Chicago Daily Observer

We want to add our congratulations to the US Olympic Men’s, 4×100 Freestyle Relay Team. A new world-record, and an amazing anchor leg comeback over the favored French team, was simply amazing. How ’bout them apples?
The technology behind the new Speedo swimsuit worn by most swimming medalists in Beijing is a reminder of the fact that the globe is still in the midst of a technological boom. But, unlike the 1990s, this productivity growth is not holding back inflation. Neither is weak economic growth – experienced in the US since last fall when the subprime crisis first unfolded.

In fact, the value of the gold in a gold medal is up 115% since 2004, while silver prices are up 130%. Much of this increase in commodity prices has occurred in the past year, pushing the 12-month changes in consumer prices to 5% and producer prices up to 9.2%.

The price of oil jumped $11 per barrel last Friday (a record daily dollar amount), after a $5 move on Thursday. For perspective; just seven short years ago, in 2001, oil was trading at about $20/barrel.
The spike in oil was due to a confluence of factors. A senior Israeli official suggested an attack on Iran – to prevent the latter country from acquiring nuclear weapons – was a possibility. The European Central Bank raised the specter of a rate hike, which hurt the dollar, especially after the unemployment rate jumped to 5.5%, possibly pushing any Fed rate hikes further off into the future.
A re-ignited oil price has re-energized the outlook for recession from some analysts. Despite avoiding one so far, these analysts are convinced that a teetering consumer will be pushed over the edge by $4 ... Read More...