G20 largely a non-event…  Pound moves up…  Brazil falls on sell off of emerging markets…  Japan enters recession… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Like a boxer who has a habit of dropping his hands, America finally caught one on the chin. The U.S. economy is flat on its back, and the financial markets are leaning down into its face yelling out a 10-count. But the U.S. economy isn’t “out for the count” yet. It will struggle back to its feet. But if the economy hopes to stay on its feet, it will have to devise new tactics. The old, sloppy tactics of credit-financed consumption won’t work anymore.

Let’s begin at the beginning, shall we?…as the egg goes, so goes the chicken. A game of consumer product mousetrap…desperate times for the airline industry and the manufacturing sector. Is this a rerun of the 1970’s? Don’t pull out the shag carpeting and the disco ball just yet…and more!

December’s larger than expected jump in non-farm payrolls is predictably being touted as evidence of a more vibrant U.S. economy.