Gold Slips Below $900, Silver Below $17

Gold Below $900 - Silver Below $17

After days of incesent market pounding, Gold has finally given way and dropped below the $900 mark. Silver has also followed suit and dropped below the $17 mark. As of this posting they are at $897 and $16.92 respectively and the trend is for continued decline.

Crude oil has slipped to $121.70 a barrel this morning and continues to slide under the pressures of falling demand. It seems apparent that $4.00 a gallon gas represents a threshold at which Americans are willing to alter their mode of transportation in an effort to reduce gas consumption and save money.

The U.S. dollar, though nothing to write home about, seems to holding it's own against other currencies, which is an amazing thing given our economic circumstnaces.

The U.S. economy in general is striving to fight back against mounds of bad press. Outrageous deficit spending, Mortgage and banking bailouts on the horizon, large business layoffs and cutbacks, all contribute to our financial woes. However, one thing has changed. Europe is begining to experience similar economic problems and the super Asian economic growth has run into a few snags.

These factors are helping to level the playing field for the U.S. and now we must look to innovation in manufacturing and product development to help the U.S. economy rebuild itself. I have never been a big proponent of government attempts to control the economy. The tools of the Fed are crude and limited. However, in our present position, I could see some good coming out of tax credits or enticements for technological innovation.

This is the time for us to rebuild our economy based on practical technologies and useful products for everyday life. Let the government begin to ecourage businesses to build towards long term developement. This is the way of our future.