asia up, australia down, $a up, page-5

Grant,

Interesting observation. Thanks.

It's something I hadn't considered. My initial thought was that banks were going to be under pressure anyway, since (a) they showed every indication of having been propped up into the close of the year and (b) bonds/treasuries took a big hit in NY on Friday night.

However I was surprised by the width of the selloff across all sectors today, which accords with your assessment.

The one thing against it is the thin volume in most blue chips. I remember the last asian selloff of our financial insto's and ave. vol. rose 50-100%. So far there's no sign of that although tomorrow may be a different story.

I do think the USD has 'got away' from the Fed and is now a rogue element which could/will have very nasty ramifications for someone. I just don't know who atm. :-)

I assume your reference to a $ implosion means the A$ rather than the USD. I'm not ready to buy that atm, not because of any particular regard for the robustness of the aussie but because I don't see any latent strength in the USD. Our $ should stay strong by default.

Of course it could be either/or. Either an 90c $ or a 50c $. Either may bring about the outcome you predict.