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NEW YORK — The euro has fallen below parity with the dollar, diving to its lowest level in 20 years and ending a one-to-one exchange rate with the U.S. currency. It's a psychological barrier in the markets. But psychology is important, and the euro's slide underlines the foreboding in the 19 European countries using the currency as they struggle with an energy crisis caused by Russia's war in Ukraine. Here's why the euro's slide is happening and what impact it could have: WHAT DOES EURO AND DOLLAR PARITY MEAN? It means the European and American currencies are worth the same...

Compared to a basket of other currencies, the Chinese Yuan is falling fast. It has been dropping for a record 16 days straight, the longest run since the currency basket was created 5 years ago. It has now fallen 4 percent against the Euro and Australian dollar. The yuan has also been falling against the dollar but has stopped recently. In late May, rising tensions with the U.S. contributed to the yuan falling to near its lowest level since 2008’s financial crisis and factors such as the Hong Kong protests and the US-China trade deal could increase the value of...

The U.S. Treasury Department has incorrectly labeled China a manipulator of its currency. An important distinction exists between devaluing a currency and currency depreciation. Devaluing implies the People’s Bank of China actively manipulated the value of the Chinese renminbi to gain unfair advantage for its exports. Depreciation simply means the renminbi has lost purchasing power relative to the U.S. dollar, based on market forces. There’s no indication that China is actively devaluing its currency. However, according to the Treasury Department, China met a broad definition of manipulation laid out in the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, which says...

The NZD has struggled for direction despite consumer confidence hitting three year highs.

The yen plunged to its lowest level in nearly four years and showed no signs of slowing its weakening trend in response to the Bank of Japan's latest push to ease monetary policy. Investors have been aggressively selling the Japanese currency since policy makers at the BOJ announced last week they will print trillions of yen to pump money into Japan's sluggish economy in a bid to keep interest rates low and spark faster growth. "Both Japanese and non-Japanese investors appear to be selling Japanese government bonds equally aggressively," said Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at Bank of New York...

Rarely are currency exchange rates as good for the American dollar as that of Asian countries. In Asia, the American dollar carries a lot of clout and with the recent devaluation of the USD; it is a good thing that these countries offer an excellent trip for so little cost to Americans.

Rarely are currency exchange rates as good for the American dollar as that of Asian countries. In Asia, the American dollar carries a lot of clout and with the recent devaluation of the USD; it is a good thing that these countries offer an excellent trip for so little cost to Americans.

China's yuan could depreciate sharply if the government were to remove capital controls and the managed exchange rate, resulting in quite the opposite effect to what U. S. lawmakers have advocated, an economist said yesterday. Charles Dumas, a director at Lombard Street Research in London said China's capital flows have turned negative as a result of a collapse in its foreign trade in autumn and a removal of capital controls amid current economic conditions would exacerbate the situation by encouraging a large outflow of money from the country. He said this would devalue the Chinese yuan, which is also known...

The week that risk became reality Published: August 15 2008 19:31 | Last updated: August 15 2008 19:31 Trouble has been in prospect ever since the credit squeeze began last summer, but this was the week when both shoes dropped at once, everywhere from the UK to Japan and most points between. For decades, a concerted world slowdown would have only one cause: a US recession. That is no longer entirely true. To paraphrase Tolstoy, each unhappy economy is unhappy in its own way. Japan has begun to contract, and plummeting exports are not the sole culprit: domestic demand is...

I am turning to the educated community of FREE REPUBLIC for an education in the falling dollar. Please list here some forums, blogs, somewhere to get an education to make some sense out of the dollar's devaluation. Nothing I've read so far explains how this is anything but a catastrophy.

The Fed is delaying the day of reckoning By Charles Wyplosz Published: March 12 2008 16:39 | Last updated: March 12 2008 16:39 In 1971, with the greenback weak and falling, US Treasury secretary John Connally famously told the rest of the world that the US dollar was “our currency and your problem”. Thirty years later, with the dollar strong and still rising, Robert Rubin, his successor, no less famously stated that “a strong dollar is in the interest of the United States”. These days, because the dollar is weak and falling, we would have expected US officials to return...

