The latest important news came out on Friday. Eighteen months. Two trillion dollars. And now this: the number of unemployed people is still going up!

It turned out that 95 percent of the new jobs were census takers -- people paid by the government to count the people who pay the government.

Is the US in a "V"-shaped recovery?  Are we returning to the old normal?  A great deal hinges on the answer, and this week we look at some of the evidence before us.

The US dollar finished the week higher against all G10 and other major currencies, fueled by a substantial decline in the S&P 500 and broad deterioration in financial market risk appetite.

The situation in the European Union has not improved materially over the past three weeks.

The economic docket for the following week is expected to show the trade surplus narrowed.

The British pound may look past an interest rate announcement from the Bank of England to fall in line with the trends in risk sentiment, setting up the currency for losses amid an aggressive return to risk aversion.

Looking ahead to this week, the economic docket is fairly quiet for the loonie as Canadian dollar traders await the new housing price index in April.

Resignations by Prime Ministers can have a significant impact on the country’s currency because its performance reflects investor sentiment.

Is the market really headed down or not?  Is it a real bear market that will continue for years?