Hedge against the US dollar for 'small' investors?

[dor]

call me pragmatic, but the US dollar has lost 30% of its value since 1999 or so, and it doesn't seem like it will recover....

does anyone have any suggestions for 'smaller' investors such as overseas/euro savings accounts?

[RT Wolf]

^ Do like Buffett does and start investing outside the country? Keep in mind international investing is way trickier than homegrown investing buttttt prolly worth it.

I think others might have better ideas for smaller investors.

[dor]

Originally Posted by RT Wolf

^ Do like Buffett does and start investing outside the country? .

well even if you say by foreign stocks on Ameritrade, your account is stil in US dollars.

[JMan]

This is the result of the Global Economy. We saw tuesday how a bump in China now sends ripples throughout the world. China is the key. They will be the next superpower. They have been working on ramping up their economy, selling products with cheap labor, with profits spewing into their government, and huge spending on military build up. This is exactly what Germany was doing in the 30's.

China has over 100 missiles pointed at Taiwan - look for a push by China to incorporate Taiwan. The sticky thing there is that we have an alliance with Taiwan, and Taiwan has stated that if China provokes, they will go to war.

China wants to dominate Asia, and replace the U.S. as the world's superpower. They have been improving alliances with Russia, North Korea, Iran, Cuba and others. The strategy is to keep the US involved with expensive military operations while they continue to build.

And China's outlook is totally different than ours. They think in centuries. We think in decades. They will plan for generations to come, hundreds of years into the future.

With all this, the US dollar will continue to flatten. It's all shifting.

[dor]

Originally Posted by JMan

This is the result of the Global Economy. We saw tuesday how a bump in China now sends ripples throughout the world. China is the key. They will be the next superpower. They have been working on ramping up their economy, selling products with cheap labor, with profits spewing into their government, and huge spending on military build up. This is exactly what Germany was doing in the 30's.

China has over 100 missiles pointed at Taiwan - look for a push by China to incorporate Taiwan. The sticky thing there is that we have an alliance with Taiwan, and Taiwan has stated that if China provokes, they will go to war.

China wants to dominate Asia, and replace the U.S. as the world's superpower. They have been improving alliances with Russia, North Korea, Iran, Cuba and others. The strategy is to keep the US involved with expensive military operations while they continue to build.

And China's outlook is totally different than ours. They think in centuries. We think in decades. They will plan for generations to come, hundreds of years into the future.

With all this, the US dollar will continue to flatten. It's all shifting.

eh, oriental countries have cyclical patterns of opening a bit then shutting for centuries.
They also lack innovation they basically just imitate things created in the west.

[Mayo]

Blah, another artificial ripple like WTC and you have all hell loose... you can only recover from that... only way you can make money is by either trend following or insider trading (imagine having China chairman board data .. in advance...) both far fetched if you are a average person...

here is an interesting video how the world politics is created:
9/11 Mysteries (Full Length, High Quality) - Google Video

[Tommy Jefferson]

Originally Posted by dor

does anyone have any suggestions for 'smaller' investors such as overseas/euro savings accounts?

Hard assets offer protection against currency devaluation.

Hard assets are things like land, commodities, gold, etc.

"Inflation" is a form of hidden government taxation. The government literally gets to print up dollars and spend them at today's value while you must spend them at next month's lesser value.

Your dollars are worth less at the end of each month because the Federal Reserve created millions more of them out of thin air. The more dollars that exist in the world, the less valuable each one is.

This economic figure (the number of dollars that exist in the world) is called "M3". Last year the Fed stopped publishing this figure in order to "save the administrative expense of caluculating it". It is still available privately.

[joefredriks21]

I agree, hard assets is the way to go.

I suspect Gold will continue to increase, and is a good bet.

But currency other than the dollar, like euro will likely continue to increase in strength. How to go about it and the best ways, I couldnt tell you.

[escapee]

Definitely hard assets.

Hard currency : Swiss franc

oriental countries have cyclical patterns of opening a bit then shutting for centuries. They also lack innovation they basically just imitate things created in the west.

Well, that's a bit of over generalization there.
Japanese and South Korean (oriental nations ) have been very strong in the field of electronics, automobiles ( Toyota Prius is very innovative ) and digital entertainment ( PS 3, WW II ) in term of innovation. Expect China to catch up with that soon with their growing economic strength.

