It has been over three months since I’ve written about the exchange rates between the Dollar and the Peso, and there have been significant movements since that article. Because of this, it’s time that we take another look at the topic, I think. In these days of financial crisis, it can be hard to figure out what will happen with exchange rates. Sometimes the movements in the exchange rate are the opposite of what would seem logical.
I took a screenshot from a website that I use to check the currency rates on Tuesday, when the exchange rate was P47.77 for $1.00. That is an intra-day rate, and I am not sure what the closing will be for the Peso today, as I type this. But, it is clear that the Peso continues falling rapidly against the Dollar. The last article that I wrote was a little over 3 months ago, and at that time the exchange was P44.5:$1. Basically, the exchange has gone against the Peso by about P1 per month since then. At that time I wrote about HSBC bank predicting that the exchange would be at P52:$1 by mid-2009. At that time I said that I thought we’d be looking at more like P48:$1 by mid next year, but it looks like we are already nearly at the rate that I had predicted, and that is only in 3 months! I believe it is now possible that we could breach the P50:$1 mark by year end.
I find it quite surprising that the dollar is strengthening so much during a time when the United States is in severe financial crisis, logically it would seem that it should be the other way around. You would think that a time of great uncertainty in the US Financial Markets would tend to cause a flight away from the Dollar, but the practice has actually gone the other way around, with even the Euro and the Pound losing strength against the Dollar.
With the extreme financial swings that are happening in these troubling times, I am not going to make any predictions on the exchange rates this time around. It certainly seems, though, that the trend is toward a weaker Peso. It’s good news for expats living here, and also for many Filipino families, since so many of them rely on money sent into the country by OFW’s (Overseas Filipino Workers).
Hi Bob. Long Live King Dollar!!!
The U.S. economy is at the bottom now while the rest of the world is still going down.
I’m looking forward to $.86 to a Euro once again. Some are even talking if the Euro survives this onslaught.
A weak peso on the whole I think is good for the Philippines.
The rest of the world? Some world economy’s are currently doing very well. Maybe a few European country’s have tightened their belts but many other countries are somewhat insulated by what goes on in the US and in Europe..I guess if the US keeps printing trillions of dollars the US economy will bumble along as it has, but for how long who knows? If China’s strong economy falters then there could be major repercussions for many of their trading partners, country’s who have benefited from China’s strong economy in the past. .
With cuts in interest rates coming and the US definetely heading into a recession without the usual inflationary elements (commodity prices are way down) I think the dollar will start getting weaker and the peso stronger from here on out but Bob is right, it is anyones guess.
Hi Bob I live in Canada,last year when the Canadian dollar shot up over the U.S buck I took all my GICS and any other money I could get my hands on and bought all the American dollars I could. My friends called me crazy. Now with canadian dollar around 88 cents I have enough money to spend six months in the Philippines with my wife all expenses paid.Who says you cant take it with you.
Hi Dr. Sponk Long – Personally, I think that the US economy has yet to hit bottom, I fear that it is not even near the bottom yet. It is a fearful time!
Hi Richard – I don’t expect to see the Peso strengthen again for some time. We’ll see, though!
Hi steven john – That was a good move, and one that most people would not have made. Good work!
Hello Bob!
Firstly, a great website that you and your wife have here. Altough the U.S dollar is going down it is still the best currency to exchange in the Philippines and preferred from my experience. I am a Canadian and the first time I was there my currency worked perfectly! BE WARNED AS OF 2008 only HSBC takes CAN currency and only a maximum of $500 if it’s below the US; otherwise, you cannot exchange your money!!! I was in Cebu (getting married) and it shocked it so much as I was there in summer 07 and CAN currency was pretty good. Long story short if you know any Canadians tell them to bring CAN or US CASH!!
Hi Jason – Quite the contrary on the USD – it is gaining strength rapidly against the Peso and many other currencies right now.
I wasn’t aware that it was so hard to exchange CAN dollars here! That sounds like a pain!
Hey Bob…i think that its not that the dollar is getting stronger…but more likely that the peso is just getting weaker. Times are changing rapidly, all the major world markets are in flux and it does not look good.
