The trouble with being a contrarian is that you can never be quite contrarian enough.

Non-dollar currencies give back very little…The Unemployed are remaining unemployed… FOMC puts away the board games today… China invokes a “Public Morals” defense… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

“Gold is rising because the post-Breton Woods exchange rate system doesn’t work,” Eric Roseman, our colleague over at the Commodity Trend Alert, matter-of-factly declares. “More than ever, governments are piling up debts, as a result of bailing-out their respective banking systems. There is a price to pay for this profligate spending. And gold sniffs trouble.”

Two charts and three measures of gold’s “real” price today…

You wanna know what is going on? David Rosenberg explains…

The risk factors surrounding the nation’s oil industry are through the roof. The action is costing unprepared investors a lot of money. For proof, ask Delta Petroleum (NYSE:DPTR) shareholders.

The dollar pushes back! FOMC plays battleship? Norges Bank meets this week…Precious metals give back too…And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Let’s get this straight.

Household credit is shrinking…
Profits are shrinking…
Employment is shrinking…
Housing values are shrinking…
The wage base is shrinking…

But the recession is over!

Whoa… how is that possible?

This week, the big story was once again coming from the gold market. Mid-week, the yellow metal hit $1020 – but the rally was not of the usual variety. Generally, investors flock to gold when the dollar is weak and inflationary fears run high. But as we all know, inflation is not a problem right now – despite the Fed’s best efforts.

The dollar rose broadly on Monday, hitting a near two-week high against the yen, as traders trimmed short positions in the U.S. currency following broad losses so far this month.