Last week was a very important one. The U.S. Treasury placed a record level of debt, the Federal Reserve announced it would not expand its monetary easing, and we got many top players opining about the economy.  In addition, we are facing the uncertainties about ‘Cap and Trade’ legislation and the healthcare reform.

Some of China’s stockpiling may well have been due to speculative excess, rather than any rational plan on the ground. That realization played a role in the market carnage seen this week.

Euro leads currencies higher…  Commodities rally back on FOMC thoughts…  FOMC meeting today…  NZ Consumer Confidence on the rise… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Currencies bounce back…  Commodities and Commodity Currencies get hit hard!  China’s recovery a myth? Devaluation in the dollar’s future? And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

When the Labor Department recently reported that U.S. payrolls fell by 345,000 jobs in May – the lowest total in eight months – commentators were suddenly spotting “green shoots” of economic recovery virtually everywhere they looked.

The fate of the global equity market rally now comes down to China. Will it continue to stockpile hard assets? Will the data points continue to soothe and impress? Much is at stake either way…  

The investment outlook for Japan is pretty grim right now. The world’s No. 2 economy saw its gross domestic product (GDP) decline by 4% in the first quarter – the equivalent of 15.2% annualized decline, and the worst showing in more than 50 years.

We started digging into Jeremy Grantham’s May Quarterly Letter over the weekend. Grantham is a typical underground investor: although he’s well known among institutional investors, most retail investors have never heard of him. He is the chairman of Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo, which has roughly $85 billion under management.

MAOPING, People’s Republic of China – I’m often asked if there are investment risks in China.  My answer: Absolutely… there are investment risks everywhere. But it’s how you evaluate and manage those risks that will ultimately determine how well you do in this highly promising market.

Is the U.S. stock market rally for real? Or have stock prices gotten a little ahead of themselves?  After more than eight weeks in rally mode, it certainly appears that stock prices are outpacing economic reality.