Hi brian – That would have been my first thought too, but this past week have seen major declines of the Euro and the Pound against the dollar. As a matter of fact, the Yen is the only currency that I know of that has strengthened against the dollar, so I tend to believe it is Dollar strength that we are seeing.
The dollar is gaining against all currencies and long story short it’s because of the cedit crisis, liquidity crisis call it what you will it’s just DEFLATION. With less dollars in the pool so to speak then the value strenthens. Personally I feel it will continue to strengthen. Last year when the dollar was around 44 to the peso I heard some Swiss economists talking about the move. They said at that time just wait until the inevitable housing collapse in the US and the credit crunch that will follow. They predicted a dollar surge when the US was no longer able to pump them wholesale into the system and even went on to predict an ultimate ratio of 76 to the dollar for pesos within 2-3 years. So I don’t think we will see a peso increase for a long time. It’s a depression and noone wants credit right now so the FED has their hands tied. They can move the intrest rate to 0% and it won’t matter, just look at what happened to Japan back in the 90’s.
Hi Bob,Yes the UK pound has weakened,also against Peso 😥 However our bail out package was announced yesterday along with half of 1% reduction in interest rates.Personally i feel it will get worse before it gets better as we are now officially in recession.I feel we are in unchartered waters,but must remain optimistic,regards Chas.
Hi Bob I have just returned from the UK and have just checked the rate against the pound p82 and if I had exchanged my money today I would have lost over 7000 pesos and that’s in less than 5 day’s so I say come on the pesos.
regards Andy
Maayong Buntag Bob
With commodity prices going down it looks like we are in a deflationary time in the US. This has not happened since 1929. Even gold is getting cheaper. Now to see if 700 Billion is enough money to kick into the economy to get it going again. 😕
Hi Bob First of all I would think that the exchange rate is moving because you predicted so. Another funny thing happening here in the states is the price for gas has dropped in recent weeks.
Hi Bob,
Current movements in exchange rates are totally illogical and reflect blind fear and maybe already some manipulation by the movers and shakers. The Aussie economy is most probably the healthiest in the western world – well regulated and very profitable banks with little exposure to the US profiteering, 4% unemployment, solid growth and all positive indicators yet the share market is following the US down and the AU$ has dropped from high 90’s to 65c against the $US. Even the peso has improved 20% against the $AU! THat is a joke with rampant inflation and budgetary failure – the RP economy was a basket case even before this crisis.
What will happen when the dust settles is the US economy will be in deep depression from which it will take many years if ever to recover. There are estimates of as much as 3trillion dollars of this bad debt – it is unknown exactly because of the criminally insane lack of regulation in the US banking sector. The $US will plummet against the stronger economies(not the RP). China will become the dominant economic force followed closely by India over the next ten years. Fortunately they are Australia’s biggest markets so thankfully our economy will be largely unaffected in the medium to short term.
Michael
Hi BrSpiritus – Deflation is happening, but only on selected categories of products, particularly those based on petroleum. Food prices are still on the increase, genrally. It’s a strange world these days!
By the way, speaking of the prediction of P76:$1, a couple of years ago Philippine Tycoon Lucio Tan made a prediction of more than P100:$1 within 10 years. We’ll see!
Hi CHAS – To me, I think that these bailout packages are kind of crazy! And, I don’t think that they will ultimately save the economies either.
I agree – uncharted waters.
Hi andyp – We are certainly living in unusual economic times. That’s a big loss in terms of Pesos that you faced!
Hi Larry – Maayong udto! Gold has shot up in the past week or so from what I have seen. Maybe I missed it if it went back down. Personally, I don’t think the 700B is going to do what they plan on.
Hi Dan Mihaliak – Ha ha… you think the world markets are following my predictions? 😯 That would indeed be something! 😆
Hi Michael – I totally agree that current financial movements of all kinds are kind of just wondering around in the blind! Nobody knows where to go.
Don’t forget the race for president. A lot of people are unsure of Obama. He is gaing up almost every day in the polls. After he wins and is in office for a time people will realize he is a plus and is working for the people and not all the special intrests. Gold is not geting cheaper. But gold pays no intrest and after the excitment goes away people will sell it and go back to longer term investments. The dollar is going up because it is concidered a safe inventment over many other curencies. The rest of the world is waiting for us to get our house in order. House prices will stablize when a lot of the excess is gone and that point is not too far off. so I say ! 😎
Hi don – personally, I do not think that the economic crisis is related to the US Presidential race, but it’s anybody’s guess.
