Although there’s a veritable laundry list of obstacles that could blunt the U.S. government’s ongoing economic turnaround efforts, its single-biggest challenge may come from its single-biggest creditor – China.

Emerging markets, led by China and Russia, plan to jointly challenge the U.S. dollar’s role as the world’s sole benchmark currency at the April 2 meeting of the Group 20 nations – a move that underscores the currency’s weakness and fading support around the world.

While the U.S. Federal Reserve’s plan to buy more than $1 trillion in debt has helped unfreeze the credit markets, it has also effectively capped U.S. Treasury yields and undermined the dollar.

Gold did virtually nothing from the Globex open in New York on Tuesday evening…right through until the Comex open in New York on Wednesday morning.

Although we’re still in the middle of the worst financial crisis in decades, a few select banks are positioned to make a boatload of profits. And if you pick the right ones, gains of 100% or more are easily within reach.

It’s called the “Shadow Fed.” And it’s the next potential hot spot in the ongoing financial crisis. But few outside the Federal Home Loan Bank system, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), the U.S. Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury Department are remotely aware of the problems that are smoldering.

Speaking at his annual press conference Friday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced more than $200 billion of new spending to bolster the nation’s flagging economy. However, Wen also voiced concern about China’s financing of U.S. debt – which U.S. President Barack Obama is counting on to fund this country’s massive stimulus plan. 

Is it a bull-market rally or a bear-market fake? It came right down to the wire, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day Friday with its first four-day rally since November, ending the week with a gain of 9.0%.

Help is coming for 9 million overtaxed, indebted sods — so goes the jingle from our newest president of these United States.

T.G.I.M (Thank goodness it’s March). Unfortunately, that’s what investors were saying when they closed the books on January and times have only gotten worse.