Well that was fun.

Last night The Dollar came back under heavy pressure, and then this morning... well.....



Any questions?

This is commonly called "bad".

Personal Income and Spending came in at up 0.3% on income, spending up 0.6%, no revisions to July. The deflator and PCE came in right inline. Nothing significant here, and its a bit surprising, all things considered. The markets didn't do much of anything on the data release.

The cheerleaders are out again this morning on CNBC.....

Rick Santelli, however, comes out with a buck in his hand! I love it. Crumples it on-screen and used a fiver - when called on that he said "A one is too small; you wouldn't even see it!" and "I'm in the comfort zone until I go shopping."

I love 'ya Rick..... not in that sort of way, but at least there is one honest man on CNBS....

Oh, and for those who say that we're going to get "multiple expansion"? Not according to a number of economists.....

"Profit in the U.S. may grow at the slowest rate in more than five years this quarter as the housing slump hurts results at companies from IndyMac Bancorp Inc. to Target Corp."

Imagine that! Gee, you mean that the $6.5 trillion that consumers have taken out of their houses to blow on frills like Plasma TVs and expensive vacations has a bad economic impact when that source of "play money" dries up?

Consumer Confidence came in at 83.4 which was unchanged - but below consensus (consensus was for an improvement.) So much for "things are looking up" eh?

Fed President Lockhart sees possible turbulence ahead but claims that "inflation expectations are anchored". Yeah, ok. There's that "expectations" word again instead of actual inflation. You don't buy food or energy, right Lockhart? And you don't care about the dollar going in the ****ter, which of course is reflected in that nice 83 handle on oil either, right?

"Moral Hazard" isn't on the radar either..... got it.

Tell 'ya what - when the US economy collapses in the next few years due to these policies perhaps all the unemployed can come by your nice mansion (or is it just a regular "house") for some free food and lodging.... that'd be great no?

My view stands - Congress has the authority under The Constitution to manage the nation's money supply, and its long past the time when they ought to be exercising that authority.

Oh, and as for "why money markets aren't a great idea"? Try this one:

"Unlike bank accounts, money market funds aren't insured by the federal government. They almost never fail.

Unbeknownst to most investors, some of the largest money market funds today are putting part of their cash into one of the riskiest debt investments in the world: collateralized debt obligations backed by subprime mortgage loans."

What the **** is that? Money markets are supposed to be safe places to park your money. But heh, when "animal spirits" get going, nothing is sacred any more, is it?

Oh, CNBC was saying "buy regional banks". Hope they weren't including this one:

"The U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision on Friday said it closed NetBank Inc (NTBK.PK: Quote, Profile , Research), an Internet bank with $2.5 billion in deposits, and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp as receiver."

Uhhhhhhh.... is that good? Got FDIC?

Mortgage insurers are reasonably safe because they charge good premiums for their risk? Are you sure?

"More American homeowners are missing mortgage payments, pushing defaults on privately insured home loans up 30 percent last month from year-earlier levels, according to a trade group."

Let me guess - that's good too.

Here's your technical!