trip in the past, many years ago, I spend a winter of discontent, I might add, in Des Moines, Iowa... Where it began snowing in November and didn't stop until the first week of May... When I first moved there, I noticed that their street crews didn't plow the roads, and salt them like they did in St. Louis, they just threw cinders on the snow and people drove on it. That's where I really learned to drive on snow... As the years went by, back in St. Louis, dealing with snow, I realized that the way they did it in Des Moines was better!

OK... A little history... I was running a back office of a local brokerage firm in Des Moines in 1978/ 79... I've seen it all folks...

So... The dollar held the hammer over the non-dollar currencies yesterday, although the usual suspects of Aussie, Canada, kiwi and Norway didn't really lose that much ground... The real weakness has been seen in the 3 majors... Euro, yen and sterling...

There was a report that the Fed Reserve issued yesterday reminding banks to manage their interest rate risk, that reminded the markets that banks do have interest rate risk, and sparked a flood of "safe haven" buying in the dollar... Funny, what a stupid report from the guys who fueled all this mess, would created "safe haven" trades in the dollar... I just don't see why that happens... I know all the reasons why people feel that the dollar is a "safe haven" but, in reality, did that turn out to be true in the last financial meltdown?

Recall that there was this HUGE deleveraging of risk assets like currencies and commodities, and "safe haven" buying of dollars to buy Treasuries... I've told you many times before how that "safe haven" trade didn't exactly work out that way, with the dollar returning to its weak dollar trend, and Treasury yields going from 2% to 3.85%, which means a price loss! But... Don't let that fact get in the way of more so-called "safe haven" buying!

Today is a Jobs Jamboree Friday... Snuck up on you, eh? It snuck up on me... There's a story on the Bloomie this morning titled: "U.S. Payrolls May Have Stopped Falling As Economy Strengthened"... Now, wouldn't that be nice, if we could wake up, when the day was new... No wait... Wouldn't that be nice...

I'm afraid it would be lies, to make us feel good... Besides, it was December... How many people lose their jobs in December? The month is short, filled with good will, and so on... So, yes, we could actually see the job losses stop in December, the first time in two years that we wouldn't see job losses... But will it be a true indicator that the jobs problem has bottomed?

And, what, part will the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) play in this report? We all know that they get their hands into every labor report and "massage" it...

OK... Yesterday, there was news all over the TV and internet about the NY Fed and AIG... According to the report, the NY Fed pressured AIG to keep their payments to brokerages like Goldman Sachs, a secret from the public... Now, doesn't that just tick you off? OH! And guess who was running the NY Fed at the time of these alleged deals to defraud the public? Why, it's Mr. Timothy Geithner, that's who! Is there any thing that this guys touches that's not a fuster?

The NY Fed is denying these findings... But, there's smoke here folks... And it's thick smoke! And it goes along with all the other things I keep talking about regarding the Gov't getting more involved in our personal lives... I'm sure, that Tim Geithner thought it to be "best" to not tell the public that the they were giving tax payer Billions to AIG, and AIG was turning it around and giving it to Goldman Sachs and others... And the excuse would be along the lines of: These are extraordinary times, and they call for extraordinary measures to save the world...

I'm going to stop there on that... This is a Friday, and I like to be upbeat and ready for the weekend... Everybody's working for the weekend...

Gold has found it difficult to add to its gains earlier in the week, instead it has seen some profit taking, and outright selling. It's down $9 this morning... The shiny metal is still well above the $1,100 level... Of which... I believe is the new line in the sand, and dips below that level should be looked at as buying opportunities... But, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong of course...

There is a lot of talk going 'round that centers on the Emerging Markets, and the prospects for rosy returns from these Emerging Markets in 2010... So, I thought I would touch on this... Countries like: Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Brazil, South Korea, Mexico, South Africa, India, China, and there's more...

Basically, as I've explained to you many times in the past, These Emerging Markets currencies tend to trade in packs... So, if something bad happens in say, Mexico, then the rest of the Emerging Markets get tarred with the same brush... But... If it's all seashells and balloons for the Emerging Markets, like it has been so far this year (5 days, Chuck, come on!) then they all get bought...

