Key News/Chartage/Comments

The yen fell against the dollar and the euro as Japan’s unemployment rate rose to a four-year high. (Bloomberg)…are we finally going to see the yen move in-line with the deteriorating fundamentals in Japan, or is it just risk appetite hitting the yen again?

Amped-Up Consumer = Amped-Up Market!

One of the news headlines above notes the optimism that can be taken from yesterday’s worse-than-expected headline report on US Q1 GDP. Enough said, but I’ll keep going anyway ...

Besides the worse-than-expected decline in first quarter GDP, yesterday revealed personal consumption expenditures jumped far more than had been expected in the first three months of the year. Red Bull gives you wings; and consumer spending gives the market wings.

Swine flu day three!

BLT sandwich lovers everywhere are rejoicing; those lock-limit down in bellies have likely lost their appetites; but it seems, on day three of the swine flu, stock and currency traders have definitely regained theirs.

The dollar is being pummeled this morning (yen too) against the rest of the pack—major and emerging. Even the Mexican peso is gaining ground on its neighbor to the north where infection is beginning to spread.

As charts go, the buck looks better than stocks ...

This is one of those times when we’d like a straight answer; we’re likely not going to get one, though ...

The opening act of the US bank stress tests has unfolded with attention paid only to Citigroup and Bank of America so far. We were not told these banks necessarily failed the stress test (we wouldn’t want to unfairly scrutinize banks based on their merits.)

We weren’t told these or any other banks passed the stress tests, either. Heaven forbid we end up with another New Haven, Connecticut firemen mess on our hands.