First time in 30 years. Meanwhile the Euro is right around 1.40 to the dollar and the Pound is around 2.00. Enough to scare me about the future of the economy.
How much are students going into debt these days to backpack around Europe? Plenty more than I did, that's for certian.
We are headed for Canada for a wedding in a couple of weeks. The Ms. Architect was checking cost of hotels and after looking she said aloud I wonder if that is Canadian Dollars or American.....about two minutes later she says they are on a level playing field at this time
1 for 1, so it really doesn't matter. Oh I would agree with Bush our Economy is Strong..until he is gone. Then we are up S*** Creek with a Democat at the helm trying to straighten things out once again. Just like back in Jimmy Carter Days.
Having family in Canada, I think they are the real losers in this. All their stuff is still priced based on the old exchange rates. Thus, everything in Canada is now way more expensive than in the US. Good thing I saved those loonies from my last trip up north.
you guys can start selling your dollars to me now 1/2 the discount of next December's value. I'll buy all your dollars for 90 cents ea. Imagine how good you'll have done when the dollars down 20% next year knowing good ol uncle evil propped you up
What's this talk of dollar plunge???? oh ya, I am looking at it from the north, I'll won't have to spend more on my trips to Durango and Hawaii this year.
holz....funny read.....I thought you said he got: " a 71 in Enron" nope he cracked a nut on that one and got a 110....cause it is going into his undisclosed investment funds....
cheaper dollars means more exporting...theoretically. this would actually be a good thing since our economy imports way too much.
also, it's not like we import anything from canada or europe anyhow. what really matter is the strength of the yuan. what's happening now shouldn't lower anyone's standard of living, unless they travel to europe a lot, or work for an importer.
Aquapura, I 've been telling the locals to plan for it for years, its a shame but the resort has to come to terms with the dollar issue its not in there control. Probably see some good package deals still set up nobody wants to lose too much business.
For those people in the US dealing with huge amounts of student loan debt, now would be a good time to move to the UK or Europe and get a job there for a few years. You could pay off those loans in half the time.
The thing that sucks for us Canadians, as mentioned above, is that US retail prices won't be adjusted. For example, I used to order books from the US because they were cheaper - there's a huge discrepancy between US and Canadian prices on books (about 25%, usually).
Although publishers started talking a year ago about lowering the (Canadian) cover cost of books, now they are retracting that. With parity now, that means books cost about 30% MORE than they did just a few years ago.
On the industrial side of things, the US is our biggest importer of goods. And because of parity, we will lose out on a lot of business in exporting (meaning well-paying manufacturing jobs).
Just because the shelves of Wal-Mart are all stocked with goods from China doesn't mean Canada is a minor trading partner. In fact Canada is our LARGEST trading partner.
Oh, and oil is priced in US dollars, no matter where it's pumped. So, yes, Canada is exporting lots of oil & gas to the US but that's one thing that won't change with exchange rate flux.
One Iraq war conspiracy I've heard is that Saddam was feeling the waters of trading oil in Euros around 2002. We all know what happened to him. Knowing what would happen to the US economy if the petro-dollar trade ended it seems entirely plausable to me.
isn't the u.s. a service based economy? i thought almost all exportable industries have fled to cheaper tax havens...
i kinda like the idea that we control the world economy and if people aren't willing to go along, we destroy their culture, heritage and sovreignty. oh yeah!
why worry about china. industries are already leaving there because the prices are going up as are wages as is inflation. you can put the lead painted coated toy factory in many countries. china's growth will end sooner than later.
We might be shifting to a nation of burger flippers but currently the US is still the 2nd largest exporting country in the world. Thankfully most of the offshored industry has been things like toy manufacturing and textiles...and not Boeing jets. I'd like to think there are a few things people still will pay more for rather than have it built by the cheapest labor possible.
oddly enough i had a difficult time sleeping earlier this week and that old canadian bacon movie was on the late night tv...maybe a us/canada war is imminent
The unfortuate thing is even some jobs in the service industry are being moved overseas. Anyone read the World is Flat? That book was a complete eye opener for me.
