Apparently the dollar strength is a result of strong ISM numbers today, which caused profit taking and crucially the CNBC report reporting Bernanke saying he was flexible and not doveish, and thus misinterpreted last week. A top is in, imo.
I think Bernanke is just an idiot. I thank him for making me a bunch of money today but I don't think he has any clue as what to do with this economy.
Not sure why you think this is all Bernarke's fault. His remarks were clear as day to me, the market just took it as an excuse to sell off the USD. The market read into it what it wanted, and didn't bother to listen to the full comment. He clearly said that a pause was near, but that a pause was not the end to hikes. What part of "not the end to hikes" was so hard to get? Check my posts a few pages or so back. I said it then that the market took it wrong, and now it's being picked up by the news like it's a revelation. I tell ya, silly is in season.
I'm not saying today's bernanke's fault. I merely commented on his ability to take the bull by the horn (no pun intended) and decide what he wants to do. It almost seems like he's flying by the seat of his pants with trial and error policies.
Maybe, but it's not exactly an rosey picture he was given from Greenie. He's got a commodity launch trajectory (oil rocketing to the moon, gold right behind it), causing inflationary pressures, but on the other hand he's got people telling him the US housing bubble could send the economy into a crash that - coupled with the existing deficits could send the US back to the 70s. I think a little caution is warranted, so long as he gets it right. What the market doesn't get (or chooses not to get, take your pick) is that the US isn't alone with many of these worries.
Exactly. I read so much crap on this site about how Greenie or Bernarke suck, and they should do this or that, and how they're so stupid, etc ad nauseum. At the end of the day, would you want that job? I sure as hell wouldn't. So many armchair QBs here
I don't want President Bush's job but that doesn't mean I can't criticize the guy and that I'm not supposed to think he could have done better by growing a brain. Same thing goes for BB.
But don't you think that he (either of them) has a bit more visibility to data and information than you might? This would enable them to make decisions that you might think are stupid, but in reality are right on the mark. It's easy to criticise.