This week John Mauldin looks at not only the jobs report but also "what-if" proffers for the US and global economies.

One of the maddening things about trading is that it resists any and all attempts to turn it into a regular business activity.

The US dollar had a tremendous intraweek rally, but ultimately the currency would finish the week with little progress towards a long-awaited bull trend revival.

The euro was far and away the worst-performing currency on the week, rocked by a Portuguese credit rating downgrade and a noteworthy deterioration in euro zone bond spreads.

Relative interest rate spreads remain in focus for the Japanese yen, a fact clearly on display as the currency reacted to the bitterly disappointing US employment report.

The sterling surged as investors sought a haven in fixed-assets, with yields falling to their lowest level this month as prices surged.

The Canadian dollar was mostly lower on the week, falling against its American counterpart, while falling against every other major currency, save the euro.

What's imperial suicide? It's what empires do. If no other empire arises to kill them, they kill themselves.

Moody's downgraded Portuguese debt to junk status. The IMF says it will still take the debt as collateral until all four rating agencies downgrade it.

The United States was once the most blessed nation on the face of the earth, but now we are literally falling to pieces.  Does anyone have any ideas about why this could be happening?