Euros value is fueling the downspike of the Dollar and the weak dollar is fueling the oil price to climb. Bushs Iraq war is turning from a superflous war into an economical disaster, full scale and no brakes. The job market is for the first time heavily concerned.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/07/markets/oil_prices.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008030711
Oil's newest record: $106 and climbing
Crude prices set yet another record as traders balance weak jobs report with dollar's decline.
SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices jumped to a new record above $106 Friday in choppy trading after the dollar fell to a new low against the euro.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery rose 55 cents to $106.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices changed direction several times before setting a new trading record of $106.54.
The dollar set a new low against the euro Friday before rising. Many analysts believe the weak dollar is the reason why oil prices, and other commodities, are surging. Crude futures offer a hedge against a falling dollar, and oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors when the dollar is falling.
A weak jobs report also fueled oil's rise by convincing traders that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates, which tends to weaken the dollar.
"The swings in the dollar are still the most critical item," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates, an energy consultancy in Galena, Ill.
Concerns about a possible conflict between oil producers Venezuela and Colombia also supported oil prices Friday. Earlier this week, rebels attacked and shut down a a Colombian oil pipeline that transports 60,000 barrels of oil a day in retaliation for a Colombian raid into Ecuador. Venezuela threatened to slash trade and nationalize Colombian-owned businesses, and Venezuela and Ecuador have sent troops to their borders with Colombia.
Job losses: Worst in 5 years
Payrolls sink in February, fueling recession anxiety. Unemployment rate declines, but that's because there are fewer people in the workforce.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/07/news/economy/jobs_february/index.htm?postversion=2008030715
101000 job losses, hardly jobs added. net loss of 63000 jobs
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Employers made their deepest cut in staffing in almost five years in February, the Labor Department reported Friday.
There was a net loss of 63,000 jobs, which is the biggest decline since March 2003 and weaker than the revised 22,000 jobs lost in January. Economists had forecast a gain of 25,000 jobs.
The weak report fueled already mounting recession fears and is likely to keep the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates further when it meets later this month.
"Based on today's Employment Report, if we are not in a recession, it is a darned good imitation of one," said Kevin Giddis, managing director of fixed income at Morgan Keegan. "We are in an unprecedented real estate and credit crisis that is whipping its way through the U.S. economy like a Midwestern tornado."
Job losses were widespread, reaching beyond the battered construction sector, which lost 39,000, and manufacturing, where job losses hit 52,000.
Retailers cut 34,000 jobs.
Temporary staffing firms cut nearly 28,000 from their payrolls, another warning sign of employers pulling back.
Hotels cut about 4,000 jobs, a sign that discretionary consumer spending could be on the wane.
Overall the private sector cut 101,000 jobs, with only a gain in government employment limiting losses.
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