To that end, the Emerging Markets co-head at PIMCO, sent out a report yesterday saying that Poland, Mexico and South Korea are his picks for 2010... Well... I like Poland best of those three, and have since 2003, when I wrote the piece about how Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic were on the "fast track" to euro acceptance... Unfortunately, that "fast track" had a detour, and other countries moved to euro acceptance before the "three amigos"... Finland, Greece are two that moved ahead of the three amigos... Of course, right now, the European Union and European Central Bank probably wishes they had never accepted Greece...

After the comments by the Japanese Finance Minister the night before, last night saw comments left and right trying to calm the markets down... Prime Minister, Hatoyama, chastised the Finance Minister, by saying that the Gov't should not comment on FX, and added that the Finance Minister's currency views reflected business sentiment only... Then, as you might guess if you follow Japanese politics... The Finance Minister conceded that "currencies undoubtedly should be determined by markets"

So... One day imminent Japanese intervention was on the table... And the next day it was removed... But one thing is clear here folks... The Japanese want the yen weaker, they just don't want to see wild swings...

This has just got to get under the skin of U.S. officials, who know in their heart of hearts that they need a cheaper dollar, but their two largest trading partners have designs on keeping their currency weak...

Remember how both Chris and yours truly, pointed out to you that Commercial Real Estate was the next shoe to drop on the mortgage business? Check out this that Reuters posted... "Commercial mortgages delinquent 30 days or more shot up to 6.07% last month in the U.S., the highest rate since commercial mortgage-backed securities were first market."

Oh My! This is going to get really ugly folks...

Then there was this... This NY Fed / Geithner / AIG / thing is really interesting... It really ticks me off... But the thing that I find to be the most important to take out of this, because we can't do anything to reverse what's been done, is to realize that the Gov't will stop at nothing to pull the wool over our eyes... My good friend, David Galland put it this way... "Of course, what's actually important in all of this is the confirmation - as if we needed it - that high government officials are willing to take active measures to keep the public in the dark on matters that would be inconvenient if revealed."

Back to me... So... If the Gov't was good with doing this to us... You can see where I've had my suspicions about the data reports they give to us... About the PPT... About the "Caribbean Treasury buyers"... And so on...

To recap... The dollar holds on to the hammer overnight and early in European sessions. The 3 majors see most of the damage, Euro, yen and sterling... Gold has sold off $9 overnight and this morning, and it's a Jobs Jamboree Friday, with no job losses for December expected... I would have to say that if that's what's expected then the BLS will make certain that that's what you get!

Currencies today 1/8/10: American Style: A$ .9145, kiwi .7305, C$ .9645, euro 1.4290, sterling 1.60, Swiss .9640 (look at that! The C$ has passed the Swiss franc!) European Style: rand 7.45, krone 5.7250, SEK 7.1550, forint 188.40, zloty 2.8750, koruna 18.4425, RUB 29.77, yen 93.25, sing 1.3985, HKD 7.7560, INR 45.76, China 6.8275, pesos 12.79, BRL 1.7475, dollar index 78.03, Oil $82.35, 10-year 3.84%, Silver $18.15, and Gold... $1,123.30

That's it for today... Congratulations to Alabama, winners of the BCS Football Championship... Texas was stunned when their star quarterback had to leave the game in the 1st quarter, to never return... I'm not saying the outcome would be different, it would have been a different game though... It's college basketball season now! My beloved Missouri Tigers, lost a chunk of their team last year, so this is a rebuilding year, I afraid, although they beat Illinois! Good luck to my good buddy, Kevin, who had knee replacement surgery yesterday... Just a friendly reminder about the Orlando Money Show, which takes place at the Gaylord Palms Hotel, Feb. 3 through 6... I'll be there, along with Chris and Kristin, so escape the bitter cold, and snow and come to Orlando... (yes, I'm well aware that it's cold in Orlando right now too, but that should change quickly!) And tomorrow the NFL Playoffs begin... Well... It's that time again... I hope you have a Fabulous Friday... Stay warm!

Chuck Butler
President
EverBank World Markets
1-800-926-4922
1-314-647-3837

Shrove Tuesday!

ChuckButler — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:25:56 GMT

In This Issue..

* No follow through on the Eurozone bond idea...
* Mirror, mirror on the wall...
* AIG to set record for losses...
* Finding another Pfennig Reader!

And Now... Today's Pfennig!

Shrove Tuesday!

