currencies

Gold hit a record high of $1,044.30 an ounce, beating the previous record of $1,032.35 set back in March and up a monster $26 on the day. The impetus is the crashing dollar, brought down by a report (later denied) that OPEC states and the…

The U.S. dollar is getting crushed again today.  I have been waiting to see if and when it hits parity with the Swiss Franc. Today’s action brings us that much closer. The dollar is losing ground against the dollar bloc (Kiwi, Aussie…

One other reason to sell the dollar is interest rates.  Why not borrow in dollars where interest rates are low and invest elsewhere where yields are high?  This is what is known as the carry trade. In the past decade, the Japanese yen…

I just finished reading a Financial Times article about the likely coordinated global policy solutions to emerge from the upcoming G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh.  It does not sound like there is a huge amount of consensus. Indeed, it…

The U.S. Dollar fell to its lowest against the Swiss Franc and Euro, while the Canadian dollar and the Scandinavian currencies are also near year highs as well.  If you read Bloomberg, you might think this has to do with a bullish equity…

In the latest move toward China’s long-term strategy of internationalising its currency, the Chinese Ministry of Finance announced today it will issue government bonds valued at 6 billion yuan in Hong Kong. The last article I wrote on…

According to an account published in the Daily Telegraph by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, the Chinese government is quite anxious about money printing in the United States and the effect this printing could have on China’s dollar denominated…

Chinese vice-premier Wang Qishan has been appointed to lead a taskforce to make the renminbi the currency of choice for trade settlements, especially with regional trading partners. HSBC economist Qu Hongbin believes this latest salvo in…

This skit comes from Saturday Night Live in 2005, back when the Dollar was weak.   It’s pretty funny. Hat Tip Andrew.

Both Latvia’s and Estonia’s debt ratings were downgraded by Standard and Poors.  Estonia was cut from A to A-, while Latvia was cut to BB+ to BB - its considered high yield securities aka junk bonds. This should come as no surprise as…