When the US reached its $14.3 trillion self-imposed debt ceiling last Monday (5/16/11), few economists imagined that a new wave of Treasury purchases would push the yield on the 10-year note to a 2011 low of 3.12% the very next day.  Is the bond market simply showing confidence in Washington, assuming that cooler heads will prevail and that an increase in the debt ceiling will be agreed upon?  Or are investors fleeing the European bond market, worried that Greece's debt crisis will ultimately spread to multiple countries?  It was hoped that Greece's problems would be solved by the $156 billion bailout it received 15 months ago.  But promises of lower government spending and higher taxes (to alleviate its massive debt levels of 2010) have pushed Greece deeper into recession, creating the need for a restructuring of the original debt plus a request for an additional $85 billion of financial aid today (source: BTN Research).  

President Obama departed Washington yesterday (5/22/11) for a 7-day European trip.  Obama will visit 4 nations (Ireland, Britain, France and Poland), including a key meeting late this week with the leaders of the G-8 nations (source: White House).                   

The Mississippi River may have crested in New Orleans late Saturday (5/21/11).  By opening a spillway up river 9 days ago (5/14/11), the river's level reached only 17 feet or 2 ½ feet lower than what would have occurred had the spillway not been used.  The levees in New Orleans are 20 feet high (source: The Weather Channel).