Good day... And a Terrific Tuesday to you! A Shrove Tuesday to boot! Shrove Tuesday you say with a tone of thinking that I have made up another word for a day? Yes... Shrove Tuesday! For Catholics in some regions of the world (Ireland originally), the day before Ash Wednesday is Shrove Tuesday... Or here in the U.S. it's Pancake Day! You see, long ago, pancakes would be served up on this day as a popular way to use up fat, butter and eggs before Lent got underway. So... Happy Shrove Tuesday!

Well... The Eurozone bond story that I brought to you yesterday failed to materialize yesterday, recall I told you that Germany was against the idea, and this failure to launch... Pushed the euro back down from the high 1.29 handle late Friday afternoon, to the 1.27 handle this morning... I see where the euro has rebounded back above 1.28 as I went through the explanation of Shrove Tuesday, so at least it shows a pulse every now and then!

The Risk Takers have crawled back under rocks and into the walls again, as Risk Aversion weighs heavily on the currencies... I saw a headline this morning that made me laugh out loud... Some writer believes that the "Dollar Is Best Looker in Ugly-Currency Parade"... Hmmm, apparently he didn't take the time to look at Norwegian krone! Now, here's my version of Mirror, mirror on the wall...

Long time readers know my affection for the Surplus / Positive Balance of Payment countries and their respective currencies... Norway, always drifts to the top of those discussions, and then last night I came across a report by the research team at HSBC that graded the currencies... Their pick for Best Currency? Norway... Now, I can't give you all the results of their report (It's THEIR REPORT!) but, the note that was on the internet is up for grabs, so lets listen in to the research team at HSBC....

"The world is in total flux and, as such, we have released our new interim forecasts for the global economy today. Based on these numbers, which make depressing reading, we look at who comes out the best amongst the G10. We give all the variables an equal weight. We could have quite easily given CDS spreads a higher weight, which we believe is a key driver of the FX market at the present time, but even with equal weights the answer is still the same - Norway wins hands down. In addition, the JPY and the CHF are both losing their safe haven status and the best safe haven currency is the NOK. The NOK is our preferred G10 currency where we expect a sustained appreciation over the next 18 months."

OK... NOK is Norwegian krone, JPY is Japanese yen, and CHF is Swiss francs... Just to make that clear...

So... I my colors are already pinned to Norway's mast... Has been, and will continue to be, until something changes...

Now that I've said all that, I will say this just to make the Legal Beagles happy with me (yeah, like they're ever happy with me!) And that is, simply this is a fundamentals choice, and has been... You can go back to the start of 2006, when we issued a 20 year anniversary for World Markets newsletter, and in it, I talked about the Surplus countries being at the top of my Hit Parade... And which Surplus Country was the first one I mentioned then? Norway... But to carry on with the Legal stuff... Again, this is a fundamental choice, there are times the markets do NOT follow fundamentals, and fundamental choices do NOT perform.

And with a currency like Norway... It really needs the euro to be underpinned for the krone to outperform the single unit... So... All, I'm really saying here is that the dollar isn't the "Best Looker" in my opinion... That claim to fame would be Norwegian krone!

Whew! That was a long talk, and my fingers are tired... I'll have to give them a break here for a minute... Hold on, I'll be right back!

OK, I'm back now! Hope you didn't miss me! HA! This morning, the euro saw some selling based on a rotten German Business Confidence report that was issued by the think tank, IFO... The rot on the German Business Confidence vine wasn't that bad compared to last month, as the index fell from 83 to 82.6, but it was enough, when added with the fact that the Eurozone bond idea fell apart, to kick some sand in the euro's face this morning. It was also a 26-year low for the report...

In further evidence that Japanese yen is losing its grip on the claim of "best performing currency", the yen has fallen to a 12-week low this morning of 95.60... I began writing about the possible end of the Carry Trade Unwinding a couple of weeks ago... And since then more and more evidence to prove that thought has come about. Some traders and writers believe the yen's weakness has to do with it losing it's "safe haven allure"... While that's all fine and dandy, I truly believe it has more to do with the end of the Carry Trade unwinding...

Now, here's a guy that's been reading the Pfennig and probably the Review & Focus, and might even subscribe to my "pay for" newsletter, The Currency Capitalist, for listen in to what he's saying and see if any of it sounds familiar... It should! This story appears on Bloomberg...

"LGT Bank in Liechtenstein (Singapore) Ltd., part of the bank for the wealthy owned by Liechtenstein's royal family, is favoring gold and shunning Treasuries because of the risk inflation will quicken.