Hi Bob- Right on again. High prices of housing, and bad lenders was a large part of it. They were selling homes, no money down, whynot walk?
Hi Bob,
My suspicion is that the US dollar is strenthening for a number of reasons; two of the more interesting of the reasons being: (1) flight to safety — in tumultuous times, people flee with their assets to safe, hard currencies like the US dollar, even if it is the US ecomomy that is in difficulty; and, (2) people are dumping assets to buy gold, and gold is exchanged globally in US dollars, so there is a short-term spike in demand for US dollars to buy the precious metal.
These are two short-term reasons for the recent strengthening. As for the medium to long term it is anybody’s guess. There’s just not enough stability in the markets and that makes planning/predictions a difficult if not impossible job.
Hi jim m – I can’t agree more. Whoever was loaning out some of that money wasn’t thinking clearly!
Hi Martin – I think that the flight to safety is indicated in gold prices over the past couple of weeks. I think you are right on that one.
Hey Bob
Perhaps the Dollar value is up because the US Government is the only country that will put every single taxpayer in debt for years to pay for the Gross Mismanagement and lack of oversight of Wallstreat tycoons that left with Billions.
What will they do to pay for this remains to be seen. 👿
Hi Neal in RI – It seems that a lot of other countries are following the same path now too. I don’t agree with it, but it is happening.
The insanity of the current world markets was indeed caused by the incredible permissiveness that led to lending money to virtually anyone with a heartbeat. I’ve heard all sorts of predictions, but I’d have to admit that the one I haven’t heard about was the emerging dominance of the Chinese/Indian economy(s) (re: Post # 16). Before espousing the relative strength of either of these economies, one needs to consider the fact that both of those nations have a very, very difficult time feeding their massive populations, much less achieving a world leading dominance in their economies over any reasonable time period (i.e., the next 10 years). The mention of Australia’s relative economic health, with a GDP of 773 Billion vs. the U. S. at 13.78 TRILLION (1/17th of the U. S.) shows the overall purchasing power parity (or lack thereof) and the relative unimportance of Australia’s economy in the world. China’s GDP is 7.1 Trillion & India’s is 2.96 Trillion. The point I’m making here is that if the U. S. is going broke (or is “broke”), then the World is broke. The fiat currency system is what is at great peril here, and with derivative positions worldwide in the 50 – 60 TRILLION dollar range, one can easily see that the unravelling of all of those positions isn’t possible even with the combined GDP’s of all of the nations on EARTH. The injections of printed money into these economies by their respective governments will probably do very little good over the course of time. We (citizens of the world) are in some deep trouble here, and I would suggest that one consider hedging their bets by putting aside some of their money in the form of gold or silver. This situation is going to get really nasty before it gets better. Of course, this is just my opinion, and I could be wrong.
Hi Spencer – I have to say that you come across as a professor here, and I really agree with nearly 100% of what you are saying. One thing that I will add to what you say, regarding metals as a hedge. In the past, many investors purchased stocks in mining companies as their metals hedge. I do not believe this is a way to go, because the equities markets are going crazy. Buy bullion, or at least coins, if possible at this time.
Hi Bob. The dollar is up right now and gold is down.
There is still more room for the dollar upwards. Again, the U.S is the first to be in the mend and the first to come out of this. The U.S stock markets will be the main beneficiaries of all these cash slashing all over the world.
Hi Dr. Sponk Long – Sorry, I’m not with you yet. Gold is indeed down a bit today, but it is up around 20% over the past 30 days. The stock market is down significantly in that time. We’ll not know what happens until things flush out. It could be next month, it could be a decade from now. Who knows?
Also on the Aussie dollar, in June it was P44 now as I post it is P33, I have put off my move to the Philippines untill this currency exchange improves, like the poster above said “how can the peso improve 20% over the Aussie dollar” crazy times indeed. Yes the U.S. dollar rules.
