Dollar/baht Don't Read Unless You Have A Interest

[lannarebirth]

HE took some -very large- picks already....

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks during an interview in New York, June 25, 2008.

Now see there is a bailout plan I agree with !

Why cant we just continue along those types of lines?

You know Warren gets preferred shares and interest of 10% per annum to wait. Any of us going to get that deal?

[flying]

You know Warren gets preferred shares and interest of 10% per annum to wait. Any of us going to get that deal?

That is what I mean. Keep business ...business

I bet there are other like him that would put in $$$ in a *business* like way.

Why do we who are never going to see any return have to throw $$$$ at them?

Besides the fact I do think this whole thing is a con

[LaoPo]

HE took some -very large- picks already....

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks during an interview in New York, June 25, 2008.

Now see there is a bailout plan I agree with !

Why cant we just continue along those types of lines?

You know Warren gets preferred shares and interest of 10% per annum to wait. Any of us going to get that deal?

..I have to be honest.....not me. I was a bit short and he got the deal before I even had a chance to talk to the guys, involved...

LaoPo

[Naam]

You know Warren gets preferred shares and interest of 10% per annum to wait. Any of us going to get that deal?

That is what I mean. Keep business ...business

I bet there are other like him that would put in $$$ in a *business* like way.

Why do we who are never going to see any return have to throw $$$$ at them?

Besides the fact I do think this whole thing is a con

Temasek, Singapore got an even better deal from Merrill by getting 2 billion paid in cash (as compensation for existing losses) an in return Temasek injected 3.4 billion by buying preferred stock

[Naam]

Your absolutely correct Naam, what happened is they attached it to another bill, to get a vote today. So it is really now an ammendment to another bill. The other vote is scheduled for Friday.

Dollar seemed to move a lot today agianst most currencies, but not the baht.

My ATM transaction today at Bank of Bangkok resulted, in 33.89 less then then my last transaction about the same time from last month.

It is impossilble to really tell what kind of exchange rate or where it is going with what we deal with today.

Yuor right might be a good window of Oportunity, no gurantees what will happen Frdiay , the next group voting had a look at the original bill and didn't like it. Has it been changed enough to make them happy, guess we will find out Friday.

even with "good" news today the results will be rather limited to financial institutions, respectively their shares, and i don't expect the global situation to improve much. there is no more confidence amongst banks. a number of them have money galore but prefer to park the cash with their central banks at peanuts yields than lending it to other banks with a hefty profit margin. major european banks parked €48 billion cash from tue to wed with the ECB (European Central Bank).

it will take a looooooong time till confidence among financial institutions is restored!

[LaoPo]

it will take a looooooong time till confidence among financial institutions is restored!

Indeed it will; in the meantime it will be extremely difficult for companies and individuals to get access to capital/loans/credit and that will take it's toll for necessary growth. Credit Card companies are already screwing back the credit lines.

Tough times ahead for those who lose their jobs and/or are short in cash or no cash at all.

The BIG problem is for those who never faced REAL tough times and that's the present generation for, let's say, up to 45 years/age.

The ladder was never high enough for them and reaching into heaven with more growth, higher incomes, better cars, larger homes, exclusive holidays.

Now they find out it isn't and if they didn't save for bad times......ouch.

LaoPo

[Naam]

no doubt that BoT intervenes heavily!

[ray23]

So what are we really looking at confidence gone, that would be easy to understand. They keep setting up sweetheart deals and pumping cash in the system. But the banks still don't loan. Why?

Are they waiting for the magic bullet that will stop a recession, cause that is not going to happen.

[flying]

So what are we really looking at confidence gone, that would be easy to understand. They keep setting up sweetheart deals and pumping cash in the system. But the banks still don't loan. Why?

Are they waiting for the magic bullet that will stop a recession, cause that is not going to happen.

Till we see a tally sheet we dont really know that they have *pumped* cash into *our* banks.

[ray23]

Good Point, I think I will have to be a Will Rogers on that one only know what I read in the papers

[lannarebirth]

no doubt that BoT intervenes heavily!

I'm thinking China may even be buying Baht.

[ray23]

One thing about this place nevre boring. They interviewed the General of the Army this evening on the english speaking station. He is totaly opposed to a coup. So where does that leave everything. Guess the BOT will be selling a lot of dollars.

What's left another election that the former Thia Rak Thai are sure to win and we coninue on in the cycle.

