BRICS growing in stature

Speaking of gas… Have you heard of the new “gas coupon”… You probably already have a few of them in your pocket, and didn’t realize that they were “gas coupons”… Look again, they have President Lincoln on the face… OOPS! Those are $5 bills! HA!

There will be some Fed Heads on the speaking circuit today… They are all hawks, so look for more talk about ending QE2 early… It’s not going to happen, but they can talk about it to make themselves feel good… Sort of like buying a HYBRID SUV… HA!

Then there was this… From The Telegraph, as quoted by Bill Bonner in his essay “Government Spending and the Path to Money Printing” in yesterday’s Daily Reckoning…

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said soaring inflation coupled with low pay rises means household peacetime disposable income is at its lowest since 1921.

Rising food, clothing and energy prices mean the average British family will have £910 less to spend this year than they did in 2009.

The CEBR calculates that household disposable income will fall by 2pc this year, more than double last year’s fall of 0.8pc and the biggest drop since the savage 1919 to 1921 post-First World War recession.

It forecasts inflation will average 3.9pc in 2011, its highest since 1992, as January’s increase in VAT from 17.5pc to 20pc and the rising cost of oil and other commodities continue to drive up prices.

At the same time, salaries will rise just 1.9pc as unemployment remains high and the public sector makes cutbacks.

Geez, Louise… This is not getting any better is it?

To recap… The bias to sell dollars was taken off the table yesterday mid-morning. I think it’s more of a reaction to the fact that the currencies moved too far, too fast, and needed to retrace some steps… The president announced a plan to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over 12 years… UGH! The BRIC countries added an “S” to make BRICS, with the “S” representing South Africa. The BRICS just concluded a meeting of the countries, and they are feeling their oats a bit, making statements about the West, etc. Indians are opting for silver this year, instead of gold, and the MAS will allow faster appreciation of the Singapore dollar after Singapore’s economy grew +23%!

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