The dollar is sinking...still. Homes are being foreclosed. I'm a bit nervous. In the past it was easy to shrug these sorts of things off, but now that it's continuing and I work in an industry that is generally considered a luxury, it stresses me out a bit that if this continues my job might be at stake. Here's a bit of reading material from the BBC:

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Last Updated: Friday, 23 November 2007, 15:34 GMT
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US woes prompt more dollar misery
Traders in Frankfurt
The weak dollar is hitting markets and companies worldwide
The US dollar tumbled to fresh lows against the euro as investors bet that the Federal Reserve will have to substantially reduce US interest rates.

The dollar sell-off saw the currency slump to as low as $1.4966 against the euro, before rebounding to $1.4796.

It also sank against the Japanese yen, reaching two-and-a-half year lows, and weakened against the Chinese yuan.>>

(more: BBC NEWS | Business | US woes prompt more dollar misery)


Anyway, are you effected by this or think you might be in the future? Do you save some of your earnings? I've been trying to but as gas and groceries are getting more expensive, I'm merely staying afloat rather than saving.

Gas prices and my health insurance premiums have been killing me.

But if it weren't for my pay getting cut, things wouldn't be that bad.

It's the trade deficit behind it all as I understand it (I understand it very superficially) ... imports over exports. And oil is involved in it, cuz it's imported, that adds to the deficit ...

Lower dollar increases the cost of imports, and that makes the deficit greater if the consumption is the same. Tho a lower dollar is supposed to help, too, cuz it lowers price of exports. Apparently it isn't this time.

That's why they say Americans must consume less and produce more.

The article I read about it

Record trade deficit despite lower dollar / Peter Schiff

The house market mess can't be helping either.

My company recently offered me a 401K and I don't know if I should bother with it. I have been putting money away into a savings account that isn't anything very substantial but will help me out if need be. When the weather gets warmer, I'm definitely taking the bus to work; it's almost 50% less the cost of driving my car just in gas money alone.

the foreclosures rampant right now is kind of alarming and really depressing. i am fortunate enough to be able to rent my childhood home and i've never seen so many foreclosures in my neighborhood. houses that families have been occupying for ages are suddenly emptying out. i'm bracing myself for the trickle-down--not that my house will be up, but again, my job security as people start doing the smart thing and cooking at home instead of dining at my restaurant.

<<My company recently offered me a 401K and I don't know if I should bother with it. I have been putting money away into a savings account that isn't anything very substantial but will help me out if need be. When the weather gets warmer, I'm definitely taking the bus to work; it's almost 50% less the cost of driving my car just in gas money alone.>>

I hear that! although i don't ever have the 401k option, i used to consider playing around with stocks, and that's something i don't think i'll wind up doing (although this is also partially for moral reasons on my part). i find it kind of weird that while i moved back to my hometown so i could save money to get a house in the country with my friends and boyfriend, i'm not saving hardly at all.

additionally, it's not been very heartening to collect my tips and my paycheck and discover i was actually making more working at a crappier restaurant three years ago when the drop in the dollar is considered.

the bus, by the way, is likely to be a smart move. my father tells me that we'll see six-a-gallon prices before we know it

<<Gas prices and my health insurance premiums have been killing me.

But if it weren't for my pay getting cut, things wouldn't be that bad.>>

a pay cut?? i've always wondered, how do businesses get away with pay cuts? did you get transferred?

They cut my pay by giving me less work.

This is my reward for 23 consecutive outstanding quarterly job performance reviews.

^ i'm sorry to hear that it's good you still have a job at least...

now that our spirits are all high:

<<Stocks Sell Off As Concerns About Credit, Banking; Dow Falls 10 Pct From High

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street sold off sharply Monday as concerns about a weakening credit market wiped out investors' enthusiasm about strong retails sales over the holiday weekend. The Dow Jones industrial average fell nearly 240 points.

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The Dow's decline from its mid-October closing high is now 10.03 percent, putting the blue chip index past the 10 percent threshold that signifies a correction.

The swoon comes as investors were unnerved by another series of announcements that pointed to continuing problems in the credit markets, the result of home loan debt going bad under the weight of a faltering housing market.

Two banks had bad news: Citigroup Inc. warned it is looking to cut costs -- raising the possibility of further job cuts -- and HSBC Holdings PLC said it plans to bail out two funds it manages. To do so, Europe's largest bank plans to move about $45 billion of the fund's assets onto its balance sheet.

Comments from Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a key member of Senate finance and banking committees, about the exposure that the Atlanta-based Federal Home Loan Bank might have to Countrywide Financial Corp.'s debt stirred concerns about further weakening in the banking sector.

