The dollar had been making a reasonably good recovery until Wall Street started to struggle. It’s clear that the bailout is going to mean a heavy cost to the US so the dollar has started to slide once again against the euro, giving up almost ten cents in recent days. The cost of oil, which also had been dropping to a “cheap” high 90’s is back up in the mid-teens and beyond. The $25 spike today was connected to the bailout. This bailout is not helping average Americans and we haven’t even signed the damned thing yet.

Oil extended last week’s massive gains and rose above $104 a barrel on Monday, on hopes that the U.S. government’s $700 billion rescue plan would restore stability in the financial system and support global energy demand. Sweeping government measures to rescue the financial system and restore confidence in shaky markets spurred gains across markets Friday, when oil rose almost 7 percent to cap its biggest three-day rally in a decade.