Weekly Round-Up

Estonia joined the E.U. yesterday, becoming the 17th member. The small Baltic state will switch from the kroon to the Euro on Jan. 1 2011.. There remains mild concern over the sinking currency, as voiced by Dmitri Medvedev. Austerity measures are being enacted all around the Euro Zone – France will up their retirement age to – gasp! – 62! and Germany, watching Greece, Spain and Portugal, hesitates to to inject money into their market to increase spending.

At home, interest rates are still low, easing fears that the economy could double dip. BP agreed to a $20 billion fund to help Gulf Coast residents, and Obama was booed for his Oval Office address. He warned that stimulus procedures must continue in order to maintain recovery. With the G-20 conference in Toronto next week, Obama also wants Chinese consumers to continue buying, by allowing the remninbi to appreciate. Their export driven economy will likely keep the remnibi where it is, or inch it ever so higher, due to its recent strength against the decreasing Euro.

All in all, people aren’t really sure where we’re going. Stimulus measures must be continued, but the recession is becoming every day more a thing of the past. As Randy Frederick, director of trading for Charles Schwab put it, “None of the problems have been resolved. They have been sort of moved off the headline page.”

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