Meanwhile, The New York Federal Reserve, acknowledging "heightened pressures" in money markets that are expected to last through the rest of the year, said it plans to conduct a series of repurchase agreements aimed at boosting liquidity in the credit markets. The announcement from the New York Fed, which carries out monetary policy set by the U.S. Federal Reserve, essentially puts in writing many of the steps the Fed often takes at this time of year.

The Fed said it would inject $8 billion into the banking system on Wednesday. The amount of money is somewhat larger than in past years at this time.

A better-than-expected report on retail sales wasn't able to hold the market's early gains. Retail sales on Friday and Saturday combined rose 7.2 percent to $16.4 billion from the same two-day period a year ago, according to ShopperTrak, which tracks total sales at more than 50,000 U.S. retail outlets. That's helped ease investor concerns about consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of all economic activity.

"The early focus was on the consumer and the weekend sales but of course subprime always seems to pop its head up," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at New York-based brokerage house Avalon Partners Inc., referring to loans made to borrowers with poor credit. Some of these loans are now souring, forcing banks to write off huge sums.

The Dow fell 237.44, or 1.83 percent, to 12,743.44, closing near the lows of the session.

Broader stock indicators also gave up ground. The Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 33.48, or 2.32 percent, to 1,407.22, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 55.61, or 2.14 percent, to 2,540.99.

The declines extended the losses of last week, when the Dow lost 1.49 percent, the S&P slid 1.24 percent and the Nasdaq gave up 1.54 percent.

Government bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.85 percent from 4 percent late Friday.

Energy prices fell. A barrel of light, sweet crude fell 48 cents to settle at $97.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after briefly crossing $99 overnight.

Gold prices rose, while the dollar fell against other major currencies.

The Fed's decision to inject liquidity into the market isn't unusual for this time of year. Last year, the Fed added a net $21.9 billion into the system from the Monday following Thanksgiving until the first week of January.

Lee Adler, publisher of The Wall Street Examiner, said the overall level of recent liquidity injections is consistent with past years.

"I think it's a confidence game here," Adler said. "The markets are obviously having liquidity problems. The Fed wants people to think that they're doing something about it."

He noted that Monday's announcement differs from past practices in that the bank is making a formal statement of its policy. Ultimately, though, the Fed is still doing what it always does, he said.

Among financial stocks, Citigroup fell $1, or 3.2 percent, to $30.70, while Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. fell $3.40, or 5.6 percent, to $57.46.

Also weighing on the market, Citigroup reduced its outlook on several major homebuilders, saying a glut of inventory and coming resets of subprime mortgages will continue to weigh on the sector at least through the second quarter of 2008.

Homebuilder Lennar Corp. fell $1.09, or 7 percent, to $14.50, while KB Home fell $2.04, or 9.4 percent, to $19.65.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by more than 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.5 billion shares.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 19.96, or 2.64 percent, to 735.07.

Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.30 percent, Germany's DAX index lost 0.55 percent and France's CAC-40 dipped 1.14 percent. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 1.66 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 4.09 percent.

New York Stock Exchange: NYSE Euronext

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com>>

Stocks Slide on Fresh Credit Concerns: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

i'm waiting for the lovely knock on effect that will probably hit the U.K.

two of my mates are buying a house in january together, they have a combined income before tax of 34k and the house is about 260k so i worry for them.

oh, yikes. my friends and i were hoping to buy property but looks like that'll never happen for us heh. not that it would be possible for any of us to get loans anyway but still. i hope your friends reconsider?

also i've been hearing that the currency of global business might change from dollars to euros. i don't know how true that speculation is, and i don't think anyone on KR would either (unless there's some economists lurking about?) but if that happens, then fuuuuuck.

i dont want to bring it up with my mates because i think it might just come off as sour grapes as supposed to wanting to help them, but they're either mighty brave or mighty silly.

i hadn't heard that they were thinking of changing the currency to euros, that really would be a big deal, i didnt realise it was quite that bad

it's nothing i think they're speaking about in the news as it is mere speculation and right now probably isn't a wise move. however, all things globally considered, if this keeps up much longer it would make sense for the global corporations to make the switch. most likely oil will, at least, should things go worse in terms of the not-so-mighty dollar. economics is a tricky and complex game and i don't understand much of it either. in fact it has only been recently that i have started to learn about it or thought to care about it.

i feel bad for airbus. they apparently book their costs in euros and earnings in dollars. ouch.

personally, i think by the time i'm elderly, we'll be seeing the yuan as the main currency of the world.