This is bullshit. Brits can afford second flats in Manhattan now because the dollar's so weak its cheaper than London and Dublin! Let me put that into perspective, INFLATION has out run the MANHATTAN HOUSING MARKET. WTF!
evilp, unless you got some sort of inheritance coming, you better start a retirement account no matter what sacrifices it takes now.
brer, it's too late to alter personal investments in response to the dollar. it's already so low. if the dollar were to continue to slide, then it would make sense to invest in euro stuff now. maybe i'm naive but i can't see it slipping any farther than its already absurd state. a euro went from 81 us cents to $1.50? wow.
Im really not a fan of 401K's. Its better to own things like real estate, rental income. One could make the arguement that the proliferation of 401Ks is whats driving the market volume and prices, not soundess of investment. I dont believe a bank will loan you money based on stock portfolios, but they will on real estate collateral.
Invest in precious metals. Gold is a great hedge against inflation.
Also, if you want to bet on future fall in the dollar you can buy CD's in foreign currencies. Get the standard interest rate return, but if the dollar falls you can score big...and less risky as Forex trading. Everbank has several options.
actually the only thing I would be buying right now is dollar futures long - This price preasure is fucking gay ass europeans who dont like Bush - next time one of their trains blow up the dollar will rise. Great time to buy the world's most liquid currency - even more so than gold. Folks - golds not really that rare, neither are diamonds.
Dollar plunge
First time in 30 years. Meanwhile the Euro is right around 1.40 to the dollar and the Pound is around 2.00. Enough to scare me about the future of the economy.
How much are students going into debt these days to backpack around Europe? Plenty more than I did, that's for certian.
:) helps my LA holiday tho (someones loss is anothers gain)
I'm putting my savings into either Yuan or Euros depending how much the CCP decides to let the Yuan go.
Bush said our economy is strong...our economy is strong
We are headed for Canada for a wedding in a couple of weeks. The Ms. Architect was checking cost of hotels and after looking she said aloud I wonder if that is Canadian Dollars or American.....about two minutes later she says they are on a level playing field at this time
1 for 1, so it really doesn't matter. Oh I would agree with Bush our Economy is Strong..until he is gone. Then we are up S*** Creek with a Democat at the helm trying to straighten things out once again. Just like back in Jimmy Carter Days.
bush also said he got a b in econ 101.
bush also said a C student can be president
evidently that was true (though i think a c student may be stretching things in his case).
Bush also says that inflation is under 3%. Ha!
Having family in Canada, I think they are the real losers in this. All their stuff is still priced based on the old exchange rates. Thus, everything in Canada is now way more expensive than in the US. Good thing I saved those loonies from my last trip up north.
of course it will plunge, i'll be exchanging some caish in a bit for some british pounds.
with this country's dependency on imports look for increased prices anyday. ahhh, inflation - gotta love it.
Put on a sweater snooker and have a peanut.
i'm investing in kool-aid.
you guys can start selling your dollars to me now 1/2 the discount of next December's value. I'll buy all your dollars for 90 cents ea. Imagine how good you'll have done when the dollars down 20% next year knowing good ol uncle evil propped you up
bush got a 71 in econ, which is at best a C-, it was a D at my college.
gold above $700, pushing $800 soon? welcome to the recession!
like father, like son.
What's this talk of dollar plunge???? oh ya, I am looking at it from the north, I'll won't have to spend more on my trips to Durango and Hawaii this year.
holz....funny read.....I thought you said he got: " a 71 in Enron" nope he cracked a nut on that one and got a 110....cause it is going into his undisclosed investment funds....
But whistler...my ski trip this winter will probably be in Colorado and not BC or AB, where they have been the past few years.
cheaper dollars means more exporting...theoretically. this would actually be a good thing since our economy imports way too much.
also, it's not like we import anything from canada or europe anyhow. what really matter is the strength of the yuan. what's happening now shouldn't lower anyone's standard of living, unless they travel to europe a lot, or work for an importer.
Aquapura, I 've been telling the locals to plan for it for years, its a shame but the resort has to come to terms with the dollar issue its not in there control. Probably see some good package deals still set up nobody wants to lose too much business.
"Its not like we import anything from canada"
Canada is the biggest crude oil supplier to the US. Thats a pretty big import.
For those people in the US dealing with huge amounts of student loan debt, now would be a good time to move to the UK or Europe and get a job there for a few years. You could pay off those loans in half the time.
i should double check this, but i also believe that the us imports large amounts of natural gas from canada too.
And wood to build houses.
