The Dollar gained today.

Oil and gasoline are in a trench moving up and down in a narrow band.  They are still in that narrow band, and therefore are moving sideways.

Gold gained $11 today, but I await a test of the support level of $850 to $860.

In the news today….

Credit card use in February fell at an annual rate of 9.7%.  This is another sign of reduced consumer spending and increased consumer savings.

Why has the Dollar been strong this year???  Here is the most logical explanation that I’ve seen.  There are a lot of people/companies who must make payments in Dollars.  And, there is no credit around for them to borrow Dollars.  So, they are converting their local currency to Dollars to be able to make these payments.  This explanation came from George Soros.  Assuming this is true, the Dollar should go back falling in value when the credit markets start freeing up.

Here are the last numbers for today:
Dow Jones 30 Industrial – 7790 (down 186 points)
10 Year Treasury Bond – 2.91% (down 0.03%)
Euro – $1.3268
Gold – $883 (up $11)
Oil – $49.15 (down $1.90)
Gasoline – $1.46 (down $0.02)