Bond Market
Stocks fell back slightly, and bond interest rates rose slightly. The fall was blamed on an unease in the healthcare tax increases coming if Congress has its way. Politics rule.
The Dollar strengthened, and gold fell as did oil/gasoline.
In the news today……
Bonds – have you ever wondered if bond values could ever be a measure of market insanity? I have often wondered, and here is a chart that excites my mind into thinking about this subject. What can you read into it? Why is it setting new highs? Is it the FED low interest rates, for example? Is there a lot of money looking for a “safe” place to earn interest?
US Energy Department – has leaked in an internal memo that it’s methods of collecting the amount of surplus in US oil reserves stinks. It said it is using outdated methods that have caused spikes in oil prices. This is what I’ve been trying to say very loudly for a long time. You can’t trust what governments tell you.
Tonight’s Dinner Conversation…..
Population – world population is what I’m talking about. What affect does the growth of world population have on the economy? This is an impossible question, but a good one just the same. If you look at the following graph, you will see that there is a dip in the world’s population around 1400, but it was just the Black Death. We haven’t seen anything like that since then – not even this year’s Swine Flu caused anything to dip (soap box statement.)
Here are the last numbers for today:
Dow Jones 30 Industrial – 10,742 (down 37)
10 Year Treasury Bond – 3.69% (up 0.02%)
Euro – $1.3533
Gold – $1107 (down $20)
Oil – $80.68 (down $1.62)
Gasoline – $2.26 (down $0.06)