The thing that sucks for us Canadians, as mentioned above, is that US retail prices won't be adjusted. For example, I used to order books from the US because they were cheaper - there's a huge discrepancy between US and Canadian prices on books (about 25%, usually).
Although publishers started talking a year ago about lowering the (Canadian) cover cost of books, now they are retracting that. With parity now, that means books cost about 30% MORE than they did just a few years ago.
On the industrial side of things, the US is our biggest importer of goods. And because of parity, we will lose out on a lot of business in exporting (meaning well-paying manufacturing jobs).
Just because the shelves of Wal-Mart are all stocked with goods from China doesn't mean Canada is a minor trading partner. In fact Canada is our LARGEST trading partner.
Oh, and oil is priced in US dollars, no matter where it's pumped. So, yes, Canada is exporting lots of oil & gas to the US but that's one thing that won't change with exchange rate flux.
One Iraq war conspiracy I've heard is that Saddam was feeling the waters of trading oil in Euros around 2002. We all know what happened to him. Knowing what would happen to the US economy if the petro-dollar trade ended it seems entirely plausable to me.
isn't the u.s. a service based economy? i thought almost all exportable industries have fled to cheaper tax havens...
i kinda like the idea that we control the world economy and if people aren't willing to go along, we destroy their culture, heritage and sovreignty. oh yeah!
why worry about china. industries are already leaving there because the prices are going up as are wages as is inflation. you can put the lead painted coated toy factory in many countries. china's growth will end sooner than later.
We might be shifting to a nation of burger flippers but currently the US is still the 2nd largest exporting country in the world. Thankfully most of the offshored industry has been things like toy manufacturing and textiles...and not Boeing jets. I'd like to think there are a few things people still will pay more for rather than have it built by the cheapest labor possible.
oddly enough i had a difficult time sleeping earlier this week and that old canadian bacon movie was on the late night tv...maybe a us/canada war is imminent
The unfortuate thing is even some jobs in the service industry are being moved overseas. Anyone read the World is Flat? That book was a complete eye opener for me.
I've been meaning to read that, tunamelt. I should go to the library over lunch and grab it, thanks for the reminder.
I actually need to finish reading it. I had to put it down for a while b/c it was kinda pissing me off.
tom friedman is a tool...but the book raises some valid points. the sooner more american youngsters read it, the better,
this thread has absolutely nothing to do with architecture.
but its relevant and timely -
How are we supposed to trust any country who's currency's nickname is the Loonie?
it's not the nickname, it's an actual coin.
it's like calling a $100 bill a benjamin.
I would argue money, most definitely, has something to do with architecture.
This is bullshit. Brits can afford second flats in Manhattan now because the dollar's so weak its cheaper than London and Dublin! Let me put that into perspective, INFLATION has out run the MANHATTAN HOUSING MARKET. WTF!
Seriously, is the Fed just shitting money these days?
The Wyoming Quarter is coming out this week with A Buckaroo Cowboy like the old license plates.
Is anyone altering their personal investments in response to the continuing de-valuing of the dollar?
uh - personal investments? You do realize this is an architect's thread. The most money I have leftover is enough to invest in a McRib at 1:00
evilp, unless you got some sort of inheritance coming, you better start a retirement account no matter what sacrifices it takes now.
brer, it's too late to alter personal investments in response to the dollar. it's already so low. if the dollar were to continue to slide, then it would make sense to invest in euro stuff now. maybe i'm naive but i can't see it slipping any farther than its already absurd state. a euro went from 81 us cents to $1.50? wow.
Im really not a fan of 401K's. Its better to own things like real estate, rental income. One could make the arguement that the proliferation of 401Ks is whats driving the market volume and prices, not soundess of investment. I dont believe a bank will loan you money based on stock portfolios, but they will on real estate collateral.
Invest in precious metals. Gold is a great hedge against inflation.
Also, if you want to bet on future fall in the dollar you can buy CD's in foreign currencies. Get the standard interest rate return, but if the dollar falls you can score big...and less risky as Forex trading. Everbank has several options.
https://www.everbank.com/
actually the only thing I would be buying right now is dollar futures long - This price preasure is fucking gay ass europeans who dont like Bush - next time one of their trains blow up the dollar will rise. Great time to buy the world's most liquid currency - even more so than gold. Folks - golds not really that rare, neither are diamonds.
"this thread has absolutely nothing to do with architecture." I was being sarcastic.
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