the dollar is collapsing and becoming worthless ...nothing to see here move on move on

http://www.cnbc.com/id/18161351

The U.S. dollar stayed near a two-year low against the euro on Wednesday after data showing U.S. core consumer prices rose less than expected in March, bolstering the view that the Federal Reserve may be more inclined to cut interest rates this year.

The U.S. currency also continued its weak run against sterling after rising above $2 for the first time since 1992, as U.K. inflation data reinforced expectations the Bank of England will raise rates next month.

:evilgrin:

Two rich congregants discussing latest trip to Germany.

#1: Who do those Germans think they are?! Charging $5.00 for a cup of lousy coffee!

#2: We'll (the U.S.A.) fix'em. We'll teach them a lesson for trying to steal our money!

Aside from the fact it was a religious service, I was struck by these guys ignoring the facts of economic principles with currency valuation and their indignance that this phenomenon was merely another country trying to "diss" both our country and our "leader" by extortion.

buy that very cuppa!

Yep, Americans are stupid, some of them. They don't get that economic forces can even buffer the 'almighty' dollar.

I've lived abroad in good exchange rates and bad. Japan with a super strong dollar is great, with a lousy one, it sucks. Same with any other place.

second rate country.....

Try to preserve some wealth before the massive devaluation hits.

It may be simplistic, but the great majority of working Americans have most of their wealth invested in their homes. Now that it will be even harder to protect that investment, how can they play the devaluation of the dollar?

Just wondering ... since the folks welded to this downturn surely are the least able to afford it.

It never hurts to have a non-dollar stash. Having all of you eggs in one basket is a bad thing. A house is a commodity, you're not really in dollars. Only priced in dollars.

Gold is truly the "anti-dollar".;-)

Ask anyone who has gone through hyperinflation, they spent the money about as fast as they got it.

The house 'is' the source of the average American's 'wealth.'

Not recommending this, but if you thought we were really heading into the 'hyperinflation' experienced by Argentina and other countries in the recent past, the best course of action would be to borrow every dollar you could get pledging the house as security --then put those dollars in gold, silver, euros, pounds,etc. If the hyperinflation hits, you can convert a small percentage of the metals and foreign currency and pay off the entire debt load, pocketing the remaining metals and foreign currency. Right?

You will need to see which way Bernanke will go before doing such a risky scheme. Anyway, if you have a 6% fixed rate mortgage and inflation runs at 25 or 30%, you're gaining anyway. Inflation will be reducing the amount of "real dollars" you are paying back. I consider 6% or 7% loans right now to effectively be zero percent loans, because inflation is really around these levels.

I just do not see any useful action coming from Congress to deal with dollar devaluation without there being a significant rise in interest rates.

We sure can't print more money as our solution to this problem.

They really don't have to deal with printing money anymore, in this day of computers. They quit publishing the M3 money supply data to try to hide the nearly 12% growth in money supply. The Federal Reserve creates money out of thin air by buying Treasury notes with money they simply create in their computers. Isn't debt monetization wonderful?:sarcasm:

It can be slightly and annoyingly libertarian, but this website does a decent job of tracking true economic stats.

http://www.shadowstats.com/cgi-bin/sgs?

You will know the dollar is screwed when China and Japan and other countries start insisting that conversion transactions be pegged to the Euro.

Saddam was going to switch to the Euro. Iran has announced a Euro-based bourse for selling their oil, which cuts out the automatic skim that US bankers get for converting foreign currency into US dollars to complete oil transactions.

China says they have stockpiled enough 'dollars.'

So what will it take for the mass exodus away from the dollar? Rapid rise in interest rates IMHO.

A recipe for a disaster.

They'll do it when they've just about sucked us dry and are ready to buy American assets dirt cheap. They'll break the peg and let the yuan appreciate 4 or 5 fold so they get more "bang for the yuan".

Rapid rise in interest rates or let the dollar hyperinflate? Bernanke's conundrum. I say he'll live up to his nickname "Helicopter Ben" and hyperinflate.

If your money is in a 401K or IRA, you can transfer your funds to non-dollar equity and bond mutual funds. You'll not have taken your money out of the pre-tax acct., so there will be no taxes or penalties. One of the funds that I'm in is BEGBX; that's all I can remember right now. Cheney and Roberts, among others are really big into these non-dollar funds. Personally, I put 50% in non-dollar, and keep 50% in dollar funds. Diversified.

I don't understand how you can play opposite positions with the same amount of funds, and gain? I can see diversification benefits from playing different choices, but how does playing for and against the dollar work?

it will give an average between the two. So you'll avoid doing really well or really poorly. It's a conservative hedging strategy which is not too bad in times of uncertainty.

My interntion is to try to protect my worth; more interested in avoiding loss rather than making a gain.

buy real, real high, you'll eventually recoup your investment. Nothing like "stuff"--like land and a house. It's real, you can see it, walk it, touch it. Way preferable to paper, really, if you can only have one or the other.

I remember when prime interest rates hit 14% in late '70s and housing market took a nose dive. Once the market gets flooded with inventory and rates are that high, people are 'priced out of the market' and housing sales prices go through the floor.

I am wondering if the devaluation of the dollar could make it possible to pay off debt loads with a small percentage of the dollars needed to pay them off today. So if we are headed that way, investment in metals and foreign currencies could provide just the vehicle to clean up the debt problem average Americans are suffering under.

because they bought their house at ten grand over the market value, and had buyer's remorse. The thing is now worth, even in this shitty market, two hundred grand more than they paid for it.

It's all relative. And if you have a place to live, or if it's rental property, it gives either shelter or a bit of income.

Of course, if you have money, you're free to toss it around anywhere. I'm from the buy low, sell high school. Ya wanna get into whatever when it's cheap to do so. When everyone else is talking about it, it's too late.

I think real estate is just the thing, if you have the dough. Rent the property out to someone who is a good billpayer, but can't get a mortgage in this environment.

affects the value of the investment, unless it is readily convertible to another currency or commodity at a steady rate.

A falling dollar will likely result in dollar dumping, further exacerbating the problem with devalued currency.

will bear. It will keep you in food and fuel, that sort of investment, and then, you wait until your dollar is strong and your real estate market is as well, and poof, you liquidate and buy low in some other venue.

Right now, the buy low area is housing. And if you can pay cash, you can get bargains, because a lot of these mortgage outfits have fucked themselves by giving loans to people who cannot swing them.

No one trusts them, no one believes them.

Good reasons: the republicons lie, and steal, and cheat over and over...