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Dollar Snaps Two-Day Rally Against Euro as Services Report May Show Slump The dollar snapped a two-day rally against the euro on speculation a U.S. report today will show the slowest services industry growth in six months, adding to signs of a cooling economy.

The dollar: You’d be better off playing Monopoly It’s not really a laughing matter for those on the wrong side of currency trends but a user on longorshortcapital.com has come up with one of those amusing-yet-sobering insights into the direction of the US peso - er, More…

Plunging Pending Home Sales: Really Big News The 6.5 percent drop in August pending home sales is big news. The drop in the index, which measures the number of contracts signed, follows a 10.7 percent drop reported for July. This is a truly extraordinary two-month decline of 16.5 percent. This is a new index (it began in 2000), so it is easily the sharpest fall on record, but it would likely have been the sharpest two month decline in contracts at any point in the post-war era. The actual falloff in sales is likely to be even larger, since a high percentage of these contracts will not close because buyers cannot arrange financing.

XX Sean's note -- this chart, which I found HERE, shows annual existing home sales since 1969 (and inventory levels since 1982). Click on the chart for a larger image.

Australian Retail Sales, Imports Surge, Signaling Higher Interest Rates Australia's retail sales rose twice as much as economists forecast and imports climbed to a record in August, increasing speculation the central bank will raise interest rates from an 11-year high.

Cameco, U3O8 Agree to Form Australian Uranium Venture to Expand Production Cameco Corp., the world's biggest uranium mining company, signed an agreement with Australian explorer U3O8 Ltd. for a joint venture as it seeks to start producing the radioactive metal in the country.

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