Global economies always have silver linings

Monday: Dead cat bounce or the start of the recovery? As the cliche goes, Only Time Will Tell, but today doesn't make things look good.

Meanwhile, as I catch up on news and wrap my head around the Dow's latest yo-yo, David points out that the Aussie dollar is currently trading at 67c on the U.S. dollar. The amazing part of that: In June, it was at 95 cents. When I first visited David in Melbourne, in summer '99, the Aussie dollar was worth about 66 cents on the U.S. dollar -- and having the Aussie dollar worth so much less than the U.S. one made visiting him much easier.

Now, it's down 30% from where it was in June. That translates to a cost drop of as much as $1k for us for a standard two-week trip, depending on what happens with air fares. If this keeps up, maybe we can go visit his family next year after all!