We Might Not Like Our Dollar Weak, But Some ETFs Do

June 28, 2008 at 1:00 pm by Tom Lydon

186102208 While our economy is plagued by a weak dollar and its implications, exchange traded funds (ETFs) can benefit.

These days there are more options than ever for investors to hedge against a falling dollar. And while the Federal Reserve has stated that it’s prepared to toughen up the greenback, the fact of the matter is, it’s still weak. The dollar hit a three-week low in trading on Thursday, a day after the Fed held steady on interest rates.

One fallout of this weakness is the rising price of oil, which is denominated in U.S. dollars, meaning it’s not as expensive for foreign investors. On Thursday, oil hit a new all-time record of $140.02 a barrel. OPEC President Chakib Khelil said prices might rise as high as $170 a barrel in the coming months, reports Reuters.

While the dollar shows glimmers of strength, and the government has at least stated its commitment to beefing up our money once again, until that happens, there are ways to hedge:

  • iPath EUR/USD Exch Rate ETN (ERO), up 8.7% year-to-date
  • CurrencyShares EuroTrust (FXE), up 9.2% year-to-date
  • CurrencyShares Swedish Krona Trust (FXS), up 9.5% year-to-date
  • PowerShares DB U.S. Dollar Bearish Fund (UDN), up 6.1% year-to-date
  • CurrencyShares Australian Dollar Trust (FXA), up 12.8% year-to-date
  • CurrencyShares Swiss Franc Trust (FXF), up 10.1% year-to-date

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Read the disclosure, as Tom Lydon is a board member of Rydex Funds.

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    • Tom Lydon: Thanks, Donato. We reread what we wrote, and realize that it was misleading and didn’t represent...
    • Tom Lydon: Hi Harry, The fund has not launched yet. We’ll let you know when it does. RVEI is the ticker symbol...
    • HARRY FOREMAN: I’M CONFUSED: WHAT IS THE SYMBOL? RICI RJI RVEI HAS NOT THE NEW FUND(RVEI) BEEN STARTED YET?
    • Tom Lydon: Hi Ted and Sheia, There is the PowerShares Financial Preferred (PGF), iShares S&P U.S. Preferred...
    • Tom Lydon: Thank you Paul for pointing this out. I apologize, it should be that ITA is down 15.5% year-to-date, not...

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