There was no mention in my post of mining stocks. I should have been more clear on this: physical holdings are the only way to ensure a safety net. So, you are right Bob. . . I’d stay away from the equity shares of various gold/silver producers. With regards to purchasing power preservation on should know this: In 1924, one ounce of gold would purchase a nice business suit, and a pair of shoes. (@ $35/ounce). In 2008, once ounce of gold will purchase a nice business suit, and a pair of shoes (@ $890/ounce). In 2008, what will $35 purchase? (Not even a pair of shoes !). Insofar as the good Dr. Sponk Long’s comments about the stock markets ? I’m not sure there’s a very good understanding of what is most likely to happen here over the next 2 years or so . . . but I surely, surely hope he’s correct ! I truly believe we are witnessing the worldwide destruction of fiat currency, and I’m not sure there will be a recovery of this particular type (fiat) of money. The very idea of 50-60 TRILLION dollars in derivative positions worldwide (and it might even be more than that!) is mind-boggling to say the least. BUT . . .I’d have to say, we have more ink, and plenty of paper worldwide, so perhaps we will just enter a massive hyperinflationary period wherein today’s $ will purchase a, a, a, wellllll…..ok….today’s $10 will purchase loaf of bread in 2 years.
Hi Ian – That is certainly a huge change in exchange, and in a relatively short term too!
Hi Spencer – I think you misunderstood me. Yes, you didn’t mention mining stocks at all. I was just saying that a lot of people buy mining stocks as a hedge rather than buying the metals themselves. I am just saying that I don’t think that is the right play at this time. Certainly you did not say anything about that, Spencer, and if I said something that seemed to indicate that you did, I am sorry for that.
…its going to be a long, hard winter .
Hi brian – I think we can all agree on that one!
Speaking of the presidential race here in US, who do you think is a better candidate to solve the US economic crises? My daughter and I believe, OBAMA is the man. But my wife and son believe it is McCain. So the family vote is tied at this time. No body cares about PALIN. “She is a “ding-aling”.
Hi Bob,GBP dropped to 81.65 to the peso worst ive know for years 😥
David B Katague: Obama is an absolute socialist to the core. McCain is a worn out, half-senile nit-wit. They are both members of Congress and failed to PREVENT what has transpired – along with the rest of the nincompoops in that governmental body. The U. S. is about to get the government they deserve, regardless of which way the election goes.
Neither are capable of thinking themselves out of a paper bag.
Of course, this is just my opinion. I could be wrong.
Spencer That is very well put.
Hi David B Katague – I personally don’t think that either candidate is capable of handling the current economic situation. Regarding Palin – maybe she is a “ding-aling,” but economically she sure did get Alaska on the right track – much more than either Presidential candidate has done for the country. Under Palin, every citizen of Alaska pays no income taxes, no sales taxes, and actually gets money back from the government every year. Of course, her record isn’t even considered, she is just a “ding aling.”
Hi john.j. – You guys are in the same position where we Americans were over the past year or so. It’s not a happy place to be.
Hi Spencer – You and I certainly have similar thinking on the financial crisis, and the Presidential campaign in that light.
Hi Dan Mihaliak – Another addition to the club with Spencer and I!
NEWS FLASH McCain wins presidential Race and dies of Heart Attack at Inauguration Ceremony.
PALIN is left to run the USA.
Try to sleep tonight with that thought.
Hi Neal in RI – Personally, I don’t think that Palin would be any worse than either McCain or Obama. 80% of Alaskans seem to like her a lot.
Hi Bob. I’m voting for Palin. She will come to Washington and will tell the world that the “Emperor has no clothes”. She will do very well and bring the government back to the people.
Also, I agree with the poster in an Alaskan truck “Coldest state, hottest Governor”. 😉
Hi Dr. Sponk Long – Like you, I think that Palin is a breath of fresh air. I don’t like McCain or Obama, though. It’s hard to decide exactly what to do.
Hi Bob,History shows that the US$ usually strengthens around a Presidential election,its the only plausable reason i can see for its strengthening when other major currencies are weakening.Gov’ts never give us 100% true facts,so from that, i feel the world economy is actually worse than they tell us.Whether we agree or not with the recent Gov’t bail outs,i feel its a last ditch attempt to prevent total meltdown of world economies,regards Chas.