Danes have always loved the US as a travel destination. But with the dollar at its lowest point in 30 years, residents are now gobbling up the many discount offers being pitched by the nation's travel companies. Several travel bureaus are reporting increases of up to 140 percent on sales of trips to the states, where Danes can feel like wealthy plantation barons. In the past two years, the dollar has fallen from a value of 6.4 kroner to a shocking 4.8 kroner today - its lowest point since 1977. Weekend trips to New York City have been a hot...

Only about two months ago, Canada hit parity with the U.S. dollar for the first time in 31 years. Now many Canadians have had their fill: Companies ranging from jetmaker Bombardier Inc. to lumber producer Canfor Corp. say their currency’s strength is cutting into profits and jobs. “There is not much pride in declining business,” said Ken Lewenza, a Canadian Auto Workers union leader in Windsor, Ontario, where parts suppliers are closing operations and the casino just cut another 200 jobs. “The squeeze is on, and our lives are miserable.”

The weak dollar is threatening the survival of European planemaker Airbus, chief executive Tom Enders told workers in Hamburg on Thursday. And the firm once again warned that its cost saving plan would have to cut deeper to counter the impact of the weakening US currency. Airbus is owned by European aerospace and defence group EADS. "The dollar's rapid decline is life-threatening for Airbus," Mr Enders said in the speech to employees.

A strong currency reflects booming commodity exports and sound public finances. But not everyone is cheering. IT HARDLY came as a surprise when, on September 21st, the Canadian dollar crossed a symbolic threshold and overtook its American counterpart in value for the first time since 1976. Since January 2002, when Canadians needed C$1.61 to buy a greenback, the loonie (so nicknamed after the aquatic bird depicted on the dollar coin) has been pushed up by world demand for Canada's commodities. Yet even hard-bitten currency traders cheered out loud as the loonie inched towards parity, and then beyond. David Watt, a...

The last time the Canadian dollar stood at par with the American dollar, in January, 1976, British Airways and Air France were readying the Concorde's first supersonic commercial flight and Nick Izzo was a peppy 10-year-old with an obsession for toy cars. Now the Concorde is dead and he's dealing the real thing -- saving many Canadians a lot of money as the loonie claws its way back to its former glory. Mr. Izzo and his family run Superior Auto Sales Inc., a car dealership near Lake Erie just south of Buffalo. In business for more than 50 years, they...

NEW YORK (AP) -- The dollar fell Thursday to its lowest level against the British pound in 14 years and lost value against the euro and Japanese yen. The dollar's decline came on mixed economic news from Washington and positive developments in Germany, Europe's largest economy. The Commerce Department said consumer spending increased in October after two lackluster months, but the nation's retailers reported mixed results in November. The Labor Department also reported that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits posted an unexpectedly large increase last week, rising by 34,000 to 357,000. Meanwhile, Germany said that...

All Headline News reported that Japanese exporters are trying to take advantage of the rise in the Yen rate. When the dollar spikes, they try to sell it in order to save up for later purchases in the year. The current yen rate hovers around 114 yen = $1. I remember when it was 260 yen = $1. Some of my missionary friends tell me of a time when it was 350 = $1. When Japan started to produce quality products for very affordable prices, everyone started crying 'foul' and 'undervalued,' and then trade imbalances started growing. In the end,...

It is true that the riots in France were not the only reason behind the decline of the euro It is quite natural that 13 days of nighttime unrest on the streets of Parisian suburbs had an overall negative impact on the economic situation in France. The riots impacted the EU financial system since the France is one of the "driving belts" of the EU. The events triggered the so called negative investment and virtually toppled the exchange rate of the single European currency. Yesterday the euro fell to all-time low at the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange: European currencyit became...

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