Update 2: US Dollar hits 15 month low..
Update 2: US Dollar hits a 15 month low, this as Geithner said in Tokyo today that we fully support a strong US Dollar. I wonder if he got more laughter? He has been ham handed on Dollar policy since March.
The dollar dropped to a new 15-month low as the the euro rose above $1.50 Wednesday morning, even as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner reiterated the administration’s stance that a strong dollar is good for the U.S. economy.Geithner, in a speech in Tokyo on his way to a summit of Asian finance ministers in Singapore, also said low interest rates and other government supports for the economy were still needed.
The expectation that the Federal Reserve will keep the key U.S. interest rate near zero has been weighing on the dollar. Higher interest rates make a currency more attractive for investors, since bets made in that currency can earn higher returns.
Against a basket of six major currencies, the dollar hit a 15-month low of 74.775.
“The momentum and the conviction that the Fed will not raise rates any time soon, coupled with the fact that the major central banks continue to provide liquidity liberally” means the “fundamental force” weighing on the dollar will persist, said Brown Brothers Harriman analyst Marc Chandler in a research note Wednesday….
China is making noises about letting the Yuan rise. This would be helpful to all the other economies whose exports are suffering as we let our dollar fall, they are trapped while the Yuan is pegged. Let’s see what shakes out. IMO it is a bad sign for the doollar. This would have been GREAT 5 years ago. Now it is a commentary on the weakness of our currency.
China sent its clearest signal yet that it was ready to allow yuan appreciation after an 18-month hiatus, saying on Wednesday it would consider major currencies, not just the dollar, in guiding the exchange rate.
In its third-quarter monetary policy report, the People’s Bank of China departed from well-worn language on keeping the yuan “basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level.” It hinted instead at a shift from an effective dollar peg that has been in place since the middle of last year…
How low can you go? LIMBOOOO!
Update: That didn’t take long! Lowering the bar on results BEFORE HE EVEN LEAVES , speaking of lowering the bar again for TOTUS, let’s limbo!! TOTAL reversal of what Obama said just yesterday! Betcha Timmeh got an earful from the Chinese after TOTUS’ ill thought yuan remarks, heh:
President Barack Obama jets to Asia on Thursday for a four-nation swing that White House officials say will highlight the centrality of the continent to U.S. economic health and security.But administration officials say the president isn’t likely to bring along tangible concessions on hot-button issues, nor will he return with concrete achievements. Unfinished business — from the shape of U.S. military bases in Okinawa, to a South Korean free-trade agreement, to climate change, trade and currency issues with China — will remain unfinished.
So what will Obama do there? What SKILLS will he bring to the table?? His charm of course!!!
Instead, Mr. Obama will likely rely heavily on oratory and personal popularity to try to boost U.S. influence while maintaining close economic ties to a region that has become the biggest creditor to the U.S….
Oh no.
U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday he plans to raise the issue of the yuan currency with Chinese officials when he meets with them in Beijing next week.
“Currency, along with a host of other issues, will come up, and I’m confident that both the United States and China can arrive at a broad set of policies that encourages trade that benefits both countries, that allows ongoing economic growth,” Obama told Reuters in an interview…
Hang on Sloopy, Sloopy hang on.
*David Bowie courtesy of mastert316
Moderate in the Middle 
迷你倉 replied:
Senior Chinese and United States officials are upbeat about next week’s visit by US President Barack Obama, suggesting that the prospects for beefing up collaboration and constraining long-standing disputes between the countries are good.
The Foreign Ministry said yesterday it hopes Obama’s China trip will reap real rewards.
Citing the positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship Obama and President Hu Jintao pledged to build between the nations when they met earlier this year, spokesman Qin Gang said at a press conference that China hopes the countries will continue to develop their relationship.
Qin also called on the US to properly handle bilateral trade problems, an issue that has flared recently with both sides imposing a series of anti-dumping cases against each other.
“Compared to the huge common interests and benefits brought about by bilateral trade, the problems in trade relations are secondary,” said Qin.
He said the nations should negotiate on an equal basis and oppose trade and investment protectionism in any form.
Robert Hormats, undersecretary for economic, energy and agricultural affairs with the US State Department, struck a similar tone.
He said in Beijing yesterday that both the US and China will “do what we can” to avoid a trade war.
He said tension between countries with close trade ties is inevitable and added that “many of these things can be negotiated before they get to the WTO stage”.
With such a massive amount of trade between the two countries, Hormats said a trade war is something neither nation wants. He also stressed that both China and the US want to cooperate on climate change and energy use, subjects on Obama’s China agenda.
Obama is scheduled to visit China from Nov 15 to 18 during his maiden Asian tour as president.
His time in China, which will fill about half of his weeklong Asian timetable, will include discussions with President Hu Jintao on a wide range of issues.
China a vital partner
Obama stressed during an interview with Reuters on Monday that he sees China as a vital partner, as well as a competitor.
Obama said the world’s two most powerful nations need to work together on the big issues, and any competition between them has to be fair and friendly.
“On critical issues, whether climate change, economic recovery, nuclear nonproliferation, it is very hard to see how we succeed or China succeeds in our respective goals, without working together,” he said.
While saying currency issues and trade will be at the center of his visit, Obama stressed that it is important “as we enter into these discussions that we are looking at all the issues involved and not just one”.
Obama will be the first US president to pay a state visit to China for almost 12 years. Bill Clinton made a state visit in 1998.
Analysts said the leaders will likely ink several agreements against the backdrop of the global economic slump and increasing security threats.
“I can give you a long list of common interests between the two nations, ranging from economy to security, from concerns over financial turbulence across the Pacific to nuclear problems in Iran and on the Korean Peninsula,” said Pang Zhongying, an international expert at Renmin University of China.
“And the list is increasing every day. That’s why we are expecting a rich consensus to be reached, though possibly not in the form of signed documents, during Obama’s visit.”
But despite much common ground, analysts warned there will be no quick fix for long-standing disputes between the countries.
In response to the Reuters report that said Obama planned to put currency and trade at the center of the agenda, Qin Gang pointed out that China’s policy toward its currency would be “proactive, controllable and gradual”.
“China will not make a single step backward on the currency issue,” said Zhou Shijian, a senior analyst at the Sino-US Relations Research Center of Tsinghua University.
Chinese exports fell by 21.3 percent during the first nine months of the year compared to the same period last year. That slump was caused in part by problems with the value of the US dollar.
“It is time for a currency to appreciate, not depreciate,” said Zhou.
迷你倉
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November 11, 2009 at 2:37 am. Permalink.