Presidents Day Brief

In a short trading day, a stronger dollar and regular trading tussled for dominance, with the traders coming out on top by $2.90 to the upside. Today is Presidents Day in the United States so the trading of precious metals was restricted to the morning.

The European equities were down on a Greek walkout from the debt talks they and the rest of the EU have been engaged in. The Greeks called the proposal “absurd.” If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. What can Greece do?

It needs to conform to some sort of modern sense of fiscal responsibility, not so much to please the other Europeans but to allow the investor-at-large to feel comfortable putting money into a backwards economy. Ina sense, there is a corruption of spirit in Greece. Boiled down, it says: “We don’t want to work hard and conform to international norms, but we want to take your money regardless.”

U.S. equities markets were closed today, so the news has yet to be transformed into action, one way or another. Meanwhile, Asian stocks hummed along, largely on news that Japan had finally slipped out of the bonds of recession, if just barely.

West Texas crude did not trade today but Brent was down marginally. The U.S. 10-year bond also did not trade.

While there has been reasonably strong demand for gold in China in the run up to the New Year, and as we approach India’s “wedding season,” those are cyclical as opposed to structural demand scenarios.

Greece is front and center for now. Ukraine and Russia have us in a wait-and-see mode. Before we know it, the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting will, like the moon, start affecting the financial tides. The FOMC meets March 17 and 18^th.

Wishing you as always, good trading,