Dollar drops to new low vs. Euro

Well, it's not like the market is dicey or people are losing their homes or the Chinese own vast chunks of our national debt or a counter-productive war is sapping the economy or the earning power of the middle class is shrinking.

Dipstick speaking yesterday:

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Tuesday said the U.S. economy was not in a recession and that he believed it would not fall into a downturn.

"We're not in a recession, I don't think we will go in a recession. We're in a slowdown, and there's a difference," Bush said in an interview with American Urban Radio Networks.

Bush's comments came on a day when economic reports showed U.S. consumer confidence slumped to its worst in five years, and home prices fell 8.9 percent last year.

Grant Smith reporting at Bloomberg:

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil traded little changed after earlier rising above $102 a barrel, the highest ever. Gold advanced to a record as a weakening dollar spurred investors to buy commodities as a hedge against inflation.

Futures jumped in New York and London as the dollar fell to $1.50 per euro for the first time. The UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index rose to the highest ever, on gains for gold, silver, sugar, copper and coffee. A government report later today is expected to show U.S. crude inventories rose last week for a seventh straight time.

``This record is purely a play on the weakness of the dollar, as investors use both crude and gold as a hedge against inflation,'' said Olivier Jakob, managing director of Petromatrix Gmbh in Zug, Switzerland. ``If the dollar keeps getting weaker, and we don't have inventory builds today, it could drive prices towards $105.''

And for the gold market, let's turn to Reuters (India):

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Demand for gold subsided on Tuesday after moderate sales the previous day, with easing prices raising hopes of bigger falls, dealers said.

"They were buying at all levels yesterday -- ranging from $934 an ounce to $940," said a dealer in a large national bank.

Another dealer in a large private bank said traders were now eyeing $925, with prices down to nearly a week's low.

It drifted lower on possible sales of gold by the International Monetary Fund as the U.S. said on Monday it supported the sale of a limited portion of the IMF's gold stocks.

The metal saw its all time high on Thursday at $953.60.

To summarize: We have, in the last week, seen the dollar's lowest historic value vis-à-vis the Euro and the highest historical prices of crude oil and gold.


Well, why not go graphic? (Or what's a Google for?)

6-month value of Euro per US$1.00

Crude Oil Prices in latter 2007

5-year Gold Price

1-year Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)

US National Debt

Drats, I didn't keep my source links (one exception). You can replicate this with Google search on terms like "gold price chart." Not difficult to obtain.
--the BB