The only thing that has been devalued faster than our precious dollar is the perpetual slide in government credibility. Over the years we have heard countless times about the importance of a strong dollar from our leaders.

"Our administration believes in and will do everything in its power to support a strong dollar" or something like this has been spewed out by Republicans and Democrats alike, yet there is little evidence that the policies put in place over the past century have done anything of the sort. Perhaps there was one person that took the heat and did the right thing -- Paul Volcker, during the Carter administration, who had to deal with dizzying inflation.

In a speech to the Economic Club of New York, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke addressed concerns about the falling US dollar.

How? He says he is "attentive to the implications of changes in the value of the dollar" and will "monitor these developments closely".

That's a wonderfully Orwellian turn of phrase because it means precisely nothing.

"We're finding positive opportunities in Asia," says Richard Schmidt. In his Stellar Stock Alert, he looks to a play on China's infrastructure: Rino International (RINO).

"China is very aware of the need for infrastructure to power economic growth. The better your energy production and transportation systems, the better your economy is going to do.

"As a result, China has made a massive investment into expanding and shoring up its infrastructure. We see this as a major investment opportunity.

Late in the evening of November 11, The Daily Telegraph reported that Barrick Gold (ABX) has shut its hedge book because the world gold supply is running out. Barrick Gold's president, Aaron Regent, told the periodical that global output has been shrinking at a pace for nearly 1 million ounces a year since the start of the decade.

At RBC's annual gold conference in London, Regent noted that "There is a strong case to be made that we are already at 'peak gold.'" Regent believes that production peaked around 2000 and has dropped ever since, he adds that Barrick Gold believes the decline will continue because "It is increasingly difficult to find ore."

Late Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Las Vegas Sands (LVS) is preparing to relaunch its stalled construction projects in Macau, China's hot gambling region. Financial woes forced Las Vegas Sands to walk away from the two construction sites a year ago, but newly secured funding means that the casino company can resume work on the projects as soon as January.

Las Vegas Sands disclosed in a regulatory filing on Monday that it secured $1.45 billion in financing from banks, and the firm is looking to lock down an additional $300 million. The gaming issue is also attempting to raise as much as $3.83 billion by launching an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong of its Macau assets, about $500 million of which will be used to fund construction on the stalled sites.

(FUQI - option chain) stock is trading lower today after the Chinese jewelry company reported a third-quarter profit this morning that easily topped analysts' estimates. However, FUQI forecast fourth-quarter EPS of 55 to 60 cents and revenue of $182 to $191 million, compared to analysts' forecasts of 58 cents and $184 million, respectively. Revenues for Q3 about 2% below estimates, which is not a great sign. At this point in the economic cycle, traders are looking for optimistic indicators rather than weak or in-line ones. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on FUQI.

This morning, FUQI opened at $24.90. So far today the stock has hit a high of $25.74 and a low of $21.62. As of 12:00, FUQI is trading at $21.23, down $2.10 (-9.0%). The chart for FUQI looks bearish.

American businesses are setting up shop in Mexico instead of China. China, which was the number one location for manufacture of goods bound for the U.S., has fallen into third place. Mexico is now number one, followed by India.

Several factors have converged to make Mexico an attractive place for manufacture. Daniel Silva of the Mission Economic Development Authority said: "Compared to China, Mexico offers better access to North American markets with a shorter, faster and cheaper transportation route to move products and supplies by truck, rather than over thousands of miles by ship, rail and truck combined."

It all started when President Obama, under pressure from U.S. unions, slapped a 35% tariff on tire imports from China. This move angered Beijing to no end, and to the point that China is challenging the action with the World Trade Organization.

China, in retaliation, has said that it would launch an "antidumping" policy against U.S. car exports to China. U.S. car makers export only about 9,000 vehicles to China at present. However, China is now the leading auto maker in the world, and barring U.S. imports would hamper the U.S. auto export market.

Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), China's leading search engine, sold off during Monday's after-hours session after the earnings report for the third quarter was issued. When you're a theoretical growth company like Baidu, missing estimates on the guidance side is never a good thing to do.

Nevertheless, Baidu delivered in Q3 itself. Sales skyrocketed 39%. Net income per share exploded over 40% to the upside, coming in at $2.07 per share on a GAAP basis. Adjusting for items, the company earned $2.16 per share. Earnings.com gives an expectation of $1.81 for per-share profit.

Soft drink giant Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) reported its third quarter numbers this morning, and managed to beat out analyst estimates, but shares are still selling off in early morning trading.

The reason why the market is punishing the stock is because its revenues were softer than analysts had been expecting to see. For the quarter, revenues came in at $8.04 billion, which was shy of the $8.11 billion that Wall Street was expecting to see from the company.

China has taken its first major step into the U.S. car market as General Motors announced it had finalized a deal to sell off its Hummer truck brand to Chinese auto manufacturer Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery.

Under the deal, GM will continue to make the trucks no later than 2010. While a deal has been reached, it is still going to be up to Chinese regulators to approve the deal and decide if the brand can be profitable and fit into the country's overall national strategy to improve energy efficiency.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) will get its chance to impress Wall Street when it reports its most recent quarterly results Tuesday following the market close. The company will be reporting its fiscal first quarter numbers, and analysts are expecting slightly lower numbers that its first quarter last year.

The giant in sports apparel and footwear last reported earnings back on June 24 when it was able to outpace analyst estimates, and this time around analysts are looking for the company to show earnings of 97 cents per share. In its first quarter last year, the company reported earnings of $1.03 per share.

New York Times (NYSE: NYT) Columnist Thomas Friedman returned to the subject of how green technology is not only good for the environment, but ultimately good for American wallets.

Good for American wallets, that is, if the United States seizes the day regarding green tech. Right now, in Friedman's view, the U.S. isn't: China is - it's embarking on simultaneous tracks of 20th century tech and 21st century tech to remain an economic powerhouse in the global economy ahead.

Why is China loading up on US Treasuries? At first glance that seems strange because the dollar keeps falling. Doesn't a falling dollar mean that inflation is on the way? Not necessarily. The Labor Department reported that prices of imported goods fell 15% in August from a year ago, this after a 19.2% drop in July. These numbers are telling us that there is no inflation coming in the near future. The Fed has plenty of wiggle room. It can afford to keep interest rates at historic lows.

So then why is the dollar weak? We know what the answer is. The Fed has pledged $12 trillion dollars to bail out the bankers, housing and the mortgage market, just to name a few areas where the money is going. Then too, we have sky high deficits. The current account deficit will rise to 3.2% of GDP in 2010 and 3.5% in 2011.

The current drivers of the market -- commodity speculation, green shoots euphoria, and enthusiasm over China thanks to fabricated Chinese economic data -- will be played out in the next few weeks.

Absent these drivers, there are no positive catalysts left to underpin a rising market.

Next: Sign #5: Earnings will disappoint