John Stepek (Money Week UK):
Deal making is back!

That was the general reaction from the press when US food giant Kraft launched its first bid for British confectioner Cadbury less than two months ago. Pundits spewed out potential target prices like bingo numbers – £8, no £10, no £12! – and analysts scribbled out scenarios involving white knights and rival bidders from across the globe.

Baltimore — (TFN): How efficient are the markets? It is like asking how smart is the human race We all know the answer, but few of us are willing to suck in our pride and admit there are a few dim bulbs among us.

Judging by the sudden rise in fame of Levi Johnson or Balloon Boy’s antics, the human brain is far feebler than we give credit.

And so are the markets.

Taipan Daily’s Justice Litle review the current trends of gold, the U.S. Dollar and small caps. Finding surprising strength in the dollar in the short term, he finds greater strength in gold and gold stocks for the long term.

What has really changed?…importing inflation…hoping to prove Friedman wrong…Can the U.S. central bank really begin fighting inflation in a serious way? Ah, dear reader – there’s a cruel twist to this story…The cure for high prices is high prices…and so the global economy lurches forward…and more!

I saw a report on the IFO’s correlation with the euro’s past moves to higher ground… Made sense to me, as strong IFO reports came out right before the euro moved past previous big figures…