So what was it that spooked the markets… Well… The only thing I can find was the report yesterday about falling Housing Starts that Chris told you about… Did you know that about 14% of US homeowners were either delinquent on their mortgage or in some stage of foreclosure? That is the highest rate since the group started collecting the data in 1972!

But there was something else that was announced as the day went on, that I think probably spooked the markets more than anything else… And that is a key House panel approved two amendments to a sweeping financial-overhaul bill that would give federal watchdogs new authority to audit the Federal Reserve, and would establish a fund of as much as $200 billion to help dissolve large, troubled institutions. Rep. Ron Paul (R., Texas) offered the amendment seeking to subject the Fed to audits.

Chuck Butler (The Daily Reckoning):
What a ride yesterday for the currencies! Gold? Well, at one point gold had shot up $24 on the day! It topped out at $1,142… The shiny metal then gave some back on profit taking, but gold holders have got to love it! Those who keep waiting for a pullback. Well, they might still be waiting when the cows come home.

Gold gained yet another powerful ally yesterday — hedge fund icon Paul Tudor Jones. The man who famously called Black Monday in 1987 and the Nikkei crash a few years later now thinks “gold appears to be cheap.” In a note to his investors, Tudor said, “I have never been a gold bug. It is just an asset that, like everything else in life, has its time and place. And now is that time… gold’s value should increase as its scarcity relative to printed currencies increases.”

Currencies have strong rally!  Trade Deficit jumps 16.3% in July!  HR 1207 Gets a hearing!  Gold gets back to $1,000!
And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Currencies give back ground overnight…  Don’t look too closely at U.S. data…  India posts strong GDP…  Lots O’-data this week! And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Currencies rally…  Eurozone growth unexpectedly stronger!  FOMC extends QE…  Norges is the first!
And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Red ink flows…  Japan suggests diversification for their reserves…  Commodity currencies rebound…  Data galore for the rest of the week… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Earnings reports begin this week…  Dollar, yen, francs get bought…  Medvedev shows off new coin!  A busy week! And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Currencies rebound…  G-8 has no fireworks…  Aussie / China and coal… Entitlements… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Bias to sell dollars fades away…  Trading in yesterday’s clothes…   More thoughts on China…   Shadow Inventory…
And Now… Today’s Pfennig!