Various FOMC voting members have made comments suggesting that they do not intend to cut rates in December, especially as inflation pressures are building rapidly.

This week John Mauldin looks at inflation. Is it just over 2%, giving the Fed room to cut rates, or will it be closer to 4% by the next FOMC meeting, making a rate cut problematic?

The money market funds have put a little of their cash into SIVs, Structured Investment Vehicles. For the first time ever, the funds may “break the buck,” meaning, they might not have a dollar’s worth of assets for every dollar investors gave them. This would be a big disappointment to many investors; they gave their money to the money funds because they believed they were ‘safe’...and they were hoping to get their money back in the same condition it left them.

The USD/CAD has many wondering if the pair stands to continue its strong recovery or if it will correct lower. Traders should watch event risk out of Canada and the US, as surprising results could spark volatility.

Lawrence G. McMillan reviews the options market in his weekly column for November 16.

Putting more Asians to work does not automatically increase the supply of farmland, or what grows on top of it, or what lies underneath of it. While increased industrial output has managed to hold prices down for manufactured goods, the rising supply of money has forced up prices for things that don’t come out of factories.

Another month of net outflows of US assets could be disastrous for the greenback and US equity markets. On the other hand, a better-than-expected figure for net long-term TIC flows could lead the markets to believe that not all faith in the dollar is lost and could create an opportunity for US assets to gain.

We had it all figured out. Finally, we said just 24 hours ago, "The tide has turned." Once the tide has turned, there is no point in arguing with it, or even analyzing it. The liquidity is going the other direction; that’s all there is to it. So what happened? The Dow rose 319 points.

With energy and food prices in the US rocketing higher, it will come as little surprise that inflation figures for the month of October are expected to surge upon release on Thursday.

Most traders typically like to talk about their winners while avoiding any recollection of their losers. Smart traders will be aware of the patterns that occur with losing trades, so as not to hold losing trades any longer than necessary.