The market only rallied because Bernanke delivered no surprises.  President Obama’s attempt at reassuring Americans also failed to comfort investors.

The US dollar surged against the major currencies amidst persistent risk aversion and as fundamental releases from other regions made conditions in the US seem relatively solid.

This method dates back to the 17th century when the Japanese used this analysis in the rice trade.

Stocks are back down to '97 levels.

There could still be more surprises in Bernanke’s testimony.

The EUR/USD currency pair pulled back to 1.2650 and has since re-gathered upside momentum.

US economic news was very disappointing this morning, as the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index tumbled by a record 18.23 percent in Q4 and the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index hit the worst level since record keeping began in 1967.

Those who feared the end of the world can relax.

Last week was bad. Real bad. The weekend may have stopped the bleeding. Will the stock market find support this week?

The rally in gold prices tells us one thing and one thing only, which is that the fear has returned to the market.