Since the US Treasury can borrow money at 2.43%, and the Greeks, Italians, and Irish are suffering because of bond rates at about 6%, why doesn’t the Treasury borrow as much as it can at the current rate and buy Euro-bonds at 3.5%. The Euro-economies get a break, and the US scores 1%/year.

Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot that only Wall Street is allowed to make money with other peoples’ assets.

Update: Dow dropped 512 points at the close. You can’t get through to the CNN/Money article because their server is overloaded, but it updates with the latest bad news.

Your friends on Wall Street sent you a message: Dow free falls 400 points

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Poof! There goes any progress stocks made in 2011.

Stocks plunged Thursday, with the Dow tumbling 400 points to hit its lowest level since December, as global economic fears gripped the market.

U.S. markets were already sharply lower on widespread worries, including the weak job market. But the selling gained momentum as Japanese and European policymakers stepped in with dramatic measures to shore up their financial markets.

There’s “total fear” in the market, said Bob Doll, chief equity strategist at the world’s largest money manager, BlackRock.
…

Meanwhile, it should come as no surprise that in the U.S., investors flocked to assets perceived as low-risk, including U.S. Treasuries and gold.

Treasury prices rose, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down to 2.48% from 2.6% late Wednesday, and gold futures for December delivery fell $8.70 to $1,657.70 an ounce. Earlier in the session, gold hit a record high of $1,684.70 an ounce.

In other commodities, oil prices slumped more than 5% to $89.90 a barrel.

[Read more →]

Emily has degenerated into a remnant low having been disrupted by the mountains of Hispaniola. It is still a rain threat, and might regenerate, but this is the final advisory. All Watches and Warnings have been canceled.

Position: 19.0N 75.0W [ 4PM CDT 2100 UTC].
Movement: Northwest [315°] near 16 mph [26 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 35 mph [ 55 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1009 mb ↑.

Currently about 100 miles [160 km] South-Southwest of the eastern tip of Cuba

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]