The financial crisis is once again wreaking havoc on the U.S. dollar. Expect gold and silver to shoot back up again.

The S&P E Mini Futures contract closed up today. We just barely broke yesterday’s high and had a long wick to the bottom of the candle. We have some work to do, to stay above the the  consolidating area in the 820’s. After a large up day yesterday we did most of the work between the 0% and 23.6% retracement level closing just below the 0% level and the resistance level of 820. If the S&P can hold the 820 level next week then this bodes well for a short term bottom that has been put in.

Charlie Rose interviews Nassim Taleb (author of ‘Fooled by Randomness’ and ‘The Black Swan’) who paints a bleak picture for the financial system. He sees continued de-leveraging, deflation and a painful move to a new system of capitalism.

The S&P E Mini Futures contract closed down today. We took back all the gains of yeasterday and have a long way to go to get back on solid footings. After an up day yesterday we did most of the work between the 0% and 23.6% retracement level closing at the 0% level and making new lows not seen since 1996. If the S&P can hold the 660 level next week then this bodes well for a short term bottom that has been put in. The markets had a strong down day yesterday, so we will have to see what next week brings.

I have been arguing for weeks now that the excessive capitalization of the banks is the wrong way to go. Many of these banks are sitting on a fortune of capital now and are simply not lending it out. Now Paulson says that he is going to be focusing on consumer lending moving forward. The big question is - can you do this successfully without mandating banks to lend at below risk assessed rates?

Source: Bloomberg

The S&P E Mini Futures contract closed up today. We almost have put in  a few nice up dys in a row, we should expect a retracement but hopefully we will not give back all the  gains.  We still have  a long way to go to get above where we were consolidating in the 820 area. After an down day yesterday we did most of the work above the 61.8% retracement level closing above  the 61.8% level and the support level of 750. If the S&P can hold the 750 level next week then this bodes well for a short term bottom that has been put in.

Things are getting uncomfortable for individuals and corporations looking to deposit their money in tax havens around the world. Just recently, Congress introduced the so-called “Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act,” which is designed to do away with the privacy afforded by doing business or investing outside the U.S. and to eliminate or reduce tax benefits available offshore.

It was almost sad to see 2008 come to an end. Talk about moving markets… As investors with discipline, there was something for everybody.

The first half of the year saw ALL-TIME HIGHS in gold, crude, wheat, unleaded gas, copper, corn and soybeans. But as they say, what goes up must come down, and the force with which commodities fell from the sky was rather amazing.

An interesting George Soros Interview from October 10, 2008.

Stock indexes surged higher today, with the Dow rising almost 900 points, its second largest point gain ever. Today a huge chunk of the move happened again at the very end of the session, but this time the indexes were able to build on the gains of the day instead of a last minute reversal. Yesterday I suggested that the markets looked so bad that they might be ready for a move the other way. That was only a guess. I had no signal other than gut feel, which is wrong more than it is correct.