The Officials Said:

Oil Futures Fall on Economic Concerns - AP - Oil futures fell sharply Monday, extending their retreat from $100 as investors sold on concerns that a cooling economy will curb demand for oil and gasoline.

Paulson: No Easy Answer to Mortgage Woes - AP - The Bush administration is working to combat the country's severe housing crisis but there is no simple solution, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Monday, adding that a correction in the housing market is "inevitable and necessary."

US F-18 fighter jets crash in Persian Gulf - CNN International - The US Navy did not immediately know the cause of the F-18 crash. There is no indication of hostile fire action, the officials said.

US-Iran naval confrontation in Gulf raises tensions - Christian Science Monitor - Five Iranian fast boats confronted a small flotilla of US Navy ships in the Persian Gulf in a "careless, reckless and potentially hostile" incident Sunday, Pentagon officials said.


Henry Paulson and President Bush both delivered speeches Monday declaring the economy is fundamentally sound. Boy, I feel better already. Where is that credit card offer I got in the mail last week? Things must be getting REALLY BAD if the Treasury Secretary AND the President both have to make speeches to assure us the the economy is A-OK. I guess that means the price of Oil can go back up.

Speaking of the price of Oil. How many times have we seen a "dip" in the price of Oil blamed on the "potential" of an economic slowdown and the subsequent effects that "potential" slowdown will have on demand? Who could keep count? And wonder of wonders...the price of Oil continues to go UP, in spite of all these "worries" over an economic slowdown. As if the entire "World's" insatiable demand for Oil is going to vanish because the USA's Economy catches a cold. Puh-leeeeeze! America may use 25% of the World's Oil today, but the rest of the World is catching up fast. They would love to get their hands on any Oil we won't need because of a recession.

Gold and Silver were adrift today primarily because of a "dip" in Oil prices. However I suspect that very soon, Precious Metals will not be led around by energy costs much longer. Precious Metals, and commodities in general, are all beginning to breakout to new,and often all-time,highs in many currencies now. Gold is becoming recognized as a safe-haven by investors around the World now and will soon become the "currency of choice" as the growing World banking crisis spirals ever further down the toilet.

Today the US Dollar was "up" for only the second day in the last 10. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! And it hit it's head on it's steeply descending 50 day moving average and quickly retreated. The NEXT low for the Dollar will be 72 as Gold breaches $900, and Silver nears $17.