U.S. Congress set to approve $789 billion stimulus package… OPEC again cuts 2009 world oil demand forecast… OPEC figures suggest 65 percent compliance on output cuts…

Oil rose towards $41 a barrel on Tuesday, lifted by expectations that the approval of an $800 billion-plus stimulus package by the U.S. government would boost demand for oil in the world’s largest energy consumer.

Talking stimulus again…  Currencies rally, then sell off…  Aussie Business Confidence slumps…  The Mogambo on Gold… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

As Senate Republicans and Democrats continue to bicker over the details of President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner waits in the wings ready to unveil yet another bank bailout bill. 

As the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression continues to worsen, decades of deregulation and the growing independence at the state level are being reversed as a deteriorating national economy forces the federal government to increasingly take on responsibilities that no other institution has the power or resources to handle.

598K jobs lost in January…  Currencies rally with stocks…  G-7 this weekend…  More thoughts on Gold… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

A wave of government bailouts around the world and a sharp deterioration in existing infrastructure could lead to as much as $35 trillion in public works spending over the next 20 years, according to a new study by CIBC World Markets.

In an interview with the Financial Times yesterday (Monday), Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said his government is ready to expand on the $586 billion (2 trillion yuan) stimulus package it unveiled late last year.

The dollar fights back! …  Soros sinks the euro…  Bad data yesterday…  And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Americans are becoming used to seeing our money get sucked into a government-created whirlpool of debt and frivolous spending. A trillion dollars used to be a lot of money, but after the last few months, it is nothing. Get out your checkbook, Uncle Sam.