U.S. government and Federal Reserve efforts to snap the recession in the world's biggest economy will push up prices for goods and services, said Hans Goetti, who oversees $10 billion in Asia as LGT's chief investment officer. President Barack Obama's spending plans will force the government to borrow more, another reason to stay away from Treasuries, he said.

We are setting ourselves up for inflation maybe 12 to 18 months from now, Goetti said. The borrowing requirement will go up. There's no doubt. I cannot see bond yields staying at these levels."

>>>>> Hmmm... Yep, he's a "reader"!

OK... I've been on the soapbox many times on this bailout of AIG that happened last year... Well, as a taxpayer, you had better get pretty darn upset with this latest news... A reader sent me this story so I wouldn't miss it!

"American International Group Inc., the insurer bailed out by the U.S., may restructure its rescue package for the second time in four months as the recession forces down the value of the firm's assets.

AIG may announce that it is converting the government's preferred shares into common stock to relieve pressure on the New York-based firm's liquidity, a person familiar with the situation said. AIG pays a 10 percent dividend on preferred stock, and none on common shares."

OK... So, AIG wants to bleed slower than the current pace... So... The Gov. owns the preferred shares, but would see their return reduced by 10%, if AIG converts their preferred shares to common shares... Doesn't this just tick you off? Oh, and before I go on... Sources close to the company (AIG) said the loss (when reported next week) will be near $60 billion due to write downs on a variety of assets including commercial real estate. That number, if it prints at $60 Billion will se a record for the largest loss in U.S. Corporate History!

Alright, I had better stop there... You see what I keep talking about though? You apply a tourniquet to a bleeding company, and sooner or later they'll come back and need more...

Speaking of tourniquets... The stock markets of the world need one badly... Here in the U.S. yesterday, the DOW fell to its lowest closing level since May 1997 as stocks dropped across the board on fears that the recession will worsen. The S&P 500 dropped 3.5% to its lowest close since April 1997.

Personal wealth is falling down a hole... And suddenly people look up and say..."if I had only saved more money instead of trying to be the next Warren Buffett!" Things are falling apart all around... Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right...

A month or so ago I went off on a tangent about how I felt a lot of all this mess with financial instruments that have failed, came about... And my words pale in comparison to those of former Fed Chairman, Paul Volcker, who summarized this failure of these instruments in a recent speech... Here's Paul Volcker...

"There was so much opaqueness, so many complications and misunderstandings involved in very complex financial engineering by people who, in my opinion, did not know financial markets. They knew mathematics. They thought financial markets obeyed mathematical laws. They have found out differently now. You know, they all said these events only happen once every hundred years. But we have "once every hundred years" events happening every year or two, which tells me something is the matter with the analysis."

That's right! That's my feelings in a nutshell! And it's such a shame... OK, I've got to get to something that lifts my spirit this morning... YES! Let's talk about Gold!

As I signed off yesterday, Gold was trading down on the day at $986... The shiny metal then rallied on the day back to $995, but has seen more profit taking overnight to $990... And now $989, as I glance at the screen. Recall when I kept mentioning and even gave the "wink, wink" that Gold was "still" trading below $900? Well... A couple more days of this below $1,000 trading, and I'll be tempted to wink again!

Currencies today 2/24/09: A$ .6490, kiwi .5110, C$ .80, euro 1.2790, sterling 1.4525, Swiss .8640, rand 10.0725, krone 6.8120, SEK 8.8250, forint 233.40, zloty 3.6690, koruna 22.2325, yen 95.80, sing 1.5270, HKD 7.7530, INR 49.86, China 6.8375, pesos 14.97, BRL 2.3810, dollar index 87, Oil $38.50, Silver $14.44, and Gold... $989.60

That's it for today... Well... How about those Missouri Tigers? #8 in the country! But, they have some dates on their upcoming schedule that could put a dent in that lofty ranking... K-State, Kansas, and Oklahoma await the Tigers... But, Shoot Rudy! That warms my heart on yet another cold day, #8! Have you heard the little comedy skit about the new breakfast cereal? It's called Credit Crunch, and it's high in federal bailout to meet your daily requirement! HAHAHAHA! Our little Christine just called, she can't answer the bell today, sounded very sick! Still no improvement in my left eye, it will be one month this Friday... I go to the doctor to see what's up with it on Thursday... OK... Time to go! No Christine, means I better get going! I hope your Shrove Tuesday is Terrific!

