Exchange Rate

[Curley]

Two things that I notice when people talk of exchange rates. 1 If it's lower than their first trip or recent trips then it must go back up again..... says who? 2 Their own currecny is always seen as a safe haven......with the rate that Western governments are printing money do you really think so? PS I'm in Euros at the moment and I'd dearly love to know which would be the safest currency to invest my pension pot.

I find your first point interesting because, in the late 60s I used to get over 4 DM (German currency) for my CDN $ and when it went below 4 I always thought it would come back up again. It never did. By the time Germany converted to the Euro, it seems to me the DM was getting close to par with the CDN $. I had the same experience with French currency and Mexican currency. The british pound was one bright spot. Back in the 60s we had to pay almost $4 Cdn for a british pound at one point. Since then it has been getting cheaper and cheaper and . . you are absolutely right, we should fully expect the value of the peso to improve as the country improves. For your second point, CDN$ are not seen by anyone as a safe haven, least of all Canadians.

You are correct. In my 2nd point I should have said MOSTLY not ALWAYS. A lot of visitors started coming to Asia just after the Asian crisis of 1997 and were getting fantastic exchange rates for Western currencies. Now Western currencies are in trouble and the boot is on the other foot.

[FlyAway]

OK, what is going on now? It has been a downward trend this week. Was going to send a large chunk of money but was hoping for at least 43 to 1. As of today it is 42.06 Peso to 1 USD?

[JJReyes]

PS I'm in Euros at the moment and I'd dearly love to know which would be the safest currency to invest my pension pot.

Safest currency is Swiss Francs. The currency is based on the gold standard. Edited February 9, 2012 by JJR

[i am bob]

PS I'm in Euros at the moment and I'd dearly love to know which would be the safest currency to invest my pension pot.

Safest currency is Swiss Francs. The currency is based on the gold standard.

I don't know if I would even bet on the Swiss Francs. Heard some really strange rambling stories before I left working in Financial Services recently - enough that if I wanted to park my money somewhere, I personally would look at gold or similar. If anybody is wondering why I left a field that is suppose to be a gold mine? Too many mines actually appear to be salted for my tastes...

[JJReyes]

I don't know if I would even bet on the Swiss Francs. Heard some really strange rambling stories before I left working in Financial Services recently - enough that if I wanted to park my money somewhere, I personally would look at gold or similar. If anybody is wondering why I left a field that is suppose to be a gold mine? Too many mines actually appear to be salted for my tastes...

If you study the data published by the World Gold Council, Central Banks worldwide were net buyers of gold during the inflationary years of 1980 to 1985. They reversed and became net sellers from 1989 to 2009. Central Banks again started buying gold in 2010. The preliminary data for 2011 is 450 tonnes. The Central Banks buying binge will continue throughout 2012 with gold hitting above the $2,000 level before year end 2012. Why? The US Federal Reserve Bank has been printing money to prop up the global money supply after the 2008 market collapse. The European Central Bank is next to print money so as to avert the potential economic collapse by members Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Ireland. Wouldn't you prefer to be in a currency (Swiss Franc) that is backed by all those gold bars stored in their depository vaults? I have already been moving most of our assets to defensive positions. Whoever is the president in 2013 will be challenged by high inflation rates. Hopefully, it won't be hyper inflation. One reason for my pessimism is inflation is a form of taxation. We will be repaying our large national debt with cheaper money. China has the right to be pissed because we borrowed more than $1 trillion and America has no intention of repaying the debt with the gold stored in Fort Knox.

[Call me bubba]

One reason for my pessimism is inflation is a form of taxation. We will be repaying our large national debt with cheaper money. China has the right to be pissed because we borrowed more than $1 trillion and America has no intention of repaying the debt with the gold stored in Fort Knox.

I have found a news article that could be good for the USA and bad for the PROC/China

listed is partial of the Full article,

who knows this could help the US trade issues??

China has a secret: It owes American investors hundreds of billions of dollars.

The Chinese government doesn't like to talk about it and the U.S. government doesn't want to raise it. But decades ago, Beijing defaulted on debt owed to Americans, as well as investors and governments around the world. In one case, it was paid. In the rest it was not. More than 20,000 American investors own this debt. The U.S. government may also own Chinese war debt, unpaid since World War II.

The story begins nearly 100 years ago, in 1913,

when the government of China began issuing bonds to foreign investors and governments for infrastructure work to modernize the country. As the country fell into civil war in 1927, paying these debts became increasingly difficult and the government fell into default. Even so, in April 1938, the Nationalist government of China began to issue U.S.-dollar denominated bonds to finance the war against Japan's brutal invasion.

Locked in a pitched battle for survival, the government issued these bonds into 1940. As part of its wartime financial aid, the U.S. government further provided a $500 million credit to China in March 1942, shipping gold there and helping to stabilize the currency. In return, it appears that the U.S. government redeemed some of these dollar-denominated bonds.

But China doesn't appear to have repaid this debt either, according to State Department records, and the declaration of the People's Republic of China in 1949 ended decades of political, military and financial cooperation

star-telegram.com/2012/05/19/3971932/chinas-secret-it-owes-americans.

[JJReyes]

Latest update is the European Central Bank will print money to bail out banks in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, etc. to the tune two trillion Euros. The global money is moving towards the US dollar as a safe haven.

[earthdome]

Latest update is the European Central Bank will print money to bail out banks in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, etc. to the tune two trillion Euros. The global money is moving towards the US dollar as a safe haven.

I was wondering why the USD was getting stronger vs the PHP in the last few weeks.

[Mike S]

Corona's secret US dollar accounts ?? ...... maybe others have or are trying the same thing ..... :hystery: :hystery: :hystery: ....... (loke ... lang)

[JJReyes]

Corona's secret US dollar accounts ?? ...... maybe others have or are trying the same thing

Corona made the classic mistake of trusting his own country's bank secrecy laws. If he had deposited the US dollars in Hong Kong or the United States, the Philippine government would have had difficulties in accessing the information. Yes, most wealthy Pilipinos have overseas bank account. Similarly, the simpliest solution for the Greek debt problem is for their citizens to repatriate money stashed overseas back to their country.