Why I Still Like the U.S. Dollar in a Crisis
Currencies / US Dollar Nov 30, 2010 - 11:51 AM GMTBy: DailyWealth
Jeff Clark writes: "Where the heck is our emergency cash?" I asked, looking squarely at my wife...
The mountain of $20 bills I stashed away last year was now nothing more than a mole-hill.
"I needed the cash when the girls and I went to New York last month," she confessed, "and I didn't have time to get to the bank."
"But what if there was an emergency?" my kids gasped in unison. The look on their faces was sheer anguish. And it was priceless.
Even 8- and 10-year-old kids know you need cash in times of crisis. You need dollars.
Gold is nice, too. It's a store of wealth, a sleep-tight investment that'll come in handy when Armageddon arrives. But for crises that are somewhat less Armageddon-ish, dollars are more useful.
Think about it...
When terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center, the dollar rallied 8% in six weeks.
When Lehman Brothers went belly-up, and the U.S. banking system was on the verge of imploding, the dollar jumped 10% in 10 weeks.
And last May, when a few algorithmic programs made computer trading go nuts on the New York Stock Exchange – resulting in a 1,000-point drop and recovery in the Dow in 15 minutes – it sparked an 8% rally in the dollar over the following six weeks.
How did gold do during those times? I don't know... I didn't check.
All I know is I've never had a problem exchanging dollars for any sort of goods or services. It didn't matter where in the world I was at the time. If I needed help, a greasy palm full of greenbacks always did the trick.
Of course, I understand the problem of fiat currencies. The folks in charge of the printing presses go nuts and purchasing power is destroyed. I get it.
But until Safeway is willing to exchange a basket full of groceries for my MS65 Saint-Gaudens gold coins, I'll keep a stash of $20 bills in my survival kit.
My point is... in times of crisis, when investors need liquidity, the world flocks to the dollar. That has always been the case. And, at least until Armageddon arrives, it will continue to be the case.
So in times of crisis... in times of emergency... I want to own dollars. You should, too.
Good investing,
Jeff Clark
Editor's note: Jeff is putting his money where his mouth is... in last month's issue of his Advanced Income newsletter, Jeff put on a super-safe bullish dollar bet that pays a 30% annualized income stream. To learn more about Advanced Income – and how to collect that income tax free – click here.
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