Thai Government May Face Collapse on Legal Challenge (Update1)

By Daniel Ten Kate and Rattaphol Onsanit

Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Thailand's 10-month-old government may face collapse after prosecutors said they will seek to dissolve the ruling party for vote buying, and a deputy leader who resigned this week called on the army to stage a coup.

``How long we can stand against these moves or maintain democracy is hard to predict,'' said Kudeb Saikrajang, a spokesman for the governing People Power Party. ``People at the grassroots level will not accept a coup. That will bring true chaos to the country.''

Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat's grip on power is weakening after a court dropped treason charges against Bangkok- based protest leaders who have campaigned for five months to oust the government and dilute the electoral influence of its rural supporters. The political paralysis comes as Thailand reels from the global financial crisis, which today triggered a temporary trading halt on the local stock exchange.

The Constitutional Court, which forced Samak Sundaravej to step down as prime minister last month for hosting a cooking show, must now decide whether the ruling party should be dissolved after an executive was found guilty of vote buying. Samak and 36 other party officials could be banned from politics for five years, said Thanapich Mulpruek, a spokesman for the Attorney General's office, which filed the charges.

``We will present our proof to the court and respect its decision,'' said party lawyer Kamnuan Chalopathum.

Somchai Cancels Trip

Somchai canceled his trip to Laos and Cambodia scheduled for Oct. 12 and 13 to ``monitor the political situation in Thailand closely,'' Surapat Narkbunnum, a government spokeswoman, said today. The People Power Party controls 233 of 480 parliamentary seats. Two other parties in its six-member coalition face disbanding for the same offense.

Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who stepped down as deputy leader three days ago after clashes between protesters and police left two people dead and 470 injured, called for a coup in an interview with the Bangkok Post. The former general was unavailable for an interview, according to an aide who didn't dispute the content of the article.

Thailand's military last seized power in 2006, ousting Thaksin Shinawatra, Somchai's brother-in-law. The ruling party was formed from the remnants of Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai, which was dissolved last year by a military-appointed court for bankrolling minor parties to contest a boycotted election.

Constitution Rewrite

The military voided the reformist 1997 constitution that strengthened political parties and rewrote the constitution last year. Drafters included a clause that calls for a party to be dissolved if an executive member is found guilty of fraud. That's led to battles between the government, which wants to change it, and protesters who say it deters vote buying.

``The ruling party believes the court will dissolve it, so the prime minister will probably call an election before a judgment is made,'' said Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, a constitutional law lecturer at Bangkok's Thammasat University.

The Bangkok protests are being led by the People's Alliance for Democracy, headed by Sondhi Limthongkul, a former Thaksin business associate. Nine detained protest leaders were released on bail this week charged with the lesser offense of causing a public disturbance.

The People's Alliance, which continues to occupy the prime minister's office compound, has said it will oppose any party with links to Thaksin. It is seeking a new political system where professional groups represent half of parliament, reducing the number of seats elected by the general public.

Thailand's benchmark SET index plunged by the 10 percent limit today, triggering a 30-minute trading halt. The index tumbled 23 percent this week as the deepening credit freeze forced governments worldwide to bail out financial institutions.

To contact the reporters on this story: Rattaphol Onsanit in Bangkok at [email protected]; Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok at [email protected].

Last Updated: October 10, 2008 06:06 EDT

[VegasVic]

... as the Baht is since some days stronger against the Dollar the only logical conclusion is intervention by the Bank of Thailand.

But why, I also wonder? It appears that central banks everywhere are colluding to prop up the dollar...maybe the BOT is getting rid of their $ while the ridding is good and the effect on the THB is only an unwanted side effect of their solution to a much bigger looming problem - the crash of the USD?

What a fantastic theory C.H., You had better get use to a strong Dollar for quite some time to come Oil is headed lower, perhaps below $50/bbl and the Dollar is headed higher. The Euro and Pound will continue to fall, which will be increasingly tough for Euro and Brit expats in Thailand because the BOT is still fighting the battle against the rising Dollar, so while the exchange rate for the dollar/baht will remain within a narrow range, the exchange rate for the pound and euro will be droping

[cloudhopper]

It appears that the present strength of the US$ is partly due to, as LRB suggested, the undoing of a lot of carry trade. I don't know how long this will go on, but none of the current US policies being pursued in the present crisis would seem likely to strengthen the US$ in the longer term. Of course there are several interesting things happening in Swiss and Eurobanking with their own effects on currencies the USD might be exchanged with. The Thai central bank appears to be in relatively good shape at least for the moment and it appears that the Chinese agree.

