Rick Pendergraft says we won’t see an economic recovery before one of the housing, auto or labour markets stabilize. Friday’s nasty unemployment data and earnings reports from GM (NYSE:GM), Ford (NYSE:F ) suggest that our hopes are resting on real estate.

In 2004, then Treasury Secretary John Snow was traipsing about the globe trying to “talk the dollar down.” Why? In a word: debt. At the time, our debt stood at $7 trillion, with interest payments in fiscal 2003 totaling $318 billion. But now the U.S. national debt stands above $9 trillion, with interest payments in fiscal 2007 adding $1.4 billion a day.

Ever since Robert Rubin began the tradition in the mid-1990s, it has been a significant element of the Treasury Secretary’s job description to continuously state that a strong dollar is in the national interest.

The trouble with getting older…Big Ben expresses himself…Globalization is no longer a force for good - but a force for evil…the Bear Stearns domino effect…End of the road for Hilary…a new hotline service - made just for central bankers…and more!

In 2004, then Treasury Secretary John Snow was traipsing about the globe trying to “talk the dollar down.” Why? In a word: debt.

JPMorgan and the U.S. Treasury just saved us from the real risk of Depression…It was the Panic of ‘07. The economy was weakening. Stocks were falling. Banks had lent too much and were now seriously tightening up. It all came to a head when a major bank was about to fail. Something had to be done.

Ben Bernanke’s testimony yesterday in front of congress is being taken by Wall Street as a signal that the Fed is prepared to continue to lower interest rates.

According to Bloomberg, traders now see a one-in-five chance of a half-point reduction in the benchmark rate, to 1.75 percent, at the April 29-30 Fed meeting.

Bernanke told congress yesterday that the Fed is “ready to respond to whatever situation evolves,” and referred to “considerable stress” in markets.