From Wikiquote: "Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. A red sky occurs primarily at sunrise or sunset, when the sun's rays are passing through the greatest thickness of atmosphere. In weather lore, morning red skies are a good indicator of coming rain, evening red skies usually indicate clearing conditions."

This morning, the USD is particularly weak against the Yen, which has hurt the big Japanese exporters like Toyota Motor, sending the Nikkei 225 Index to a stunning loss of -2.81 pct. The South Korean Seoul Composite Index was down -1.40 pct, and the Hong Kong Heng Seng Index down -1.20 pct today, for the same reason.

And this is one reason why central bankers of the exporting nations like to buy U.S. debt. It supports the $USD, which in turn makes it so much easier for manufacturing exporters in their countries to sell into the U.S. But, the fly in the ointment is that holding declining investments is quite costly. So what is gained on one hand is usually, over time, lost on the other.

As the $USD declines, the price of precious metals will rise. So, as a hedge against a falling $USD, maybe these foreign bankers are now buying precious metals.

I always check the morning weather before sailing. Today was a red sky due to a weak $USD, so I expect to see a good price for my precious metals.

And sure enough, at 5:30am ET, I see spot gold up +1.10 to 632.40, silver up +0.05 to 13.10, platinum up +5 to 1123, and palladium up +3 to 359.

Photo credit: Denni Windrim

I think I'll stay in a safe harbor today.