Saturday, May 13, 2006

Weaker U.S. Dollar

The U.S. Dollar continues to lose value — a surprising trend given recent U.S. interest rate hikes that should be attracting international investors.

A stronger Japanese Yen is actually good news for me. My per diem is set to a fixed yen amount but paid in increasing U.S. dollars. I'm living within the per diem most days, so the minor surplus is a bit larger in dollar terms. Of course family members visiting from the U.S. see the issue differently.