Fall of the Mighty US Dollar

The once mighty U.S. dollar continues to slowly lose its' power. Not only are other countries moving away from the U.S. dollar, but now Supermodel Gisele Bundchen refusing to be paid with the US dollar....

From Bloomberg --

Gisele Bundchen wants to remain the world's richest model and is insisting that she be paid in almost any currency but the U.S. dollar.

Like billionaire investors Warren Buffett and Bill Gross, the Brazilian supermodel, who Forbes magazine says earns more than anyone in her industry, is at the top of a growing list of wealthy people who have concluded that the currency can only depreciate because Americans are living beyond their means.

When Bundchen, 27, signed a contract in August to represent Pantene hair products for Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble Co., she demanded payment in euros, according to Veja, Brazil's biggest weekly magazine. She'll also get euros for the deal she reached last October with Dolce & Gabbana SpA in Milan to promote the Italian designer's new fragrance, The One, Veja reported. Bundchen earned $33 million in the year through June, Forbes reported in July.

The dollar plummeted to its lowest ever last week against the euro, Canadian dollar, Chinese yuan and the cheapest in 26 years against the British pound. More....

From Turkish Daily News --

The dollar slumped to a record low against the euro after Chinese officials signaled plans to diversify the nation's $1.43 trillion of foreign-exchange reserves in response to a falling U.S. currency.

“We will favor stronger currencies over weaker ones, and will readjust accordingly,” Cheng Siwei, vice chairman of China's National People's Congress, told a conference in Beijing. The dollar is “losing its status as the world currency,” Xu Jian, a central bank vice director, said at the same meeting.

The dollar fell against all 16 of the most-active currencies, declining to the weakest versus the Canadian dollar since the end of a fixed exchange rate in 1950, a 26-year low against the pound and a 23-year low versus the Australian dollar. More....

From World Net Daily --

Craig Smith, CEO of Swiss America Trading Corp., told WND he's been in the investment business for 30 years and has "never seen people more nervous."

Alarmed by today's economic news, he dispatched a note to brokers with a warning of ominous potential consequences if China and other trading partners abandon the dollar.

"If that were to happen, all bets are off, and we will be in a depression that makes 1929 look like child's play," he said, "or we will experience Weimar Republic inflation as the dollar makes extreme moves toward devaluations."

The dollar's decline today to $1.47 against the euro helped push the price of crude oil to a record $98.62 a barrel and gold to a 27-year high. The U.S. dollar also reached its lowest level against the Canadian dollar since the end of a fixed exchange rate in 1950 and a 23-year low against the Australian dollar. The New York Board of Trade's dollar index fell to 75.077, the lowest since March 1973, when the index began. More....

From Turkish Daily News --

Iran has finished the diversification of its assets away from the dollar, reported the Gulf News on Monday.

The Dubai newspaper also pointed out to recent statistics from the U.S. Treasury Department illustrating the position of other Middle Eastern countries in diversifying their reserves. “The latest data … showed outflows of $163 billion from all forms of U.S. investments in August,” reported the paper.

Moreover, Asian investors sold $52 billion worth of U.S. Treasury bonds in August. Japan sold U.S. Treasuries worth $23 billion, China and Taiwan sold $14.2 billion and $5 billion respectively. More....