A strong USD won't take any getting used to for me, but I'm not sure how long I will be enjoying it.

[Naam]

It appears that the present strength of the US$ is partly due to, as LRB suggested, the undoing of a lot of carry trade. I don't know how long this will go on, but none of the current US policies being pursued in the present crisis would seem likely to strengthen the US$ in the longer term. Of course there are several interesting things happening in Swiss and Eurobanking with their own effects on currencies the USD might be exchanged with. The Thai central bank appears to be in relatively good shape at least for the moment and it appears that the Chinese agree.

A strong USD won't take any getting used to for me, but I'm not sure how long I will be enjoying it.

if that is the case as LRB suggested it can be only a side effect due to reasons i have no idea about. carry trades are unwinding, there's no doubt about that. but USD did not play any direct role. the carry pairs were JP¥ / CHF vs. NZD/AUD/TRY/ISK and BRL (against BRL via NDFs).

[lannarebirth]

It appears that the present strength of the US$ is partly due to, as LRB suggested, the undoing of a lot of carry trade. I don't know how long this will go on, but none of the current US policies being pursued in the present crisis would seem likely to strengthen the US$ in the longer term. Of course there are several interesting things happening in Swiss and Eurobanking with their own effects on currencies the USD might be exchanged with. The Thai central bank appears to be in relatively good shape at least for the moment and it appears that the Chinese agree.

A strong USD won't take any getting used to for me, but I'm not sure how long I will be enjoying it.

if that is the case as LRB suggested it can be only a side effect due to reasons i have no idea about. carry trades are unwinding, there's no doubt about that. but USD did not play any direct role. the carry pairs were JP¥ / CHF vs. NZD/AUD/TRY/ISK and BRL (against BRL via NDFs).

True, but the hedge funds requiring repatriation of funds are probably largely American. Or maybe not.

Iwonder what a long oil, short dollar unwind would look like. Maybe something like what we're seeing.

[Hairy]

When I was a kid ( probably the 60's ) I remember reading a story about the future. To make a long story short it was about a space travel problem.

Seems the rockets had gotten to heavy for the distance required. Computers were a big part of that weight.

Suddenly a scientist runs up screaming he has the answer. He proceeds to show the other scientists with a piece of paper & a pencil how 4x4=16 etc....

They had rediscovered manual thinking & saved a ton in weight reduction computer wise.

Isaac Asimov. The best part was that they were going to start putting humans in their nuclear missiles to do the target guidance, sort of the 60's version of the suicide bomber.

[Hairy]

And it does appear that global markets are all very dismissive of the American bail out plan and that USD may well be headed for retreat, yet again - I think it might be time to implement Plan B.

CM, It looks like the Dollar got stronger As deflation rears its ugly head around the globe, oil will plumett and the Dollar will continue to strengthen. Remember it was uncle Vic who told everyone here to short oil and go long the Dollar earlier this summer

please forgive me Uncle Vic but i confess to the horrible crime that only a short time ago i converted all my remaining cash Dollars into Euros @ 1.43565 and placed an order to increase my holding of Bunds if the Dollar strengthens more, so be it. but the share of 19% i still hold is more than sufficient in my [not so] humble view.

as far as deflation is concerned you are -as you Americans say- "right on the money". i was recently in Germany were everything is deflating like héll. also, my wife tells me that whenever she goes shopping she wonders why food prices (and of course everything else) in Thailand is dropping like a stone

I am curious as to whether prices are really dropping there, or if you're just joking. I've seen a lot of argument on deflation vs. stagflation, and I was personally on the side of stagflation -- but now that oil is dropping, and with the U.S. housing and stock markets both wiping out significant amounts of wealth, I am beginning to think we may finally get into a deflationary mode.

[Naam]

And it does appear that global markets are all very dismissive of the American bail out plan and that USD may well be headed for retreat, yet again - I think it might be time to implement Plan B.

