Dollar Posts Biggest Weekly Loss Against Yen Since March 2004

[UpInArms]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=amfHBB.S2JsM&refer=top_world_news

Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar had its biggest weekly loss against the yen since March 2004 and fell versus more than a dozen other major currencies on speculation the U.S. currency will need to weaken further to trim a record trade deficit.

A rebound in the dollar against the euro the past two days on expectations U.S. interest rates will rise relative to those in the euro region failed to offset a Jan. 12 government report showing the trade deficit was a record $60.3 billion in November.

``We still see the dollar moving lower over the course of the next three to six months,'' said Kenneth Landon, senior currency strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York.

Against the yen, the dollar lost 2.7 percent this week to 102.02 yen at 5 p.m. in New York yesterday, and touched a five- year low, according to EBS, an electronic currency-dealing system. The U.S. currency fell 0.5 percent on the week to $1.3112 per euro, after reaching $1.3293 the day of the trade report. The dollar has fallen the past three years versus both currencies, reaching a record low $1.3666 per euro on Dec. 30.

The dollar ``is vulnerable to a move below 100'' yen, Landon said. ``We think it could reach 94 before this whole thing is over.''

A larger U.S. trade shortfall means more dollars have to be converted to other currencies to pay for imports.

...more...

[opihimoimoi]

1. Them Toyotas and Sonys etc gonna cost way more in due time.

ditto for other goods from around the World.

Bush has succeeded in fucking up America and we are numb to the pain.

Come, fuck it all, we go drink

[BeHereNow]

14. Citrus Skye with soda for me tonight.

I am beyond depressed.
Don't know what this is called, this state of mind;
it is beyond "hopeless" I think "numb" may be close to
describing it.
And that is the neocon plan.
Continuous assaults on all rationality,
rapid reports of outrageous and illegal behavior
all with the intent of overwhelming the average person
with half a brain.
Of course we know that excludes Bush supporters.

BHN

[UpInArms]

15. then join me in a

nice glass of wine, BHN

[BeHereNow]

16. "a"... "a''...?

Surely you mean a CASE of wine?
"a" glass will not suffice this condition.
Come we drink all of it...and quickly.
LOL
BHN

[opihimoimoi]

17. Get your booze now before them prices escalate beyond our means.

[BeHereNow]

18. Honey, I am from a long line of Kentucky boot leggers

don't worry, Ma BeHereNow will keep ya happy
when ya can't afford the stuff at the market...
Tee-hee.
BHN

[cliss]

2. As the rest of the world sweats,

beads of sweat are building on the foreheads of bankers from Rihadh to Berlin.

In the meantime, "Chainsaw Al" laughs hysterically. He knows that as he's defaulting on his own currency, the rest of the world is left holding the bag. There are many, many ulcers being formed right now in peoples' queasy stomachs.

They're watching the Hyenas at the Helm play the world's biggest game of chicken. The Bush Lunatics are betting on the fact that no one will be the first to flush the dollar, because when they do, the entire house of cards folds and the rest of the world will go down with them.

Recall the Thai Baht and its quick demise. It caused a chain reaction of other currencies that led to a near-collapse of the banking system (they won't tell you that in the Oregonian, though).

They're betting on that the rest of the world will be prudent, (but they're not). The world will be fuming as the Drug-addicted Adolescent holds the lighter under mom's purse, but they won't do anything.

[Old and In the Way]

3. I wonder if the G-7 minus the US is getting together and discussing that

vry question. There could be some very interesting interventions and choreographed maneuvers that'll address that very issue. So when the plug is pulled, the damage to the rest of the world economies will be minimized. Economic warfare can be just as lethal to a country as bombs and bullets.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. At this point I am willing to bet they are (eom)

[UpInArms]

11. here's what's pissing 'em off

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8211-1441522,00.html

Plunging dollar highlights problems of US investing

YESTERDAY was the fifth anniversary of the day that the Dow Jones industrial average, the most keenly watched index charting the world’s most important stock market, hit its peak. On January 14, 2000 the Dow closed at 11,722.98. Like the FTSE 100, which touched its zenith two weeks previously, on the last working day of 1999, the Dow has traded in gloom ever since.

