Fed keeps rates the same for 4th time (dollar plunges)

AFX News (via FXStreet) ^ | December 12, 2006

[Toddsterpatriot]

I assumed he was speaking of the article that GGG posted, which mentioned 'inflation' 9 times.

Did any of those 9 mentions include a spike that would make debtors jump for joy?

If you see a discussion of the dollar vs other currencies in the article please cite it, I didn't spot one.

It was GGG's editorial comment in the title, (dollar plunges). If NeoCaveman saw good (higher) inflation news in the article, I'll retract my objection. If he was reacting to the title, then I guess you agree a weaker dollar doesn't reduce his debt.

[Pelham]

What I agree with is your admission that the article never mentioned currencies, and was simply addressing inflation.

[Toddsterpatriot]

And yet Neocaveman and I still managed to discuss currencies.

[Toddsterpatriot]

And don't forget GGG provided a helpful dollar chart in his second post.

[Woodman]

Go back 10 or 15 years to put into perspective. We barely made it through the depression in 95-96.

[Woodman]

Go back 10 or 15 years to put into perspective. We barely made it through the depression in 95-96. < /sarc >

[Woodman]

The Fed recently began publishing M3 again...

[Toddsterpatriot]

money supply grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 8.7% in the three months from November 2005 to February 2006.

How much has it grown since February?

[mpreston]

The Fed recently began publishing M3 again...

The most recent data I can find is Feb 06. At the end of this Quicken article

http://www.quicken.com/cms/viewers/article/investments/5271

is a link to money charts, to include M3

[oceanview]

why do you want to hurt the EU? in the currency game and foreign trade game, China is the enemy.

[remember]

Go back 10 or 15 years to put into perspective. We barely made it through the depression in 95-96.

Following are long-range charts for the Yen and the Euro:

The Euro chart goes back just to its inception 8 years ago. Also, it shows U.S. dollars per Euro (as opposed to Euros per dollar) so you have to flip the chart over to compare to the prior foreign currency vs. dollar charts. In any case, you can see long-range charts for all the major currencies at http://home.att.net/~rdavis2/xchngmc.html. Since 1971, the dollar has gone up against the Canadian dollar, Swedish Kronor, Australian dollar, and British pound. However, it's gone down against the Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc, and Euro. As these are the more major currencies and the drop against the Yen and Franc has been steep, the dollar has declined as measured by the Trade-weighted Exchange Index for Major Currencies (shown at the top of the page).

[nopardons]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm....if you have been a "student" of THE GREAT DEPRESSION, it appears that you learned nothing from your decades of "studying" it.

Is most of the world, today, immersed in a deep financial depression?

Are any nations currently beholden to another/ others vis-a-vis paying exorbitant war reparations?

Can one small group of men corner any market?

How about buying stock on a gigantic margin?

Are there stop gaps in place?

What about world wide national strikes?

What percentage of the American populace is now invested, in any way, in the markets?

What percentage of the American populace now own their own homes vis-a-vis in 1920s America?

An d when you are done answering that set of questions, I'll ask you some more; all of which is a way to connect the dots, in proving that there is NO way, NONE, that we are about to enter another GREAT DEPRESSION!

[TheLion]

"Greenspan also warned stocks were getting ahead of themselves when the Dow was below 7,000. You didn't listen to him then, did you?

Glad I didn't listen to him....my portfolio has done just fine with the Dow at 12,300!

[Woodman]

Before the EURO was the ECU (a European basket currency only used for large financial transactions) but the Dollar did pretty much the same thing with the French Frank, Deutchemark, Italian Lire, Dutch Guilders, etc. Your charts nicely show that all of the doom and gloomers who only look at this year (or maybe 5 years back) are full of it. These problems did not just start on W's watch and in fact were worse under Clinton.

[RobRoy]

You are living under the false impression that all recessions or "great depressions" are caused by the same factors.

They are like auto accidents. Some come from someone running a red light, others from drunk driving, others from ice, and still others from kids dropping large rocks from overpasses.

You mention stop-gaps. Would that be the equivalent of seat belts and air bags. And how exactly do the stop-gaps deal with jihad (just to name one example)?

And when you say "own their own homes", do you mean free and clear? And even back then people lost their homes because they couldn't pay their taxes, which were paultry compared to today, even in todays dollars.

One of the reasons history repeats itself is that it always comes round to bite you in a way you didn't expect. Many of our stop-gaps and protections are the equivalent of financial Maginot lines.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Thanks for admitting I was right about foreign currencies and inflation.