I'm struck by the paradox that an improved ISM number (factory purchasing manager gauge) instantly brought about not a stronger dollar as it would have in the past (implying future central bank tightening) but instead the exact opposite. The Fed is expected to continue with its easy money policy, AKA the dollar carry trade, wherein borrowers of dollars make out like bandits buying virtually anything else. Of course the Fed also abets this by buying both treasuries and mortgages, and essentially any AAA rated securities from banks. The dollar, despite all the abuse from the Fed's Quantitative Easing, is portrayed in the media as a "safe haven" and anything hard like commodities are termed "risky". But an economy on the mend like today's is expected to favor "risk"; never mind that the economy has only improved due to the wall of liquidity entering the system, and that remaining in cash has actually been more risky than diversifying into foreign currencies or commodities. Nothing more risky than having a savings account that pays zilch while Bernanke is busy printing money.