<snip>

For sterling investors, however, the movement in the dollar means that returns from the US stock market are not nearly as encouraging as they may seem. Adjust for the currency shift and instead of being down 9.3 per cent over past five years the Dow is off 20.5 per cent. Total returns from the Dow are negative to the tune of 12.3 per cent once the demise of the dollar is factored into the equation. That is a far cry from the “no change” picture painted by the total returns expressed in dollar terms.

Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, was recently quoted as saying that forecasting movements in currencies was “a mug’s game”. And there is absolutely no doubt that it is extraordinarily difficult. Even the the most conscientious and intelligent financial forecasters will, if they are truthful, admit that predictions owe as much to art and educated guesswork as science and prescient calculation. Currency reckonings are unusually tricky because there are so many variables and so few points where variables can be nailed down. Beside currencies, share price movements may seem positively easy to foresee.

<snip>

It is possible that the recent decline in the value of the dollar is part of a long-term fundamental shift. If it is, sterling is playing no more than a cameo role with Asian currencies, notably the one used in China, playing lead parts opposite the greenback. This shift may, in time, make worries over the US budget deficit look like small beer — although it would be misleading to separate the issues entirely.

...more...

They are all going to be sweating bullets for a long time.

[Thurston Howell IV]

13. It works both ways

Investments in foreign stock markets tend to work out better because the stocks denominated in foreign currencies yield more dollars when US investors sell.

BTW, this is just an specific observation I'm sharing -- not a recommendation or advocacy of any kind of opinion on the broader subject.

[Just Me]

4. Why are they doing this?

It's really freaking me out!:crazy:

What is the objective?

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. to loot the treasury

and to crash the country... that way they don't have to cover social services.

These loons also miss you cannot afford roads, yuo cannot afford tanks

maybe that reality is starting to sink in... the F22 Raptor program is at the very least due for some serious cuts...

Repeat after me, George Bush is WEAKENING the counry in all respects

[Just Me]

9. Are they gonna' sell off the U.S. to the highest bidder as they tried to

do in Iraq? Boy, was that a huge success (NOT).

Why do these people want to put governance in the hands of corporations? Have they forgotten Mussolini, Hitler, etc.? Oh yeah, I forgot,...they profit from corporate tyranny.

[spotbird]

8. They also think it helps our exports.

It makes foreign goods more expensive for import and ours cheaper for export. The problem with that part of the plan is that we don't make anything for export anymore, we are even a net agricultural importer. The result is more expensive goods for Americans.

[Old and In the Way]

10. Might have been a good tactic, say, 25 years ago.

Now that the cat's out of the bag, the USD will have to take a long and prolonged slide before we start reinvesting in widget factories. If that days comes, I wouldn't be exactly thrilled with the return.

[UpInArms]

12. these "adults in charge" are completely

ignorant of ramifications - someone else has always padded their pockets and bailed them out. They are now at the casino with the taxpayers' dollars and lives and they have shown no appreciation and are continuing their profligacy.

As with the loss of credibility of this country - that they didn't understand how it got there and how quickly it was gone - they don't understand the economics of the situation and will not even feel the breeze as the whirlwind descends upon us all.

They think that their dollars will insulate them, they are wrong. When the streets of Amerika are filled with the unemployed homeless middle and working class, the biggest targets for their anger will be the "haves and have mores" - you know, *Co's "base" - and they will not, even then, understand what they have wrought.

[VegasWolf]

5. "The dollar vulnerable to move below 100 yen" Wow, thanks georgie!

[opihimoimoi]

19. Bush does not READ, thus he has difficulty in comprehending

the seriousness of our declining Dollar.

When his supporters finally figure out they are working longer and harder for less value.... they will feel the sting of being scammed.

Come, we go figure out together

[pinniped]

20. Wait until that piece of shit John Snowjob translates this info...

for the average Merkan moran.

By next week he'll be saying that we have the EU and Japan exactly where we want them. After that he'll say printing more paper money will increase the value of the US dollar. Hey, it worked for Germany.