By Andrew L. Jaffee

Yes, I updated my last chart specifying the Iraqi dinar/U.S. dollar exchange rate, as the fledgling currency continues its tear, gaining value. When I last reported, the dinar was trading at 1318 to the dollar. Today, it is trading at 1288, gaining almost 2.3% in value since January 9th, and gaining 15% since I started tracking the dinar in October 2005. Again I ask: With all the bad news, why is the dinar going up? What are the currency markets telling us? Could it be that the currency markets see Bush’s troops surge in and around Baghdad as destined to succeed? I learned long ago to take into account economic indicators when evaluating political and societal conditions.