Oil Prices

***The dollar rallied across the board as oil prices retreated. Gold fell and the euro dropped� thanks to Putin�s announcement that Russian oil companies are boosting production as well as exports �Over the weekend, I received an email from a young dentistry student in Germany. He wanted my opinion and advice on emigrating to the States� for study, work and prospects of a �future.�

***Having been bid up by speculators deftly using �Iraqi oil problems� - yes, that�s the same oil that up until a month ago was just a drop in the global bucket - oil prices retreated today after Russian President Vladimir Putin told US President Bush that Russian oil companies are boosting production as well as exports and intend to continue doing so.

In this speculative environment, that�s all it takes to set off a counter-trend: the dollar rallied across the board as oil prices retreated. Gold fell, and the other anti-dollar, the euro, dropped as low as US$1.2197.

In the absence of any major announcements of economic indicators this week, this is as good as it gets.