Chuck Butler
President
EverBank World Markets
1-800-926-4922
1-314-647-3837

Paulson speaks with forked tongue...

ChuckButler — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:35:18 GMT

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In This Issue..

* Paulson speaks with forked tongue...

* Fed leaves rates unchanged...

* A look back at the data...

* Japan to weather the financial Tsunami...

And Now... Today's Pfennig!

Paulson speaks with forked tongue...

Good day...Another day, another $85 billion of US taxpayer used to bail out an ailing financial firm. Yes, our Treasury Secretary went on another shopping spree, and this time he was accompanied by Fed Reserve Chairman Ben Barnanke. Just two days ago, Paulson drew a line in the sand when he let Lehman Brothers collapse into bankruptcy. The non-action from Paulson was seen as a good move by most, as he was sending a signal to the markets that the US taxpayer couldn't be seen as the buyer of last resort for failed financial firms.

And Paulson talked tough with regard to AIG. Paulson was asked about reports that AIG wanted an emergency loan to help it through its troubles. "What is going on right now in New York has got nothing to do with any bridge loan from the government," he replied. "What's going on in New York is a private sector effort, again, focused on dealing with an important issue that's, I think, important that the financial system work on right now, and there's not more I can say than that.

But as we have seen in the past, Paulson speaks with a forked tongue. Just a day after making statements that he would not put any more taxpayer money at risk to bail out his Wall Street buddies, Paulson and Bernanke did just that, purchasing 79.9% of troubled insurer AIG for about $85 billion of tax payer money. The purchase was made after the two remaining 'healthy' investment banks passed on the deal. I read where investor Warren Buffet says his phone has been ringing off the hook, but the man who is arguably the world's smartest investor has decided to pass on all of these 'opportunities'. So US taxpayer money is being used to buy a company which couldn't get anyone else to lend them money. True, the press reported that the billions were just a 'bridge loan', but it really is nothing more than a bail out using taxpayer dollars. And how do you think the latest moves makes the folks over at Lehman feel? I guess they just weren't nice enough to Paulson and Bernanke during their days on Wall Street.

This latest move by Paulson/Bernanke reinforces a very bad precedent which they set with the bail out of Bear Stearns and Fannie/Freddie. The Fed has moved from its primary goal of price stability to 'purchaser of last resort' for ailing financial firms. Our fearless leaders are now making ad-hoc decisions on whom to help, setting new precedents for investors as regulators crowd out the market's own risk and reward incentives to manage exposures to ailing companies. As expected, the government bailout was top on his mind last night as he sent me the following in an email:

"So now the U.S. Treasury is bailing out AIG with conservatorship and an $80 Billion allowance for their newest member of the dysfunctional family. What's next? Oh, I already know, the Big 3 have asked for a Gov't check, and before you know it, Disneyland will be asking for an allowance from the Gov't! (OK, I used Disneyland to show how ridiculous this has gotten)

And... The Fed decided to leave rates unchanged... I'm shocked! All throughout this past year, I called for rate cuts by the Fed, because I thought that's what they would do, not what I thought they SHOULD do! And now, that I think they SHOULD have cut rates.... They leave them unchanged! Clueless, toothless, delusional, there's lots of descriptions for the Fed Heads, and I can't pick one, because they all fit!

And still... People buy dollars... If there isn't a thing called the PPT (Plunge Protection Team), then I'm a monkey's uncle! (when was the last time you heard that expression?) But just think about this long and hard folks... All this debt, and all the debt that has yet to be booked (baby boomers all retiring and wanting their payments is a start) has to be paid back... And how does the Gov't plan to do this? With cheaper dollars... With cheaper dollars... Say that to yourself a few times and you'll begin to wonder what's going on with people propping up the dollar! With cheaper dollars, folks... With cheaper dollars..."

The currency markets seem to be partially agreeing with Chuck, as the dollar is being sold across the board. But the moves aren't as dramatic as one would expect (PPT is working overtime). The Fed is monetizing debt at an unprecedented scale. The amount of debt we have put on the books just in the past 60 days is absolutely mind blowing. And the collateral we received for all of these loans? Mortgage backed securities backed by homes which are falling in value. The Fed even started to accept equities as collateral for loans. The fed knows that the toxic debt and equities which firms are posting with them are probably worthless, but they just keep taking them in and handing out more dollars. Yes, Bernanke has the printing presses working overtime. This is inflationary folks, and inflation will eventually destroy the value of our currency. No Plunge Protection Team will be able to combat the eventual fall of the dollar.

