Gold was flat to the end of Hong Kong trading, but then pushed higher from there to mid-morning in New York, peaking at nearly $775, before declining slowly to finish at $755.30, up $11.50. Overnight, gold is trending higher.

The Daily Reckoning’s currency expert Chuck Butler says the dollar is being taken to the woodshed. The greenback is losing ground against all major currencies as the credit crisis continues to wreak havoc in the U.S economy. Chuck says disappointing inflation or retail sales data this week will send the dollar to new depths…

On one of my first mornings at our home here, my family and I headed for the Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine. Built in the 8th century by the powerful Hata family, the shrine is best known for the four consecutive kilometers of orange Torii gates covering the mountain on which it was built.

We are living in perilous financial and economic time. Very few Americans are even paying attention. All it takes to re-start an economy is to hand out cheap money…right?

The Federal Reserve made another quarter of a point rate cut yesterday, bringing the target Fed Funds rate down to 2%. This makes 3.25% the Fed has shaved off the rate since last summer.

Last week we concentrated on the outlook for domestic UK economic activity ahead of the release of the first stab at UK real gross domestic product (GDP).

Is the U.S. Fed done cutting rates? The commodities market seems to think so. Gold, platinum, palladium and silver all fell by the end of New York trading. Even oil was off its all-time highs though still above US$115.

Being unable to fill the top job at the central bank for three weeks during a global credit crisis doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. So the news that the Bank of Japan has finally appointed a new governor, Masaaki Shirakawa “should give a great deal of relief to the market”, as one economist said.