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February 17, 2005

Syria and George Bush

When asked if Syria was responsible for the recent assasination Bush said, "I can't tell you yet,". "I don't know that. I'm going to withhold judgment until we know what the facts are."

Bush said he would consult with allies about Syria when he visits Europe next week, and said the United States supports an international investigation of Hariri's assassination.

The United States has withdrawn its ambassador to Syria, Margaret Scobey, and that "indicates that the relationship is not moving forward," the president said. He said Syria was "out of step with the progress being made in the greater Middle East."

The president also recently deliverd a stern warning to Syria that it must comply with the UN and pull out it's 13,000 troops from Lebanon. Clearly our differences with Syria are mounting.

Posted by Tuck at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)

February 03, 2005

United States Federal Budget Deficit dollar is up on GW Bush Speech

US BUDGET DEFICIT - Oil, the dollar and President Bush

The dollar has been going straight down ever since Bush got us in the hot seat with the rest of the world. Today, the dollar rallied against the euro and the yen after President Bush reiterated his resolve to halve the U.S. budget deficit by 2009.

In Bush's State of the Union address our president said that he will send Congress a fiscal 2006 budget that holds discretionary spending growth below inflation, makes his first-term tax cuts permanent, and remains on track to cut the deficit "in half" by 2009.

We hope that happens, but the greenback's strength is also related to negative comments on the Japanese economy from Bank of Japan Governor, Toshihiko Fukui, according to Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist, at Windham Financial Services.

Oil futures meanwhile moved lower in New York trading after falling under $47 a barrel for the first time in three weeks in the prior session. Crude for March delivery was last down 59 cents at $46.15 a barrel in electronic trading.

In the latest OPEC meeting member countries now feel the former $22 to $28 per barrel is not a realistic target and want to keep oil prices right here in the 40's for now. So, get used to over $2 per gallon at the pump. And things might get worse before they get better.

Saudi Arabia who export millions of barrels a day of Oil are now making twice as much surplus due to the higher prices. And to account for the glut in Oil they now are exporting over 5 million barrels a day. This translates to almost $200 million per day in profit for that country coming directly out of...........Guess which country's wealth?

Posted by Tuck at 10:20 AM | Comments (31)