The dollar edged up against the euro and yen on Monday in extremely thin trade as Wall Street surrendered earlier gains and traders repositioned themselves ahead of U.S. consumer and housing data due this week.

A detailed report from the National Association of Business Economics (NABE) says the U.S. economy will recover in the third quarter after a continued contraction in the second.

Bernanke Sees Late-09 Turnaround; Canadian Dollar Hits Six-Month High; Kraft Beats 1Q Estimates; South Africa Unemployment Hits 23.5%; Service Sector Gains Ground; AIG’s First Quarter Loss Expected to Shrink; Some Traders Oppose Up-Tick Rule; Chile’s Peso Rallies to 7-Month High Against Dollar

At a roundtable discussion tomorrow (Tuesday), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will talk about restoring a rule that some believe could have mitigated the bear market in U.S stocks.

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis said in testimony before New York’s attorney general that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson pressured him not only to move ahead with a merger with Merrill Lynch despite reservations, but also to stay quiet about the mounting losses at the crumbling investment bank, The Wall Street Journal reported.

There is an old Wall Street adage that no one rings a bell at major market tops or market bottoms. That may be true in normal times, but as many have noticed, we are now completely through the looking glass.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told the Financial Times today that, “I still believe there is a greater than 50 per cent probability of recession.” But, “that probability has receded a little and I think the probability of a severe recession has come down markedly”.