Have we stopped listening to Geithner yet?

The US Treasury Secretary has been in China, tip-toeing around yuan exchange rate reform, Chinese industrial protectionism-type behavior, etc. It was obvious Geithner was not there to point fingers – he’s probably been given a strict script to which he must stick ... after seemingly losing his cool on Capitol Hill months ago.

But, ahead of Geithner’s upcoming trip to the UK and Germany, Reuters brought this quip to light:

Finally we are getting some real company on our dollar call

The dollar will probably become a “growth currency” during the next 10 years, shedding its haven status of the past decade, as the U.S. economy outperforms Europe and Japan, according to UBS AG. (Bloomberg)

Comment: Welcome to the club, UBS. We have been singing this song since late last year. In fact, a multi-year dollar bull market call, which we have shared here, is one we saw as very similar to the 1992-2002 US dollar bull market.

A lot to worry about

The stock market of late seems to be noticing them. But commentators seem to be looking right past them—systemic risks. Why do I say that? Well, it seems every time I flip on the TV to a financial show, one mutual fund manager after another is trotted out to tell me this is a great buying opportunity. They do it with such confidence. They are dressed so well. They are usually fairly good looking, trim and fit—not dumpy and ruffled like me. All part of the sales package is my conclusion.

“Forget Latvia,” I’m told.

After my Tuesday note on Latvia, I received two very informative emails pointing out my errors, omissions, etc. ... as well as some additional noteworthy tidbits about the Baltics. I’ll get to those reader responses in a second.

First , the commodity currencies are getting trounced this week.