Hey Pic,
Nice to see the big moves in metals recently eh?
One small addition to your post. Obama's influence from Islam in the past shouldn't give you any concerns. I myself am Muslim (and fasting Ramadan as we speak) but am 'moderate' (thus the comment on beers :) If Obama were some kind of scary muslim he would a) be fasting religiously b) praying 5 times a say and c) not be having folks over for beers d)growing a rather noticeable beard. I'm hoping that revelation doesn't deter from my positions or my posts for anyone on the board.
The word Islam means peace and 99.9% of Muslims want exactly that. I've travelled extensively through the region and my wife is from there as well. I have never met people with more honest and sincere hospitality in my lifetime. Muslims are in general much better at separating generalized concepts of national politics from individual people. I travelled with Americans in Syria and they were astounded at how well they were treated by people on the street. Obama simply was exposed to the culture and is unafraid of it as he understands that it is a guiding principal just like any other religion... in fact as they also believe in the bible, jesus and the single god, they really aren't very different from you. People like Mr. Bin Laden are like the Jim Jones and David Koresh's of the world, they use religion to back lies and radical political positions.
Anyhow, don't fear the man, disagree with him, but don't fear him.
I propose a toast to a nice little run on ECU- let's be getting back to some reasonable territory like $2 would be acceptable :).
Peace out.
