Dollar

[[wysiwyg_imageupload:2412:]]By Julian D. W. Phillips

Last week the U.N. warned of a possible collapse of the US dollar -if its value against other currencies continues to decline. The U.N. mid-year review of the world economy did not get extensive coverage. Their economic division said that a crisis of confidence in the dollar, stemming from the falling value of foreign dollar holdings, would imperil the global financial system. This trend had recently been driven by interest rate differentials between the U.S. and other major economies and growing concern about the sustainability of the U.S. public debt, half of which is held by foreigners including the Chinese government.

[[wysiwyg_imageupload:2371:]]By Jeb Handwerger

The euro (FXE) slid compared to the U.S. dollar (UUP) after meeting and reversing at its long term down-trend resistance line two weeks ago. About four weeks prior to that, I alerted readers that the Euro could reverse lower supporting precious metal prices. In my March 28th article I wrote, "Watch for a move out of the euro to support precious metals prices as the euro reaches its descending upper resistance level. For the past two years the euro and the dollar have done this inverted dance wherein one goes up and the other goes down. But one thing I am not fooled about is the fact that they are both in secular long-term downtrends."

[[wysiwyg_imageupload:2246:]]By Axel Merk

It's payback time for Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve (Fed). In some ways, this should neither surprise, nor scare anyone. Unfortunately, however, it might do both.

[[wysiwyg_imageupload:2236:]]By Julian D. W. Phillips

U.S. demand for gas at the pump is starting to react to the rising prices. No wonder. U.S. consumers are seeing a 30% jump in oil prices over the past few months. U.S. motor fuel prices have become a heated political issue after pushing towards $4 a gallon. Gasoline futures hit 33-month highs on Tuesday. The rising prices at the pump are fueling voter discontent with Obama's leadership and could harm his re-election chances in 2012. Government is saying it is due to speculation. But Saudi Arabia has cut production by 600,000 barrels a day. Is Saudi Arabia to blame? Why would oil producers cut production like this when the oil price is so high? We have to ask ourselves, "Is that all there is to this story or is there something out there that justifies cuts in production and accepts higher oil prices?" There is and this article will highlight that.