Odds and Ends

Gold jumped today after the fed announced "further monetary accommodation." The price moved up over $30/oz. in the span of a few minutes. W.C. Varones has the chart.

Romney has been inching closer in the Electoral College map. The RealClearPolitics map has Obama's lead down to 221 to 191, with 270 needed to win outright. The May map had Obama up 243-170.

The debt clock at right is closing in on $16 trillion, at $15.97 trillion as of this writing. Congratulations kids, we're leaving you a heck of a legacy.

The Congressional Budget Office is saying this about the coming tax rises and budget cuts in January, termed the "fiscal cliff."

The nation will be plunged into a significant recession during the first half of next year if Congress fails to avert nearly $500 billion in tax increases and spending cuts set to hit in January, congressional budget analysts said Wednesday.

Don't expect any relief until after the dust settles on the election. Even then, I don't expect a lame duck Obama to sign off on any relief. Less well know is the regulatory cliff being prepared by the administration to further hamper the Romney administration. As Rob Portman explains, the President has postponed damaging rules until after the November election.

. . . the Obama administration has been quietly postponing several multibillion-dollar regulations until after the November election. Those delayed rules, together with more than 130 unfinished mandates under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial law, could significantly increase the regulatory drag on our economy in 2013.

I honestly believe that the economy is ready to grow again, but an Obama re-election will crush the chances for a real recovery.

That's all for tonight.