You are here

Is the dollar next? Investors reassess after Swiss shock

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Rachel Evans and Lananh Nguyen
Bloomberg News
Wednesday, January 21, 2015

After Switzerland shocked markets by scrapping its currency cap, investors are beginning to ask whether a policy surprise may be lurking for the dollar too.

Samson Capital Advisors LLC said the Swiss move, which sent the franc surging as much as 41 percent against the euro last week, was "a good reminder" of the risks of following the herd, just as speculators pushed bets on a dollar rally to a new high. A shock from the Federal Reserve, such as raising interest rates less quickly than investors expect, may derail the greenback after it advanced to the highest in a decade, State Street Global Advisors Inc. warned.

"People have to be re-assessing what their positions are," Jonathan Lewis, chief investment officer at New York-based Samson, which has $7.4 billion in assets, said by phone on Jan. 16. In the case of Switzerland, "people were betting billions of dollars on the kindness of strangers, people they'd never met, whose names they couldn't pronounce."

Bloomberg's Dollar Spot Index -- which tracks the U.S. currency against the euro, yen and eight others -- is headed for a seventh straight monthly advance on the assumption the Fed will raise its zero to 0.25 percent benchmark rate in coming months. At the same time, traders expect Europe and Japan to debase their currencies by flooding markets with more cash.

Only now, after being shocked by the Swiss National Bank, some investors are asking: What if we're wrong? ...

... For the remainder of the report:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-21/is-dollar-next-investors-reasse...



ADVERTISEMENT

Direct Ownership and Storage of Precious Metals
Outside the Banking System in Zurich and Singapore

Goldbroker.com is a precious metals investment company that enables investors to own and store gold directly in their own name (no mutualized ownership) in Zurich and Singapore.

Goldbroker's clients are not exposed to any counterparty risks. They own gold and silver in their own names (the ownership certificate cites the name of the investor and serial number of his bars) and they have storage accounts opened in their own name as well. So Goldbroker.com's storage partner knows the exact identity of each investor. Goldbroker.com doesn't store in the name of its clients; rather, Goldbroker's clients store personally. All investors have direct access to their gold and silver bars.

Goldbroker.com was launched in 2011 so that investors would avoid any counterparty risk when investing in physical gold and silver.

Goldbroker.com is listed among GATA's recommended monetary metals dealers. (http://www.gata.org/node/173)

To invest or learn more, please visit:

https://www.goldbroker.com/



Join GATA here:

Mining Investment Asia Conference
Resorts World Convention Centre
8 Sentosa Gateway, Sentosa Island
Singapore
Wednesday-Friday, March 18-20, 2015

http://www.mininginvestmentasia.com/

Mines and Money Conference
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
1 Expo Drive, Wan Chai
Hong Kong, China
Monday-Friday, March 23-27, 2015
http://www.minesandmoney.com/hongkong/

* * *

Support GATA by purchasing recordings of the proceedings of the 2014 New Orleans Investment Conference:

https://jeffersoncompanies.com/landing/2014-av-powell

Or by purchasing DVDs of GATA's London conference in August 2011 or GATA's Dawson City conference in August 2006:

http://www.goldrush21.com/order.html

Or by purchasing a colorful GATA T-shirt:

http://gata.org/tshirts

Or a colorful poster of GATA's full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal on January 31, 2009:

http://gata.org/node/wallstreetjournal

Help keep GATA going

GATA is a civil rights and educational organization based in the United States and tax-exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Its e-mail dispatches are free, and you can subscribe at:

http://www.gata.org

To contribute to GATA, please visit:

http://www.gata.org/node/16