March 19th saw the start of the long awaited US-UK led strike on Iraq. The ramp up severely tested the weakened UN & divided Europe/EU into pro/anti war camps. Not a recipe for a united front against terrorism & dictatorships..

The US-UK led war creates global uncertainty, potentially rising gold, falling oil and uncertain commodities prices, weaker consumer confidence/ demand as consumers hunker down.. The war may seem to have dividends if short in terms of reconstruction, but the US economy is in a weakened state due to increased indebtedness, weak consumer confidence & a falling dollar (forcing up gold in the mid.term..)