Today's Financial News

Wholesale Prices Rise 6.3 Percent in ‘07
By Martin Crutsinger
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Wholesale inflation last year shot up by the largest amount in 26 years while retailers suffered their worst December shopping season in five years as mounting economic woes caused consumers to put away their wallets. The Labor Department reported that wholesale inflation was up 6.3 percent for all of 2007, reflecting a huge increase for the year in various types of energy costs ranging from gasoline to home heating oil.

Dollar Falls to Within a Cent of Euro Record on Bets Fed to Cut
By Bo Nielsen and Ye Xie
Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar fell to within a cent of its all-time low versus the euro on speculation U.S. interest rates will drop below those of the 15 nations that share the single European currency for the first time in three years.

“The disastrous fiscal policies of our own government, marked by shameless deficit spending and Federal Reserve currency devaluation, are some of the greatest threats facing our nation today. It is this one-two punch — Congress spending more than it can tax or borrow, and the Treasury printing money to make up the difference — that threatens to impoverish us by further destroying the value of our dollars.”
--Ron Paul, author of seven books on economics