Name that chart

Quick, let's play a game of "Name That Chart." Without looking at the header on this chart, or the name of the image file, can you guess what it shows? Alright, time's up. It's the U.S. Dollar Index -- the index that tracks the value of all those greenbacks you and I hold. That horizontal line represents the all-time DXY low from September 1992. As you can see, we're punching through it to the downside in today's trading.

Say what you will about whether the Fed's drastic rate move was the right thing for the housing market or the U.S. economy. But it sure looks like exactly the WRONG thing for the U.S. dollar. Oh, and have you seen the price of oil yet? Wheat? Soybeans? Milk? Eggs? The price of these commodities and goods is rising as a direct function of the dollar's meltdown.

The Fed can pretend all it wants that this stuff doesn't matter (remember, it's not "core" inflation). But as this great story in the Wall Street Journal points out, the rising cost of food does impact our lives. And this dollar stuff does matter.