Commodity Trading & Trend Following

It isn’t like we have gone through enough stress last year, now we need to worry if our Bank will pass the Govt’s stress tests. For the last 2 months 200 federal examiners have worked/audited the nationג€™s biggest banks to determine how these banks would hold up if the recession deepened.

Maybe it is me but will all these huge numbers…a billion dollars here…a trillion dollars there.. my head was starting to hurt. I do not think I am alone with these worries… except for an ostrich with it’s head in the sand. I would believe that most people would agree they have a hard time comprehending the actual numbers involved.

One reads the papers and all are claiming Inflation is non existent. Well, maybe for the short run it might be. Looking back at the Great Depression of 1929 there are many similarities and inflation could rise it’s ugly head.
In the midst of the Great Depression there was a strong upward trend in commodity prices [...]

There seems to be tug of war between those who ” Predict” this harsh Recession will be over this quarter or next year and those that react to the economic situation. Truthfully no one knows how long this Recession will last or when it will be over. The fact is those more money has been lost recently trying to call a bottom. The next reality is that there is further evidence that there is a deepening of the slowdown not just in the US but from around the world.

Hopefully more than political back standing will be accomplished at next weeks upcoming G20 Summit.The issues could not be more serious when the world’s most powerful leaders meet in London next week. Millions of jobs have already vanished and millions more could go as the global economy faces its biggest downturn since the Great Depression. Fear has gripped virtually everyone country and every citizen of the planet. If the summit is not successful then obviously there will be a greater sense of drift and crisis.
Yet there those, whose great hope that the summit will bring of the beginning of the end of the crisis as well hope that the world leaders were able to galvanize a new direction and a new authority.

Pretty strong words were used by the prime minister of the Czech Republic,Mirek Topolanek regarding Obama’s economic plans. Mr. Topolanek holds the EU’s six-month rotating presidency. He believes that the European Union governments must avoid the type of spending ( $2 Trillion dollars) to get out of the current recession ( Depression?). His views were not widely accepted by his colleagues. Is it that Mr. Topolanek is just going through a rough time personally since he was ousted by his own parliament after a losing a no confidence vote on Tuesday?

The question is are we just hearing political banter or should we believe the Chinese? Several weeks ago Premier Wen Jiabao called on March 13 for the U.S. ג€œto guarantee the safety of Chinaג€™s assets. The fact that even buying and holding US Treasuries the Chinese are losing money as their currency the Yuan has appreciated versus the US Dollar.
All the while, yesterday Obama came out with support of the US Dollar and to reply to the Chinese he stated, ג€œI donג€™t believe there is the need for a global currency,ג€. The obvious fact is that the Chinese are nervous holding US Dollars. Why shouldn’t they be after last weeks $1 Trillion dollar printing party. I think many of us are nervous holding dollars and maybe rightfully so. But, lets put in the reality. Maybe the US Dollar is the best of the worst. The European economies are in bad shape. They seem slow to react to the current reality.

Very clearly there was extreme dissatisfaction over big bonuses paid by firms bailed out with U.S. taxpayer money. Is it hard to understand why when people are losing their jobs, houses or even hope. It is ironic when a salary of $100k is considered a great salary for someone in Iowa and bonuses in the $100 of thousands or even millions were given to incompentents.

Take out your feelings on Ben with the bernanke squeeze doll.

What words can describe the current situation? Fear…Dispair… Disbelief..Hopelessness…? I am sure not everyone feels these feelings…but I would tend to believe a great many do. People are afraid of losing their jobs and with good reason. Many people are only a paycheck or two away from default. The mood of the country is surely down. Amplifying the mood has been all the expressed anger about bailing out banks and financial institutions that made poor decisions. Putting salt on the wound was the bonus-paying spree to the incompetents at insurance giant AIG and Fannie. Now billions of dollars are being promised to the auto industry. Where does it end? Will this really help the economy or is it another bailout where those who asked for bailouts came in their private jets.