Agreed statesidereport. Having the USD rise after the NY markets' debacle from last week and today's bail-out news of FNM and FRE is totally ridiculous. Not surprisingly, the Asian markets tonight appear to have concentrated on the GSE's lifeline only and completely forgotten about the carnage of IndyMac, GM, and LEH last week.

With many key corporations reporting this week and a fair amount of economic data to be issued, the demise of the USD will soon continue. I believe a few investment and regional banks also get to reveal how they hid their mountainous losses as well.

For many, the highlight of last week was not only the downfall of Ben but especially of Hank. Keep in mind that it was only a few months ago that gold and silver would melt away whenever Hank made a speech or an appearance on CNBC. Last week was the opposite. Here are a few priceless quotes on Hank's recent performances from some respected voices:

Bill Cara: "For Henry Paulson to tell the Chinese monetary authorities their currency ought to be market-set is, in my view, an indictable offense. This man is and will always be a disaster for public service. From the time he was born with a silver spoon in Palm Beach Florida, he has always served his own interests and those of his banker colleagues. The massive problems that the American public and its lending institutions face today happened on his watch and are directly attributable to his actions of the summer of 2006. Paulson’s ego was such that in private talks with traders and bankers he actually believed he could, by his own actions, break the falling momentum of the equity market cycle at that time, and stave the Bear, when all he did was postpone it by making credit markets grow worse to the point where he broke the back of the US financial system.

Books will be written about this man. Trust me."

Enrico Orlandini: "Bush administration’s “strong dollar policy” reaffirmed just the other day by Treasury Secretary Paulson who I really dislike. If you can find snake oil salesman in the dictionary, his picture should serve as a definition. Did I say that I really, really, really dislike him!!!"

By the end of this week, we "should" see gold and silver above $1000 and $20, respectively. However, we all remember the blatant attack on PM's just after the BSC fiasco so something similar may be planned by the cornered rats again. We will have a better picture after London and NY open in a few hours as they are always the tag team sources of major intervention.

As noted in the chart below, PM's ended last week strong and this "should" continue.

Regards - VHF