Paulson says no to automakers…  Currencies trade in a tight range…  Richard Russell on a Wednesday!  TIC Flows improve… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

The dollar rallies big time!  A dollar conspiracy?  Bailing out the automakers?  Weathering the storm in N.Z.?
And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Good day…And what a day it was! As I stated in yesterday’s Pfennig, Columbus day is just sort of a holiday for the markets. These ’semi-holidays’ can create some volatile trading, as not all of the markets are open and many desks are short staffed. So with the Federal Reserve and the banking system closed, the equity markets had the largest one day gain in over seven decades.

Bernanke gets help opening the spigot… Euro and Pound rally… Yen to continue to benefit from carry reversals… Aussie $ rallies… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

It doesn’t look as though it will be a Fantastico Friday in stocks. Yesterday was a bloodletting, overnight the Japanese stock market sold off 11%, and Europe is down about 9% at this point. UGH! But according to Chuck Butler, “When things look bleak, the dollar goes up… And when it looks as though all the stimulus might work, the dollar sells off…”

Yesterday, UK rates came down a quarter to 5%. ECB rates held steady as expected at 4% and all of us who continue to feel poorer can be grateful that we’re not paying a mortgage in Iceland.