Bill Gross has said the US will default on its bonds because it is the only way the country can cope with its massive debt pile.

The PIMCO chief investment officer says the US has a total debt burden of $75 trillion if entitlements such as those for medical care and social security are included. In his latest Investment Outlook, Gross writes that unless large cuts are made to entitlements, the only way the government can afford this amount of debt is to default.
“The only way out of t

U.S. troops will end their mission in Libya on April 2.

The U.S. will pull its jet fighters out of the international air campaign in Libya on Saturday, leaving NATO partners to take over air strike responsibilities as well as any effort to train Muammar Gaddafi’s opposition.

Announcing the U.S. exit strategy to Congress, Defense Secretary Robert Gates stressed that even though powerful combat aircraft like the side-firing AC-130 gunship and the A-10 Thunderbolt, used for close air support of friendly ground forces, will stop flying after Saturday, they will be on standby.

….read more HERE

Oil Rises to 30-Month High on U.S. Jobs Growth, Libya Conflict

April 1 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil climbed to a 30-month high in New York as the U.S. added more jobs than forecast, signaling increased demand, and as fighting intensified in Libya.

Oil advanced above $107 a barrel for the first time since 2008 as the Labor Department said payrolls rose by 216,000 workers in March. Economists projected a 190,000 gain, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Libyan rebels have been in retreat for three days as Muammar Qaddafi’s troops regained the initiative after almost two weeks of allied airstrikes.

….read more HERE

Rogers recently bought the Japan index and a Japanese agricultural stock. He currently owns yen, but is not buying. When markets collapse, Rogers believes it’s usually a good buying opportunity. He believes Japan’s rebuild will eventually cause a big surge in the country’s economy.

Rogers is not selling anything right now, but plans to short US government bonds. He sees oil prices going much higher and points out that some form of alternative energy is needed to replace oil, gas, and coal. Rogers suspects uranium and nuclear power stocks may be good buys in a few years if Japan survives.

The euro appears contained today. But what’s new? The upcoming jobs report is the reason the euro isn’t climbing again, even though next week the European Central Bank is highly expected to move interest rates up by 25 basis points. Until then, any developments (like unsustainably high yields in Portugal) related to the Eurozone’s periphery countries – positive or negative – likely will not threaten the euro’s rise. If the ECB opts not to hike rates, however, and especially if they don’t sound very hawkish, then the euro will probably fall of a cliff (at least in the short-term.)

So since finding reasons to be euro-bearish have been useless recently, maybe it makes more sense to find reasons to be dollar-bearish. Here are some soon-to-be-determined events where we should look for clues:

….read Currency Currents 1 April 2011