CM, It looks like the Dollar got stronger As deflation rears its ugly head around the globe, oil will plumett and the Dollar will continue to strengthen. Remember it was uncle Vic who told everyone here to short oil and go long the Dollar earlier this summer

please forgive me Uncle Vic but i confess to the horrible crime that only a short time ago i converted all my remaining cash Dollars into Euros @ 1.43565 and placed an order to increase my holding of Bunds if the Dollar strengthens more, so be it. but the share of 19% i still hold is more than sufficient in my [not so] humble view.

as far as deflation is concerned you are -as you Americans say- "right on the money". i was recently in Germany were everything is deflating like héll. also, my wife tells me that whenever she goes shopping she wonders why food prices (and of course everything else) in Thailand is dropping like a stone

I am curious as to whether prices are really dropping there, or if you're just joking. I've seen a lot of argument on deflation vs. stagflation, and I was personally on the side of stagflation -- but now that oil is dropping, and with the U.S. housing and stock markets both wiping out significant amounts of wealth, I am beginning to think we may finally get into a deflationary mode.

of course my statement was ironic and sarcastic because there is no sign of a deflation except perhaps real estate.

[cloudhopper]

It appears that the present strength of the US$ is partly due to, as LRB suggested, the undoing of a lot of carry trade. I don't know how long this will go on, but none of the current US policies being pursued in the present crisis would seem likely to strengthen the US$ in the longer term. Of course there are several interesting things happening in Swiss and Eurobanking with their own effects on currencies the USD might be exchanged with. The Thai central bank appears to be in relatively good shape at least for the moment and it appears that the Chinese agree.

A strong USD won't take any getting used to for me, but I'm not sure how long I will be enjoying it.

if that is the case as LRB suggested it can be only a side effect due to reasons i have no idea about. carry trades are unwinding, there's no doubt about that. but USD did not play any direct role. the carry pairs were JP¥ / CHF vs. NZD/AUD/TRY/ISK and BRL (against BRL via NDFs).

Call it what you want to but it appears to me that lots of central banks took advantage of low cost USD to do deals they now have to unwind. Lots of other deals being unwound to get USD cash too.

However I see that you recently traded USD for Euros so I would be interested in your thoughts on the USD.

[Naam]

It appears that the present strength of the US$ is partly due to, as LRB suggested, the undoing of a lot of carry trade. I don't know how long this will go on, but none of the current US policies being pursued in the present crisis would seem likely to strengthen the US$ in the longer term. Of course there are several interesting things happening in Swiss and Eurobanking with their own effects on currencies the USD might be exchanged with. The Thai central bank appears to be in relatively good shape at least for the moment and it appears that the Chinese agree.

A strong USD won't take any getting used to for me, but I'm not sure how long I will be enjoying it.

if that is the case as LRB suggested it can be only a side effect due to reasons i have no idea about. carry trades are unwinding, there's no doubt about that. but USD did not play any direct role. the carry pairs were JP¥ / CHF vs. NZD/AUD/TRY/ISK and BRL (against BRL via NDFs).

Call it what you want to but it appears to me that lots of central banks took advantage of low cost USD to do deals they now have to unwind. Lots of other deals being unwound to get USD cash too.

However I see that you recently traded USD for Euros so I would be interested in your thoughts on the USD.

i still hold a bunch of USD -most of it from a rather big position of TRY- and i am not sure what to do with them. the reason why i changed USD into EUR earlier had nothing to do what i think where exchange rates are going but to add to my safe haven german government bonds. unfortunately Germany never issued debt in USD.

[lennart2000]

"Baht likely to weaken to 35 per dollar this year

By Jiwamol Kanoksilp

The Nation, Bloomberg

Published on July 30, 2008

While the US dollar is bottoming out, experts predict the baht will grow weaker, ending up about 35 to the greenback by the end of the year.

"The US dollar has bottomed out," Tim Condon from ING Wholesale Banking/Financial Markets in Singapore said yesterday.

He predicts the dollar will appreciฌate against the euro and the yen, while the baht could fall further, depending on confidence.

ING said the baht was expected to fall to 34.15 to the dollar in the third quarter before appreciating to 33.85 in the fourth quarter. ING predicts the baht will rise to 33 to the dollar next year, but Satian Tantanasarit, executive vice president of TMB Bank, predicts the baht will appreciate to 35 to the dolฌlar this year.

"I agree the dollar has been weakฌening and is bottoming out," he said.

However, Condon believes the US Federal Reserve will likely cut its polฌicy rate 50 basis points during next year's first quarter after the worst of the inflation shock passes, while the European Central Bank in the same quarter will reverse its recent rateincrease policy.

