Dollar

In the taped comments from his economic recovery board, the President said America needs to do more with an "export, manufacturing led economy." While not expressly endorsing a weaker dollar ... certainly comments about expanding export-led manufacturing can be viewed as endorsing a weaker dollar. ... read more

Does a weaker dollar create manufacturing jobs? The data says no. Below is a chart of dollar index (dollar v. other currencies) from 1975 to present day.    It is adjusted to include the pre-Euro currencies. If a weak dollar is good for American manufacturing, should we have more manufacturing now than in 1975? Just 20 years ago nearly 17% of Americans worked in manufacturing.  ... read more

The dollar likes the proposed stimulus plan and is moving higher again today. We when wrote about the dollar back on August 4th the PowerShares DB Dollar Bullish ETF (UUP) was trading just under $23 per share.     That ETF hit a high of just under $27 back on November 21st.   While it then came off its highs to the mid-$24 range, the UUP has firmed back up and is back above $25.    ... read more