We aren’t scared of the peaks – what we are nervous about are the valleys…all the Fed’s hard work can be undone by a single day of trading… The global oil crunch…consumer confidence is out of gas as well – thank goodness for those rebate checks… The anniversary of the “Esperanto Money”…in central banking, the consequence of inertia and inactivity is almost always salutary…and more!

In the energy market Friday, crude for July delivery moved higher, closing at $127.35/barrel, up 73 cents. June reformulated gasoline added a penny in its last day as the front-month contract, to $3.41/gallon.

I hope you enjoyed the Memorial Day weekend - and that your wallet still has a pulse if you did any traveling.

I am curious as to what ‘lowering assumptions’ means to these S&P people, as I have recently been told by my family that they have ‘lowered’ their assumptions again, too, and that they now collectively assume that I have hit bottom.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not earning much interest at the bank these days. Fortunately, an extraordinary “return-on-your-cash” alternative has come up in the last month.

Another multibillion-dollar write-down hits the Street. China gets chopped in two… Shanghai Composite erases 2007 gains. Rice at another record high… U.N. warns of coming “silent famine,” food rationing hits U.S. soil. Euro near $1.60… global finance chiefs grow tired of the declining dollar.

In the energy market Tuesday, crude for May delivery rocketed to a new high, closing at $113.79/barrel, up $2.03. May reformulated gasoline gained 5.92 cents, to $2.881/gallon.

Takeda Acquires Millennium for $8.8 Billion; Gas Prices Driven to Another Record High; Jobless Claims Drop; Car Sales in India Up Again; China’s Trade Deficit Narrows; 100,000 Angry Airline Passengers; Favorable Amgen Ruling; BJ’s Wholesale Club Gains on Sales Increase.

Merrill: No More Capital Needed; German Bank Bayerische posts $6.7 Write-Down; Gas Prices Extend Record Run; Google Cuts 300 Jobs at DoubleClick; Silver Wheaton Triples Reserves; Northwest Loads Increase; Valero Completes Repairs; Consumer Debt Creeps Higher