Spencer’s pretty spot on as far as I’m concerned except it’s just bits, no printers or ink req’d – real currency (metals, land, etc) is ultimately what’s valuable – fiat currency can be inflated to obfuscate taxation, or even retired as a desperate measure – of course govt’s can confiscate / outlaw real currency – America has run up the visa bill and is bankrupt – good luck world economy – I say the bailout should’ve been $700T divied out to the ~200m tax payers, at least the little guy could remember the hellava block party while nursing our collective hangover
Hi Gary – That’s “Professor Spencer”!!!
I wouldn’t call Palin a breath of fresh air – when says things like “I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear” during a debate its clear she full of hot air. All politicians try to baffle with BS, but its like she has nothing but BS – a whole lotta talkin but she sure doesn’t say much.
Hi Taro Boy – I find her to be a breath of fresh air, and millions of other do too. You know what, though… the nice thing about freedom is that you and I each get to enjoy our own opinions! It’s always nice if we can accept each other’s different opinions too.
Bob
found the economic thread on this topic interesting, bit beyond me really but we can all relate to what a household would do….lend money to a poor friend and you may not get yr money back.
spend more than you earn and you need to borrow.
Borrow against the future and you need to know the consequences are not totally in your control.
the world has been spending to excess, particularly in the western world of course and this could not continue.
what seems like folly to me is that the measures being, rescue packages etc being taken are in an attempt to go back to where we were before the crisis, this will not work i am sure…..we are in a period of change, trying to resist won’t work
Hi rick b – I fully agree. As a matter of fact, it has been in the back of my mind over the past few weeks that they want to get these bailouts through so that they can go back to the way things were a year ago or more. I don’t think that people have been hit strong enough yet to give up the overspending, and get back on a more conservative lifestyle.
Hi Bob,
Looking at the 180 day graph of the Philippine peso against the USD, I am forecasting Php48.10 / 1 USD in the next days. If that breaks, next target would be 48.80 then off to Php49.50 . Those are the 3 ceilings that initially need to be broken.
That’s good for our overseas workers and exporters. But is bad for our importers.
If incase the dollar weakens to P46.50 (wishful thinking), that’s the best time to buy the USD again and hedge .
Thanks.
Lea
Hi Lea C. Walker – I would think that a strong dollar would be really good for your business, with foreigners (through their Filipino wives or other family members) and OFW’s buying a lot of properties. Don’t you think?
Hi Bob, this comment is not directly related to the exchange rate but I have had a hard time getting a hold of you. Hopefully you can help me here or someone else that is reading this can help.
I am moving to the filipines at the end of October, the 27th to be exact. I need to know what I need to do, and how to do it, to get an extended visa. If anyone can help me out here it would be greatly appreciated.
I thought I could get one BEFORE I left the U.S. but that is not looking like it will work. Again, any help would be appreciated.
Todd
[email protected]
Hi Todd McLean – I sent you an e-mail about this on October 6, it sounds like you did not get it. Perhaps it ended up in your spam folder?
Here is a copy of what I sent you:
I need more information to answer your question.
1. Are you married?
2. If you are married, is your wife from the Philippines?
3. Do you plan to return to the United States at any time within 1 year?
Hi Bob, no I did not get it. Sometimes I delete my spam folder without checking it…sorry.
1. Not married.
2. My fiance is from the filipines
3. Yes, I plan to return to the U.S. within one year.
Thanks Bob for the help. I know this is not the right topic for what we are talking about but thanks for helping me.
Ernie from the Travel Store in Vancouver says hi.
Todd
Hi Todd McLean – OK, now with that information, I can answer your question! 😀
Your best bet would be to come to the Philippines on a regular tourist visa. Since you mention your fiance, I assume that means that you will be getting married sometime in the not too distant future. If that is the case, I’d just travel here on a regular tourist visa, which will be good for 21 days. For your round trip plan ticket try to either leave an open return date, or a ticket that allows you to change your return travel. After 18 to 20 days, go to the Bureau of Immigration and extent your visa, this will bring you up to 59 days stay. At the end of the 59 days, you can extend for another 59 days. You can do this every 59 days for up to 2 years.
