Last Thursday, the employment figures were reported as both a triumph and a setback.

It is time once again to throw caution and wisdom to the wind and make the annual forecast.

How deep in the hole are the state and local governments? Truth is, nobody knows. The states report their liabilities in strange ways, often ignoring accounting conventions.

The dollar has put in for a remarkable advance over the first week of the 2011 trading year.

The euro fell sharply against the US dollar in the year's first week of trading, setting the stage for a negative month of January and potentially further losses through 2011.

The Japanese yen pushed lower against the U.S. dollar this week, falling some 2.3 percent as developments in world’s largest economy begin to stabilize.

Relative yield spreads have taken the top spot as the driver of British pound price action.

The Canadian dollar was the only major currency that pushed higher against the greenback.

What a change this is from a few years ago. Remember when the US was on top of the world.