Update 2/28

Copper continued northward last week for altogether unknown reasons, ending at $3.24. Here are a few facts: the Fed tightened money policy, which in theory should raise the value of the USD (which it did) which in turn should send the prices of commodities down. Further, new housing sales were (again) abysmal, meaning less copper was being used. I still maintain that copper is getting ready for a meltdown, and am maintaining my "sell" order at $3.11 with another at $2.98, again both with five cent trailing stops. But a trend is a trend, and I'm not going to "sell" into this until it changes direction. I absolutely refuse to "buy" with fundamentals like these.

In news from Hooverville, here's how the State of Illinois is doing these days: "The state is in utter crisis," said Representative Suzie Bassi. "We are next to bankruptcy. We have a $13bn hole in a $28bn budget" The state has been paying bills with unfunded vouchers since October. A fifth of buses have stopped. Libraries, owed $400mm, are closing one day a week. Schools are owed $725mm. Unable to pay teachers, they are preparing mass lay-offs. "It's a catastrophe", said the Schools Superintedent. In Alexander County, the sheriff's patrol cars have been repossessed; three-quarters of his officers are laid off; the local prison has refused to take county inmates until debts are paid". Oh yes.. and the city of Harrisburg,PA this week will likely join Vallejo,CA in the bankruptcy courthouse.

The disconnect between Wall Street and the White House on one side and the rest of us living out here in Hooverville on the other is as big as it ever was. The US Gov't cannot borrow, print and spend our way to prosperity.. and yet healthcare reform ! is all we hear coming out of Washington and the media. You'd have thought the election in Massachussets would've shaken some people up; apparently it's back to business as usual.

In more positive news, the rest of us out here in Hooverville are making some headway in providing some real answers to real world problems. The latest is from a company in California that produces an "energy box" which might one day replace the entire electric grid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcLq3B8C5sk