The U.S. rates are going lower, and you can take that to the bank! OK, well…Maybe the legal beagles won’t like me saying that, so, let’s just say, I think that you should think that U.S. rates are going lower.

I don’t think the ECB is going to go forward with a rate cut in May, or anytime soon for that matter! Recall, that a couple of weeks ago, I pulled the May rate cut forecast because of this nagging inflation, and now it’s gone higher!

German investor confidence, as measured by the think tank ZEW, printed a negative -40.7 versus -32 in March. That whipsawed the euro a bit… But then France printed an inflation report that showed inflation rising at the fastest pace in at least 12 years! OUCH!

Good day… When I signed off yesterday, several of the currencies were at or near record levels versus the U.S. dollar and the U.S. data that were going to be released didn’t look supportive.

The Japanese yen gained 1.6% versus the dollar yesterday and the Singapore dollar was up 1.5%. Both currencies rallied as hedge funds and other highly leveraged traders scrambled to reduce debts.

I find it interesting that Big Al is getting testy about all the fingers being pointed at him for this mess. I believe I may have been one of the first to point a finger at him when the housing bubble was getting bigger and bigger. And now…today’s Pfennig!

Seems the markets are getting all pumped up on the Kool-Aid Big Ben is serving up… But these are just words folks… We’ll see who’s right and who’s wrong on this… His track record isn’t so good!