May 2012, Week 3 Edition

Gold and other commodities are down, partly because the U.S. dollar is UP to the euro. In the last two weeks, the euro has fallen from $1.324 to $1.288, mostly in reaction to the recent elections in France and Greece, which have put an end to the "age of austerity" in Europe and the beginning of a new era of monetary expansion in the euro-zone. By contrast, the U.S. had a positive April - the first monthly budget surplus since 2008. The U.S. economy is growing slowly, but fast enough to give the dollar a quick boost.