Baltimore: If today’s action from the markets is any indication of what investors think about Uncle Sam and his Washington minions, the upcoming mid-term election is going to get interesting.

Nothing talks in Washington any louder than money.

By Andrew Snyder, TodaysFinancialNews.com

Baltimore — (TFN): I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Down in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a four-year-old boy managed to grab a beer, walk out his front door and break into a neighboring house to steal Christmas gifts.

True story. But it gets better.

Is the drop in the dollar worth watching? Just like the sun will eventually shine its last ray of light, the mighty dollar will someday buy its last barrel of oil or its final container of Chinese imports.

We all know it is going to happen, so why bother discussing it. Right?

Baltimore – (TFN): The dollar is a dangerous entity these days. Never has there been such a globally important currency with as much political and financial manipulation.

The distortions from reality are mind-boggling, yet all of us depend on the status of the simple fiat for our financial wellbeing.

Is the rally over? Not at all! The world’s bankers say the economy is recovering. Investors believe them; they’re bidding up stocks.

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.

In the currency market, the dollar prolonged its freefall against the euro. Late Friday, the euro was trading at $1.3996 vs. $1.3904 on Thursday.

The Daily Reckoning’s currency expert Chuck Butler says the dollar is being taken to the woodshed. The greenback is losing ground against all major currencies as the credit crisis continues to wreak havoc in the U.S economy. Chuck says disappointing inflation or retail sales data this week will send the dollar to new depths…

Crude oil for July delivery traded at an all-time high of $139.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange today (Friday), after the U.S. dollar nosedived on speculation that the European Central Bank would raise its key lending rate and on worries that a bigger-than-expected spike in unemployment meant the U.S. economy was far weaker than feared.

With a wheezing economy that’s struggling with housing and credit problems – as well as a weak dollar – it’s clear the United States won’t be in the investment spotlight this year.