When you return to the States, apply for a resident visa (13a). If you are married to a local citizen, approval of this visa is virtually automatic. You can apply for the 13a visa here, but it is quicker, cheaper and easier to get in the States. You will file your application at the Philippine Embassy or Consulate that is nearest to your place of residence. From the place where you are living now, you would apply at the San Francisco Consulate.
Once you are issued your 13a, you can stay in the Philippines as long as you want, never needing to leave. All you have to do is go to the BoI every January or February to check in and pay around P300 fee.
Good luck.
This financial crisis is caused only by two things: debt and greed eg. sub-prime, leverage, etc. Debt is a form of curse in the Bible. It advises everyone to avoid it like a plague; be debt free and not be a servant to the lender.
Hi Eric – Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the crisis. I do believe that greed and debt are huge contributors to the situation.
Sorry Bob – I do not believe that all opinions are created equal. Opinions based on verifiable facts and actions are better than those without supporting evidence, the latter really only rising to the level of ‘guesses.’
Sure, one meaning of freedom is that everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but expressing an opinion without being prepared to accept critical discussion in response is a kind of cop-out. And by critical I refer to the same meaning as “critical thinking” not “criticize.”
As I mentioned earlier, my problem with Palin is that she is a pure politician with no substance at all, kind of the worst of all worlds, which is why I find your description of her as a “breath of fresh air” ironic.
For example, watching the video of her during the VP debates (available on youtube) you see that *every* time Biden speaks, Palin looks down to her right and pretends to take notes. Notes that she never actually uses or refers to – you realize it was simply a tactic to manipulate the audience into thinking that she is intelligent and engaged when her follow-up responses are almost always just to ignore whatever Biden said and go off on a tangent – thus my quotation of her admission to deliberately not answering the questions asked of her, nobody need take my word for it, when instead it came straight from the horse’s mouth.
However, I think the most telling criticism of her is that pretty much no one, regardless of political persuasion, can truthfully say they believe that Palin would have been picked for VP if she were a man with the same set of qualifications. Her candidacy is the exact sort of discrimination-in-hiring that people talk about when they complain about affirmative action gone wrong – instead of gender or minority status being a tie-breaker between equals, it was the deciding factor.
Hi Taro Boy – As I said you are certainly entitled to your opinion. What you say is opinion, frankly, I see no facts backing up anything you are saying. How do you know that Palin didn’t use notes that she took. Did you talk to her and ask her? Were you there, backstage in St. Louis? No, I don’t think so, so you are just guessing.
Anyway, it is your opinion, and you are entitled to that.
Lest I be thought of as completely off topic – I highly recommend these two radio shows that discuss, in very easy to follow and often entertaining style, the factors behind the current crisis, things like NINA and NINJA loans, CDOs, and actual people from the bottom to the top of the pyramid scheme:
The Giant Pool of Money (May)
http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=355
Another Frightening Show About the Economy (October)
http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1263
The reason I know she didn’t use the notes was that her follow-ups went off on completely unrelated tangents. If she said nothing about what Biden had said during her ‘note taking’, clearly she wasn’t using the ‘notes.’
Hi Taro Boy – You don’t know… for all you know, while Biden was talking about issue x, Palin may have written on her notepad “don’t forget to talk about issue y” and then talked about it when it was her turn. Let’s face it, all politicians do this, including Biden and Obama too.
Can we just agree to disagree? Frankly, I have already acknowledged that you are entitled to your opinion, this talk really has nothing to do with this site, and we are not going to change each other’s minds, so let’s just agree to disagree. OK? 😆
I have not watched Obama ever, but Biden did not once even appear to take notes during that debate. Not that he didn’t go off on his own tangents – especially in response to stupid questions like when Gwen Ifill asked, “what promises have you and your campaigns made to the American people that you’re not going to be able to keep?” As if any politician would take that bait.
Furthermore, Palin never once even appeared to refer to her ‘notes’ while speaking. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said that every time Biden spoke, she pretended to take notes. You could almost make it into a drinking game. Watch the video. This isn’t opinion, its simple analysis of her actions throughout the debate.
You could easily change my mind about Palin if you were to cite something actually fresh about her. I’m not one to be all high and mighty about critical thinking and then refuse to apply it myself. I think the only thing she has going for her is her actions with respect to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, but those may be explained as internal party politics just as much as they may be explained as being an altruistic maverick. They don’t seem to be part of a pattern of attacking corruption within her own party.