As Chuck mentioned above, the Fed kept interest rates unchanged yesterday, deciding to be more selective in their stimulus. This did help keep the dollar better bid, as they risked an all out freefall if they would have made a dramatic cut. But the market is still betting the FOMC will need to cut rates before they raise them again. I read where the odds makers have put the chances of a US rate cut by year end at 85%. Readers will remember that a change in rate expectations here in the US was one of the contributing factors for the dollars sudden rise two months ago. Now that rate expectations have again shifted, the dollar is in a pretty precarious position.

And the data released here in the US hasn't been dollar positive as of late. On Monday, the news of Lehman overshadowed the Empire Manufacturing data which showed a drop of 7.4 and industrial production fell 1.1%. Economists had predicted that both of these numbers would be positive. Capacity utilization was also released on Monday, and showed a drop to 78.7%, from an expected 79.6%. This number is important, as it shows factories are slowing production which doesn't bode well for employment in an already hard hit manufacturing sector.

Yesterday we saw Consumer Price data which reflected the easing of commodity prices over the past month. This data provided the FOMC with a little breathing room, and should allow them to seriously consider cutting rates at the next meeting.

We also saw the very important TIC flows, which showed foreign investors have started to back away from additional investments in the US. The Total Net TIC flows fell $74.8 billion in July, after increasing an adjusted $59,9 billion in June. This is a big number folks, and is dramatically different than the $40 billion expected by economists. As we have pointed out numerous times in the past, the US is dependent on foreign inflows of capital. After all, someone has to buy all of the debt which Paulson is using for his Wall Street spending sprees!! And it now looks like foreigners are finally pushing back from the table. This is scary folks, and does not bode well for the US$! In order to persuade foreign investors to come back to buying our debt, we will have to offer them higher rates, or cheaper dollars. I think a combination of the two is what will be demanded, and even then we may have trouble finding enough buyers for all of the new debt we are taking on.

Today we will get the Current Account Balance numbers, which are expected to show a 180 billion deficit. We will also get the latest information on Housing starts and building permits, both of which are expected to show a slight decrease from last month's numbers. Tomorrow we will close out the week's data with the jobs reports along with leading indicators which is expected to show another drop. Nothing in this data should be dollar positive.

The Japanese Yen and Swiss franc continue to benefit from the market volatility. Overnight the Euro and Pound sterling also ran up vs. the US$ and all four of these currencies have now rallied over 1.5% vs. the US$ over the past 5 days. Yes, the dollar correction could finally be over. Central banks around the world have been pumping funds into the credit markets to try and ease the pain being exported from Wall Street. Bank of Japan Governor Shirakawa downplayed concern that the US banking crisis will hurt the world's second largest economy and said Japan's financial system remains stable.

The BOJ left interest rates unchanged after their policy meeting today. The yen will likely continue to benefit from the deleveraging of financial markets, and the reversal of carry trades.

I just don't think the US$ can continue to hold up under the pressures being put on it. I think this may be a good time for those investors who have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the dollar rally to finally end. Gold and silver look cheap to me also, with all of the market turmoil. Now on to the big finish:

Currencies today 9/17/08: A$ .7942, kiwi .6587, C$ .9398, euro 1.4222, sterling 1.7865, Swiss .8917, ISK 92.62, rand 8.1363, krone 5.827, SEK 6.765, forint 170.45, zloty 2.3531, koruna 16.911, yen 105.83, baht 34.29, sing 1.4357, HKD 7.7816, INR 46.42, China 6.839, pesos 10.7029, BRL 1.808, dollar index 78.71, Oil $93.79, Silver $10.765, and Gold... $780.78

That's it for today... Great day here yesterday, as we started it off with some good news from Chuck. Weather here is about as good as it gets, probably similar to what Chuck is enjoying down in San Diego. It is great news for me, as I am Chairman of my daughter's school picnic, scheduled for this weekend. The weatherman says we will have beautiful weather for it! Hope everyone has a Wonderful Wednesday!!

Chris Gaffney, CFA

Vice President

EverBank World Markets

1-800-926-4922

1-314-647-3837