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In This Issue…
Jobs fall -20K…
But dollar bulls celebrate!
Carry Trades hurting yen and francs again…
ECB to leave rates unchanged…
The World Energy CD
The global demand from developed and emerging markets for energy resources continues to grow. Concern about the geopolitical risks associated throughout the Middle East continues to grow. That's why EverBank developed the New World Energy Index CD, which combines the foreign currencies of 3 non Middle Eastern countries rich with energy commodities into a single CD. See here for all the information:
And now…today's Pfennig!
Cinco de Mayo!
Good day… And a Happy Cinco de Mayo to one and all! We celebrated Quattro de Mayo yesterday at the Butler House… We finally got a chance to celebrate my good medical news, and just did Cinco de Mayo one day early!
Well… The Jobs Jamboree on Friday was interesting in that it wasn't as bad as forecast, losing only 20K jobs in April… Folks… That's still negative job growth, but that mattered none to the dollar bulls, who claimed that the storm clouds have been lifted and shouted for everyone to get back into the dollar pool!
But for everyone that still thinks this is a recession that we're going through (and we can add former Fed Chairman, Big Al Greenspan to that list), there were some disturbing pieces of the Jobs Jamboree that the media failed to mention. Long time readers of this letter know that I've always tried to shy away from the media hype of the total jobs created drama. Instead I've always focused more on the Average Hours Worked, and Average Hourly Earnings for clues to the economy… And here is where the dollar bulls should have taken note.
Weakness in manufacturing is still quite evident as this sector lost 46K jobs, but more importantly, the hours in their workweek fell from 41.2 hours in March to 40.9 hours in April. The overall economy lost some time in their workweek too… And even more alarming is the fact that hourly gained only 0.1%, not the 0.3% forecast, and not even close to inflation.

dailyreckoning.com

***UPDATED AT 8:40 AM***
Obviously many areas have already had showers and strong thunderstorms this morning. Heavy rain has also already fallen in a lot of areas. The bulk of the rain has moved north of the area, but additional thunderstorm development is expected through the moning in the area I have circled below. That region of development will shift east this afternoon and evening.
A serious flood threat remains across the Ozarks! We’ll have more on our potential for severe weather around 1 PM this afternoon.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! Remember to wear green so those folks who insist on pinching you…don’t. I am in need of a few folks to help me build an ark today - in some places you might need one or at least an umbrella. A heavy rain event will begin today (especially tonight) and last through Wednesday morning. Moisture started to increase across the area Sunday afternoon and it has continued to pour into the area. An approaching storm system will combine with that moisture and create the setup for our heavy rain.
Showers and thunderstorm can be expected on and off today areawide, however the heavy rain during the daylight hours today can be expected to the northwest of Interstate 44.

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Four-year-old Grace Butterworth’s eyes widened as the Naples 30th annual St. Patrick’s Day parade began strolling down the street Saturday.
Grace, who wore an oversized soft St. Patrick’s hat and a green beard, was among thousands of attendees decked in green enjoying a celebration of traditional Irish fare as 127 community organizations, businesses, school bands and groups marched in the parade, while scrambling to collect candy along 11th Avenue South during the parade.
Grace was at her first parade with her grandmother, Carol McKinnon, a Naples resident, who wore a cloverleaf boa. Grace, her mother, and Grace’s two brothers are visiting from Boston.
Smiling, she watched a clown and others dressed in green travel along the streets of Naples.
From St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Naples, they traveled north on Third Street South, then east on Fifth Avenue South and south on Eighth Street South to Crayton Cove.
In the front of the parade was Naples Mayor Bill Barnett, who said he enjoys the great atmosphere and attends regularly.
“It’s a great day to forget about the economy and all the controversy that you read about in the newspaper,” said Barnett, who wore an oversized green hat. “Today is a day that you are smiling whether you are Irish or not.”

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