–At the rate the US dollar is declining, Australia may have to start getting ready for currency refugees from America (other than your editor). There’s no debt deal in America yet. As you can see from the chart below, the US dollar index is nearing a 12-month low. And the 10-day moving average (the blue line) has crossed under the 35-day average (the red line). Our in-house trader Murray Dawes tells us that when this happens, it’s a short-term bearish indicator. Hmm.

Dollar Day of Reckoning Approaches

–The dollar index isn’t at new lows. And the greenback is still the world’s most widely owned reserve currency. According to Bloomberg, 60.7% of global currency reserves are held in dollars. The Euro—the other sick man of currencies—is second at 26.6%, followed by the Yen. What about

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In case you haven’t heard, the USPS is planning on closing over 3,600 locations. Believe it or not, of their roughly 32k locations, only about 6k (19%) cover their costs, so it’s time for a change. Is your favorite location in danger? Find out by clicking through and checking the official list.

Of the Post Offices being considered for closure:

• 3,061 generate less than $27,500 in annual revenue, or less than a two hour daily workload
• 385 generate less than $600k in annual revenue and are located within two miles of five or more other USPS locations (including kiosks)
• 188 generate less than $1M in annual revenue and are located within 0.5 miles of five or more USPS locations (including kiosks)
• 19 are currently suspended for one reason or another

I’d be curious to know how many of those locations that generate less than $27,500/year or have very light workloads are in small towns with just a single Post Office. This

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Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) posted a net income of $38.1 million or 61 cents per share in the second quarter of fiscal 2011 compared with a net income of $24.8 million or 41 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter. The results missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 67 cents. 

Revenues

Net sales came in at $234.7 million, up 22% from the year-earlier quarter, attributable to improved economic conditions, successful new product launches and expansion of business outside North America.

On a segmental basis, Industrial segment sales improved 29% from the year-earlier quarter to $129.3 million. Revenues from Contractor segment sales were $80.7 million, up 9% from the year-earlier quarter.

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Juniper Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:JNPR) posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 22 cents in the second quarter of 2011, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 27 cents a share.

Revenues

Juniper Networks’ revenues rose 15.0% year over year to $1.12 billion in the second quarter. The company generated 79.5% of its consolidated quarterly revenue from product sales, while the remaining 20.5% came from service revenues. Both product and services revenues increased 15.2% and 12.2%, respectively, from the year-ago quarter.

Revenue by Segment

Infrastructure Products revenue increased 12.3%, Infrastructure Services revenue rose 15.5%; Service Layer Technologies Products revenue slipped 8.3% while Service Layer Technologies Services revenue jumped 9.6% on a year-over-year basis in the reported quarter.

Revenue by Region

The Americas contributed 51.6% to revenues while 29.3% came from the EMEA region comprising Europe, Middle East and Africa. T

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And just like that, she’s gone. Elizabeth Warren, the consumer advocate who spent the last year creating the government’s newest consumer protection agency, announced Tuesday that she will leave the bureau on Aug. 1.

Warren, a former Harvard law professor, is credited with having created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and led the fight in Congress to get it written into the Dodd-Frank financial reform act, which became law last summer. President Obama tapped her to be his special advisor in charge of “standing up” the agency, and she was widely considered to be the frontrunner for the nomination to become the bureau’s first permanent director.

But Warren also is a controversial figure, a foe of many banking industry leaders thanks to her harsh criticisms of bank behavior during and after the housing boom. With supp

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Leading dental products maker DENTSPLY International (NASDAQ:XRAY) posted second-quarter fiscal 2011 adjusted (excluding one-time items such as acquisitions and tax related adjustments) earnings per share of 55 cents, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 51 cents and surpassing the year-ago adjusted earnings of 50 cents.

Profit (attributable to the company), as reported, rose 2.6% year over year to $74.2 million (or 52 cents a share), helped by internal growth, favorable foreign exchange swings and lower tax. However, supply chain disruption (for orthodontic products) resulting from the March 2011 Japan quake weighed on the bottom line. The Pennsylvania-based company beefed up its earnings per share target for the full year.

Revenues

Net sales climbed 7.8% year over year to $609.4 million, well ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $575 million.

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Pro football players may be some of the highest-paid athletes in the country, but having lots of cash does not equal having money sense. Even though a talented player might score as much as a few million dollars per season, it’s becoming more and more common for football players to declare bankruptcy. Why are so many in debt? Whether their financial situation is due to bad investments or supporting an entourage, there is an explanation behind every Chapter 7.

Double Foul: The Statistics of Bankruptcy

Let’s begin by looking at the statistics surrounding bankruptcy. First, the average career of a pro player is approximately three years. On average, a player makes a million dollars a year. That breaks down to an average play salary of $35,000 per game. 65%

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Oh my, the young man accused of killing 93 people in Norway, isn’t the man Homeland Security and the Pentagon hoped for.

But we’ll come back to that…first the world of finance.

Republicans and Democrats are under pressure. They need to keep up appearances. Both sides want to make a debt deal – so as to give the impression that US authorities know what they are doing and are in control of the situation.

Undoubtedly, it will be like the European deal…too little and too late to make any real difference.

Meanwhile, stocks fell 43 points on the Dow on Friday; no big deal, in other words. Bonds went up – showing that investors aren’t particularly concerned about the debt ceiling problem. And

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