Condon believes the fading of the oilprice shock will shift the European Central Bank's focus from inflation to growth. The US Fed funds rate is now at 2 per cent.

However, Satian believes the US central bank will maintain its rate and predicts the Bank of Thailand BOT will increase rates at least once more this year. The BOT's Monetary Policy Committee will meet again on August 27 for a ratemovement decision.

The baht fell for a second day yesฌterday on speculation that slowing ecoฌnomic growth and a deepening US housing slump would deter investฌments in emergingmarket assets.

The currency extended this month's losses after the BOT yesterday cut its economicgrowth forecast for this year to as little as 4.8 per cent, saying highฌer prices were squeezing consumption.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International AsiaPacific Index dropped as much as 2.3 per cent folฌlowing a slump on Wall Street amid concerns about widening creditmarฌket losses.

"The Thai stock market is down a lot, with foreign investors continuing to sell and thus damping demand for baht," said Chutima Nuphan, a curฌrency trader at TMB Bank in Bangkok.

"Last night, we saw steep drops on Wall Street. The baht is going to be on the weak side."

The baht declined 0.1 per cent to 33.49 to the dollar late yesterday morning. It has been the secondworst performer in the past three months among the 10 most active Asian curฌrencies outside of Japan.

The BOT raised its inflation foreฌcast for this year to 7.58.8 per cent, Assistant Governor Duangmanee Vongpradhip said yesterday. In April, it forecast an inflation rate of 45 per cent. The US$206billion (Bt6.91 trilฌlion) economy was previously forecast to expand as much as 6 per cent this year. Global funds sold about $1 billion worth of Thai stocks more than they bought from July 125. The Stock Exchange of Thailand Index fell as much as 1.7 per cent yesterday."

NOBODY HAS A CLUE

[ray23]

The safe haven how things do change, there seems to be som down ides to propping up your currency. This is confusing to me in that the article say that Russia is the third largest in international currency reserves with 14.9 billion dollars. Havent we been sei eing that Thailand had in excess of 100 Billion?

I know it was written as dollars could have really been baht?

Developing Nation Debt Costs Soar as Belarus Joins IMF Requests

By Denis Maternovsky and Laura Cochrane

Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Developing nations' borrowing costs jumped to the highest in six years and as Belarus joined governments seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund to help weather the credit crisis and slump in commodities.

The extra yield investors demand to own emerging-market government bonds instead of U.S. Treasuries rose 25 basis points to 8.27 percentage points, the most since November 2002, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s EMBI+ index. The annual cost to protect Russia's bonds from default soared 1.3 percentage points to 10.8 percent of the debt insured, the highest in at least eight years, according to CMA Datavision.

``There is now no safe haven globally other than a deeply indebted U.S. government,'' said Jim Reid, head of fundamental credit strategy at Deutsche Bank AG in London. ``The events of the last few days are categorical evidence of the globalization of the credit crunch and its subsequent problems.''

Ex-Soviet Belarus followed Iceland, Pakistan, Hungary and Ukraine in requesting emergency loans as the global financial crisis limits its ability to borrow, the IMF said yesterday. Argentina's lawmakers are attempting to stop President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner seizing pension funds from money managers, as the country risks defaulting for the second time this decade.

Emerging-market stocks, bonds and currencies are getting battered as the financial crisis that began with U.S. mortgages last year pushes the global economy toward a recession, crimping the demand for the commodities that sustain most developing nations' finances. The IMF forecast global growth will slow to 3 percent in 2009, from 3.9 percent this year, signaling a global recession.

Stocks in emerging markets have tumbled 59 percent this year, compared with 43 percent for developed countries, according to MSCI Indexes.

Government Bailouts

Belarus applied for a $2 billion loan and may also seek funds from central banks and commercial banks in other countries, news agency Interfax reported yesterday, citing the Belarusian central bank.

Speculation that Argentina's Fernandez intends to finance the government with privately managed retirement funds has roiled Latin America's markets. Argentine stocks had their biggest two-day drop since 1990 and dollar bond yields topped 30 percent on concern the takeover shows the government is struggling to avert a default. The last time the government seized savings was in 2001, before it reneged on $95 billion of debt and triggered a global selloff.