The classic definitions of innovation include:

1. the act of introducing something new: something newly introduced (The American Heritage Dictionary).
2. the introduction of something new. (Merriam-Webster Online)
3. a new idea, method or device. (Merriam-Webster Online)
4. the successful exploitation of new ideas (Department of Trade and Industry, UK).
5. change that creates a new dimension of performance Peter Drucker (Hesselbein, 2002)
6. the process of making improvements by introducing something new[citation needed]

[Cassie]

Hi Dor, unfortunately we're all in the same boat. I'm fascinated watching the dollar decline. It's like viewing a horrific accident occurring in slow motion, yet its impossible to rip your eyes away. And the internal decay only seems to be picking up momentum.

It really frosts my cookies that the Feds enjoy bailing out their high rolling Wall Street buddies while the general Joe Saver is smacked down in the process.

Our Constitution has been gutted while the average person is too busy struggling to stay ahead to even notice how the politicians have been pulling a fast one on us for decades - all at our expense, of course. Since the Federal Reserve establishment in 1913, our dollar has become nearly worthless. Imagine in your head what a $1 then would be worth today - can anyone say mere pennies?

Right now I'm concentrating on paying down the last of my debt and slowly funneling the rest of my investments into commodities (as mentioned previously by posters - hard assets such as land and precious metals, like gold and silver).

In another few years, baby boomers will also be forced to begin taking a portion of their investments out of the stock market as they begin to retire in hoards. Ahh, the fickle web our bankrupt government weaves. Fasten up as we watch where our strong dollar policy leads us in the next few years. One thing is for sure, it will be a hell of a bumpy ride.

~~

"By a continuing process of inflation, government can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens.” ~ John Maynard Keynes

[Brutha]

If you invest in ressources buying Gallium, Indium or Lithium might be better than more traditional ones.

If you want to invest into another currency your local banker will probably be able to give you an option.
You might also consider getting a account in a swiss bank.

[sv800]

Originally Posted by Brutha

If you invest in ressources buying Gallium, Indium or Lithium might be better than more traditional ones.

why? citations please...

[hkalchemy]

Traditional value investing is the only way to go, in my opinion. Investing outside the US is also a good idea - UK and Eurozone. I think you need some exposure to BRIC economies as well.

[escapee]

Traditional value investing is the only way to go, in my opinion. Investing outside the US is also a good idea - UK and Eurozone. I think you need some exposure to BRIC economies as well.

Agree, invest outside of US as Peter Schiff has suggested (Non dollar denominated asset , Eg : Swiss ). You do not want to hold a bunch gold bullions and then get confiscated (like in 1933 - The Roosevelt Gold Confiscation Order Of April 3 1933. ) by US government when the major dollar crisis hits. Billionaire Jim Roger didn't leave US for no reason.

Exception for Collectors of Rare and Unusual Coins

"The private ownership of gold is a privilege, not a right. Congress revoked the privilege of private ownership in 1933 and restored it in 1974. Congress could easily revoke the privilege again. In fact, at no time during this century has the U.S. government recognized the right of private gold ownership. The Trading With The Enemy Act, which President Roosevelt invoked in 1933 to restrict private gold transactions, remains law. The government could reactivate the machinery, which The Trading With The Enemy Act established, to implement gold confiscation."

— Boston College International and Comparative Law Review 297, 320 (1982)

"ALL YOUR GOLD ARE BELONG TO US ( US GOVERNMENT ) "

[1000feet]

Originally Posted by escapee

Billionaire Jim Roger didn't leave US for no reason.

And yet, it's impossible to stop people from entering by the millions...

[jimbos123456]

There are multiple methods to protect yourself from inflation. You can use foreign currency ETFS, Canadian oil royalty trust etfs (pays a dividend every month as well as capital gains while oil goes to $200 a barrel), Real estate shorting etfs like SRS, or foreign currency bonds (collect dividends while dollar declines and capital gains). If your not comfortable going offshore to get foreign currency bonds, companies like everbank in the US offer them too. The simplest and one of the most safe and effective, methods is to simply walk into a coin shop, and buy some silver and gold eagles. If you buy bullion stay with the well known mints like a-mark, engelhard, credit suisse, johnson matthey, etc for liquidity so you don't get forced into assaying the stuff if you want to sell. You can also invest in commodity etfs like corn, wheat, sugar, etc to take advantage of the food shortage situation. I kinda hope Mccain wins I know logically they are all darkworkers running for president, and there is not much difference between 3 darkworkers. But seriously who wants to pay 20-28% capital gains (when the commodities bull market is over) (damn you hilary and barrack), on top of 12% inflation, on top of income taxes, on top of 7.75% state sales taxes (tax and inflation rape!) But for the record I voted for Paul since he was the only one that didn't commit high treason by opposing the patriot act. My vote probably didn't get counted anyway though (damn you diebold electronic voting fraud lol). I think i'll just go vote and cross out mccains name, and whoever the democrats name is and scribble in Ron Paul later on as my protest vote hahaha.