That sinking feeling

It is now 100 days since July 6, our starting point for measuring the Dow's fall. Against gold, the decline is substantial.

What about currency risk? According to O&A historical figures (using interbank rates), the US dollar has declined against the British pound by only 0.8%; and against the Chinese yuan, only 1.2%. But in the same period, the dollar has lost over 4% against the Euro, and 4.3% against the Japanese yen. Annualised, that's a drop of about 15% per year in yen terms. (Which currency has Warren Buffett bought this year?)

Gold? Acording to the World Gold Council (WGC), in the twelve months to 26 September, the Eurozone has sold 475.75 tonnes. (This zone includes Sweden and Switzerland; the latter has disposed of 113 tonnes out of that total, or nearly 9% of its stock. How strong is the Swiss franc? Is sound money a bad idea?)

The WGC September account reports that the US still holds 8,133.5 tonnes of gold, exactly the same amount as reported for Q1 2005, two and a half years ago. Allegedly: never forget that "credit" is Latin for "he believes it."

But maybe that's so; maybe Uncle Sam has, er, requested that other countries reduce their bullion stock in order to, um, maintain price stability. After all, the dollar has fallen 13.4% against gold already.

The competitive struggle to lose currency value continues.