Hi Taro Boy – I politely asked you to drop the discussion, agree to disagree and move on to topics that are related to the discussion on the site. I said it to you nicely, and you flat out ignored my request. I am not being less polite and telling you that this discussion is not appropriate for this site. If you post on this topic again, I will remove your commenting privileges. I don’t like to do that, and again I will ask you to please follow my request.
Your site, your rules.
Please ban me so that I won’t make the same mistake again.
That’s no joke, I don’t remember people online, only threads of discussion. There is a good chance I’ll come back in a few months and give you the benefit of the doubt once again, not remembering that you didn’t like it the first time.
Hi Taro Boy – I have nothing against you. The discussion about Palin just doesn’t have anything to do with the exchange rates, or with Living in the Philippines. I have no problem with a short discussion of off topic matters, but when it goes on and on, it is better to take it somewhere that people gather to talk about the topic. I hope you understand. I asked politely, which was totally ignored.
Hi Bob,
Yes, a strong dollar is definitely good for my business. 🙂
The peso needs to depreciate anyways, to attract more investors. If only our government can keep their act together, this country would be a lot richer. A weak peso, good governance and a peaceful country. Those are the fundamentals that the Filipinos need to slowly bounce back from this slump and hopefully recover in a decade or so.
Again, that’s wishful thinking…
Hugs for Feyma Bob. Hope she’s ok.
Thank you and God bless.
Lea
Hi Bob. Post #41 makes me wonder what is the meaning of Dingaling.
My research points to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9tmiskpRLQ&feature=related
Enjoy.
With the ever increasing debt of the US, there are only three ways to get out of debt. 1. Cut spending (not likely) 2. Tax your way out of debt (Obama has already promissed this) 3. Inflate your way out of debt (Most likely)
Hi Hudson- There is one other way that I can think of…. declare bankruptcy!
Hi Bob,
I came across this add and two thoughts came to mind. The first is how widely accepted is Mastercard in the Philippines, and the second is could this be a viable substitute to an American bank account since it accepts government direct deposits.
http://www.westernunion.com/WUCOMWEB/staticMid.do?method=load&countryCode=US&languageCode=en&pagename=promoMasterCard&nextSecurePage=Y&src=MCsweeps0711
Thanks for all the good information you provide!
Hi Joseph – Thanks for stopping by. You know, when I clicked on the link, I ended up at some unrelated product, not sure why. But, I found the prepaid mastercards there. Actually, it’s funny that you should mention these cards. Last month, I was at the Western Union office and saw these cards being offered and they looked interesting to me. I don’t know enough about them to really recommend them, but I am thinking that maybe I’ll get one and check it out. If I do, after I’ve tested the card for a while, I will write an article with my thoughts about them.
Thanks again, Joseph!
The dollar is surging because of the factor called ‘flight to security’. The security in the USD$ is in it’s reserve status meaning everyone everywhere needs dollars, especially for key commodities like oil. As soon as the Euros thrash out a contract over debt, China and India get another spurt going/ up goes the loonie, the aussie etc/ down goes the dollar. Watch out if when reserve status ends….
Well… personally, I would not call the level where the dollar is now as a “surge,” more like just a little blip on the radar. 😉
A few months ago I asked my bank why the Philippines Peso seemed to be getting stronger. They explained that a heck of a lot of people are getting out of Euros and looking for other currencies. The feeling seemed to be that our Pesos could only improve.
I suppose that there must be some truth there if it came from your banker. My opinion has been that it is not a matter of the Peso strengthening, rather a matter of the US Dollar/UK Pound/Euro weakening.
Any new currency projections? I have savings in both US dollars and Philippine Pesos. I wonder whether to add more pesos in my PI accounts or dollars.
Hi Larry – I was thinking of writing an article soon on that subject. I would encourage you, though, not to make investment decisions based on my articles. I don’t have any kind of inside information and such articles are only based on my gut feeling. 🙂
On a different subject, does anyone know what Philippine bank’s DEBIT cards, PayPal accept?
IIuse the EON card from Union Bank, it works great with PayPal.
Thanks a lot Bob.
Happy to help, John.