United States

Reverse everything that happened on Thursday and you know exactly what happened last night across global financial markets.

Oil jumped US$5 last night on a weak greenback and rising tensions in Cold War II. The Dow was nevertheless unchanged.

Anger is building in the land of the free market and the home of the no longer brave, as non-disclosure and deception accusations fly around the mortgage twins.

Goldman downgraded the financial sector and called oil to US$149, but financials rallied last night and oil barely moved. Dow up 68.

It was another bad night for financials on Wall Street, sending the US dollar down, commodities up, and the Dow down 130.

In a little over twelve months, life as we know it has changed dramatically. Financial markets are in crisis, the global economy is staring at recession, and now the commodity super-cycle has faltered. What lies ahead?

A report suggesting the US government will indeed need to bail out the terrible twins sent Wall Street scrambling again and the Dow down 180 points.

It was a whole lot of not much on Friday as oil edged lower and the Dow higher, with gold the only real casualty.

There’s no point in dreamin’. California is broke, the budget is frozen, and the Governator must be wondering whether he’ll be back…for another term.

Wall Street traders awoke on Thursday morning and realised Wednesday was all just a dream. Last night it was back to dollar up, commodities down, and an 82 point rally in the Dow.