Oil fell $5 a barrel this morning, as Tropical Storm Dolly is not expected to have as much of an effect in the Gulf of Mexico as experts had previously thought.

The Telegraph warns this morning of a global financial meltdown. The U.S. current fiscal crisis is the push over the edge that the global economy has feared.

In the oil market, we see both a bubble and a useful commodity responding to economic forces.

The global financial system is falling apart, and the world economy is slowing down.

All the world's major markets are in major declines.  The worst hit so far are those in the Far East.

FDIC can bail out a few of these banks, but not all of them.  And there is no way it can bail out Fannie and Freddie.  Together, the twins have more than $5 trillion in liabilities.

Asians are gaining wealth because they work for peanuts and save their money.  Americans are losing wealth because they spend too much and don't save at all.

The world of constantly expanding credit and rising asset prices is finished.

The unstoppable forces of inflation continue to smash into the immoveable lines of deflation.

Gambling on rising housing prices through Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae may just be fatal.