Government budget hits all-time insanity… record monthly, year-to-date deficits… “Cash for clunkers” helps GM, but not economy… July retail sales stage surprise fall… Fed plans exit strategy, ends bond buys… why the FOMC is still not helping you… Byron King’s crude reality: How Canada could be the next Saudi Arabia…

With the Rally Nearly Over the Germans are Buying Gold.

The American auto industry, GM and Chrysler in particular, have been tumbling since the last real financial collapse in this country in the 1970’s. They were in trouble then for the same reason they are in trouble now; bad business decisions, bad taste and an inferior product.

Dow, Oil and Gold all Doing Well.

Reports Point to Housing Market Bottom; Big Three Automakers Beat Estimates; Microsoft Will Unveil New Operating System in Time for XMAS; Dallas Fed President: Economy ‘Getting Less Worse’; European Jobless Rate Climbs;  Pepsi Bottling Chief Could Cash In

The US stock market is enjoying one of those delightful episodes when all news is good news. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 221 points yesterday to 8,721 – lifting the Blue Chip index to within a whisker of a positive year-to-date performance.

GM’s Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and the US Governments International relations

Bonds down. Gold up $17. Someone seems to think there is a whiff of inflation in the air. Sniff…sniff….

The next chapter in the history of General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) is likely to be about bankruptcy. And that would leave the U.S. and Canadian governments as company’s majority owners.

Consumer Confidence Leaps; Hong Kong Injects More Stimulus; Virgin Atlantic Sees Cloudy Skies; South Africa Enters Recession; Experts: Supreme Court Nominee Neutral on Business; Hedge Funds Bet Big on Commodities; GM Gets Labor Concessions in Canada; Russian Firm Takes $200 Million Stake in Facebook