Bill Bonner (Daily Reckoning) – In 1949, the Soviets and the Allies divided Germany into two parts. One part followed a traditional capitalistic path to reconstruction. The other part took the socialist road. Remarkably, they kept this test going for 40 years.

Of course it was misery for many of the test subjects.

A guy comes into the bar, and I figure he is a trucker because he looks like a trucker and he is wearing a greasy Peterbilt hat. So I say, “Are you a trucker?” and he answers “Yeah. What’s it to you, old man?”

The dollar fell to $1.42 per euro yesterday. Many believe it is the Achilles Heel of the entire world financial system – including Warren Buffett.

The dollar will probably go up. Still, we’d stay away…

Check out this “megatrend”: 97% of global population growth over the next 40 years will occur in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, says the shiny new 2009 World Population Data Sheet. The headline data point was the total growth projection for the world population: 7 billion by 2011. That’s a 200 million extra people on this Earth in just two years.

Oh woe! Oh woe! O! Bama! Where is thy recovery? Yesterday, the world’s stock markets took a hit. The Dow lost 186 points… following a very bad showing in China. Is this the end of the rally?

You could look at market cycles narrowly – just by keeping your eye on price movements. Or you can look at the Big Picture… all the connections between markets and the rest of the world… in the hopes of understanding what is BEHIND the price movements and where it might take them.

How do you like this recovery? Pretty good, huh? Except for the jobs, of course. And except for the retail sales. And except for the foreclosures… and house prices. And incomes. And consumer prices. And business profits. It’s like a female impersonator… just like a real woman in every way, except for the essential ones.

Hey… how ‘bout this rally!

Man’s hope! Yes, it’s the ‘miracle economy’. China, that is. Many analysts think it has ‘de-coupled’ from the rest of the world economy. While the rest of the world sinks into the ‘worst recession since the ‘30s,’ it is said to be growing at 8% per year. Go figure.