IMF bailout applicants Hungary and Ukraine led declines in emerging-market stocks to the lowest since 2005. The Budapest Stock Exchange index dropped for a sixth day, declining 3.43 percent to the lowest in five years. Ukraine's PFTS index fell 2.8 percent.

Vulnerable Nations

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index of shares fell 3.7 percent to 513.28 at 10.56 a.m. in London, extending the worst monthly decline in at least two decades.

``The threat from the economic slowdown will be greatest in small open economies, those with sizeable external imbalances, and countries with large banking sectors,'' said Ivailo Vesselinov, a senior economist at Dresdner Kleinwort in London. South Korea and Europe's Baltic and Balkan nations are ``particularly vulnerable,'' he said.

South Korea's won fell 3.4 percent to the lowest since 1998 on concern demand for the nation's exports is dwindling and the Kospi stock index slumped 7.5 percent. Romania's leu decreased 1.8 percent.

Default Swaps Surge

The cost to protect debt payments by 14 emerging-market governments from Argentina to Ukraine surged overnight by 3.2 percentage points to 9.9 percent, according to Deutsche Bank prices on the CDX Emerging Markets credit-default swap index.

``It isn't necessary for a major economy like Russia or Brazil to fall for there to be severe pressure across the emerging-market universe,'' said Vesselinov.

Credit-default swaps protect bondholders against default by paying the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent should a borrower fail to adhere to its debt agreements. An increase indicates a deterioration in the perception of credit quality.

The yield on Russia's 30-year, 7.5 percent dollar notes increased 34 basis points to 11.32 percent, an all-time high.

Russia's international reserves, the world's third largest, fell $14.9 billion last week after the central bank sold currency to prop up the ruble.

To contact the reporter on this story: Denis Maternovsky in Moscow at [email protected]. Laura Cochrane in London at [email protected]

[LaoPo]

The safe haven how things do change, there seems to be som down ides to propping up your currency. This is confusing to me in that the article say that Russia is the third largest in international currency reserves with 14.9 billion dollars. Havent we been sei eing that Thailand had in excess of 100 Billion?

I know it was written as dollars could have really been baht?

Developing Nation Debt Costs Soar as Belarus Joins IMF Requests

.

The yield on Russia's 30-year, 7.5 percent dollar notes increased 34 basis points to 11.32 percent, an all-time high.

Russia's international reserves, the world's third largest, fell $14.9 billion last week after the central bank sold currency to prop up the ruble.

Maybe you were tired when you read the above ?

Russian reserves are around $ 550 Billion if I'm not mistaken.

LaoPo

[highdiver]

the BOt has so many dollars... as said by one poster last year .... they have rooms full of it.

http://www.imf.org/external/np/sta/ir/tha/eng/curtha.htm

[highdiver]

Lao Po

if it really gets bad there in the land of beautiful women, cheese and weed.... you can allways move to Samui. we will be happy to have you...

[ray23]

Thanks Lao

Must be old age

[LaoPo]

Lao Po

if it really gets bad there in the land of beautiful women, cheese and weed.... you can allways move to Samui. we will be happy to have you...

I would love to Highdiver....I like Samui a lot; Maybe next year.

Been many times...

BTW: http://www.cbr.ru/eng/statistics/credit_st...er_res_08_e.htm >>>RUSSIAN RESERVES

They have some space left although they might need the reserves badly in the times to come with the strongly declining oil prices.

On the other hand, Russia was almost bankrupt some 10 years ago.

LaoPo

[highdiver]

Lao Po

if it really gets bad there in the land of beautiful women, cheese and weed.... you can allways move to Samui. we will be happy to have you...

I would love to Highdiver....I like Samui a lot; Maybe next year.

Been many times...

BTW: http://www.cbr.ru/eng/statistics/credit_st...er_res_08_e.htm >>>RUSSIAN RESERVES

They have some space left although they might need the reserves badly in the times to come with the strongly declining oil prices.

On the other hand, Russia was almost bankrupt some 10 years ago.

LaoPo

well in Russia case all the government needs to do instead of investing tax payers money is to do a one time deal for all the owners of black money to be allowed to deposit the cash without any questions or taxes... sort of a one chance laundry... that will bring in more money then they dream about...

[Naam]

The safe haven how things do change, there seems to be som down ides to propping up your currency. This is confusing to me in that the article say that Russia is the third largest in international currency reserves with 14.9 billion dollars.

AAARRRRRGGGGHHHH! russki reserves are presently ~$530 billion.