The high water mark for gold occurred at 12:00 noon in Hong Kong on Monday. From there, gold shed about $7 by the time London had been trading for an hour. Gold gained almost all of that back in the rest of London trading…and up until precisely 9:00 a.m. in New York. Then a seller showed up…with another sharp sell-off the moment that London closed. From there, gold did nothing…except briefly tick down to its low of the day…$938.40. For a Monday, volume was very light…and [according to the usual N.Y. commentator] “saw estimated volume of only 84,287 lots which, if it is not radically revised, suggests Monday was the quietest Comex day in quite some time.” The US$ was up…

Currency rally gets wiped out…Geithner to talk about a strong dollar? Brazil cuts rates! The Fed to control everything? YIKES! And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

This week’s prestigious Mogambo Award For The Best Sardonic Laugh (MAFTBSL) was provided by Nicoles Michas of the Sparks Report, who suggested that “deflation hawks” love inflation and the sound of hungry children crying, people baking in the heat or shivering in the cold, and these horrible people want lower interest rates and higher inflation since they “don’t see any upward significant price pressures beyond food and energy.” Hahaha!

Chinese business and social culture are generally very subdued and conservative… and above all, respectful. But students at Peking University in Beijing just couldn’t help themselves this week.

Currencies get a tourniquet… BOE And ECB leave rates unchanged…Political uncertainty in the U.K…Aussie dollar to rally further? And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

But for the many reasons we’ve described in these reckonings, we doubt that we’ve seen the last of this bear market.

Yesterday was an absolute “10” on the crazy meter, and yet “We the People” just continue to sit and take whatever the government and media tell us is “best for us in these uncommon times.” I’ve got some interesting words on this later in the letter… It’s time for me to get on my soapbox once again, so… At least I’ve prepared you! But first… Some currency news!

As near as we can make out, Tim Geithner’s trip to Beijing was, at best, a draw. He told his soothing lies. China listened. The markets reacted favourably.

Euro goes back and forth over 1.43…Eurozone unemployment rises to 9.2%…Australia’s GDP surprises! Is it protectionism? And Now… Today’s Pfennig!