Good morning strato. I'm not so sure we will see NOT hitting the $3.20 mark any time soon. Yesterday the stars were all lined up for NOT to get the proverbial spanking. Yet it didn't happen, in fact the $3.70 level was defended all day.

On the world scene many factors are in place for the USA to try and avoid a prolonged recession and strive for a soft landing. I believe if Bush can get the price of oil down to a reasonable level, a soft landing for the US economy is still possible. To do this will take a reduction in US interest rates, which will cause inflation.  Base metals and precious metals will be the big winners in this type of environment.

This morning at 8:30 am the US will announce CPI #'s, if they beat estimates it could be the catalyst to turn the markets around. Asian and European markets are followers to the US markets, not leaders.

We live in interesting times in the markets. Those that predict doomsday will be sadly mistaken and miss some real good bounces in the indices and select individual stocks. JMHO

Al