???

[PECUS2]

How much further can the Paso drop?
I will bet the dollar goes a long way, is now a good time to go to Cali?
Check the link  http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=USDCOP=X&d=c   I would like to know if thier is a major difference when the Paso is 2,000 or 2,400 ?

[Pete E]

... in response to , posted by PECUS2 on Jun 19, 2002

Wow there was a big spike up in the dollar the last 2 weeks,even though the dollar is dropping against other currencies.
Anybody know why the peso is dropping right now?

Pete

[Michael B]

... in response to Re: , posted by Pete E on Jun 19, 2002

There are two kinds of money, "Specie" money and "Fiat" money.

Specie money is something fairly easily verifiabe, measureable, divisible, portable and is actualy WORTH something even when it ISN'T being used as money. Gold and silver come to mind as meeting this description, don't you agree? That is why they have been used as money for 2000+ years.

Fiat money is money because the government SAYS that it is....and it is worth "the full faith and credit" of the government which issuses it. Paper notes and coins made of brass and aluminum come to mind for this description.

Question 1: Which kind of money is the Colombian Peso?
A: Fiat

Question 2: Which kind of money is the United States Dollar?
A: Fiat

Question 3: These days, how much is "the full faith and credit" of the Colombian government worth?
A: A lot less than that of the United States.

[Pete E]

... in response to Money theory 101, posted by Michael B on Jun 20, 2002

I think its much more than full faith and credit.I don't think anyone thinks they will not be able to cash dollars,the question is at what rate.Its tied in too international economics and where people (and institutions)think is the best place to invest or park their money.Interest rates play a big part also.
What you really want to avoid is trying to set an artificially high value on a currency.I think the international monetary fund gave Russia about 20 billion dollars to try and prop up its currency 10 years ago or so.It was all lost in a few weeks to currency traders.
Argentina tried to peg its currency to the dollar,problem was it isn't the dollar.Reality sets in and the real value comes out.I think the Argentine currency is down 50% or so in the last few months.
About gold and siver.Yes you can do something with them other than make money,but what is their value?It seems to go up in turbulent times and down when other investments are doing good.It can also be highly speculative.Actually it creates no income so it is all speculative or hedge.Remember Bunker Hunt?He had so much silver he was affecting the market,then the bottom dropped out and silver dropped around 70% and he went broke.
He got to keep some of his money,he is now raising race horses.
I guess I am glad Colombia's peso is weakening with the dollar.We send money and spend money in Colombia and it goes farther that way.I guess it doesn't say much about faith in the government though.
Hopefully Colombia will face its problems,the main ones being the rebels and crime.It will get worse before it gets better but if they face things maybe the future will be much better.
Actually I am hopefull for all of latin America.They have alot of problems but lots of resources and opportunities also.I think they should be very high on our list for economic assistance.Particulary anything without a direct cost,like free trade policies.We will see.In the meantime a vacation bargain compared to other parts of the world.
Good wife shopping too,as we see here.

Pete

[Pete E]

... in response to , posted by PECUS2 on Jun 19, 2002

The dollar has been dropping but the peso is dropping faster.I think I saw 2370/dollar in the paper today.Remember thats for large bank tranactions,$1,000,000 plus I believe.The best exchange is at the ATM,s,we get 97% of the listed  exchange rate,plus it costs $2 per transaction now.My mother in law got 2270 about 2 weeks ago, think it would be around 2300 right now.
If you change dollars or travelers checks you have to wait in line at a bank with your passport plus you get a bad rate.When I first went 2 1/2 years ago I was changing money for latin love and got as little as 1750 when the official rate was around 2000.Seems like every day around 11.00AM Ruby wanted me to go to the bank for them and change dollars.I think Colombians can't change dollars at the bank but there is a black market.
The question is have prices gone up as the currency went down?This will happen at any tourist location but I don't think it is happening in Colombia right now,the economy is pretty weak.

Pete

[panol11]

... in response to Re: , posted by Pete E on Jun 19, 2002

Pete,

There are several reasons for Colombian peso weakness. First there are obvious political,social, economic problems in Colombia. Second, the devaluation is in sympathy to devaluations in other latin countries including Brasil, Uruguay, Venezuela, which took place over the last couple of months and earlier ...Argentina. Since Colombian products have to compete with products of other latin countries naturally peso had to correct. The more general reason is "flight to quality" where, facing global slowdown especially visible in latin america investors are selling local assets denominated in local currency and converting them to USD pushing local currency exchange rates lower....

Leszek

[Cali vet]

... in response to Re: , posted by Pete E on Jun 19, 2002

The day I came back it was 2379! I wonder what's going on.

[Cali vet]

... in response to , posted by PECUS2 on Jun 19, 2002

The daily exchange rate is posted on the front page of eltiempo.com and elpais-cali.com newspapers although sometimes elpais is a little behind untill later in the day.

[DavidMN]

... in response to Re: Prensa, posted by Cali vet on Jun 19, 2002

Might also check out www.oanda.com - upper left hand corner, click on advanced, and all the currencies are listed. A few things the site offers 1) ability to get rates quoted interbank, credit card rate, or cambio/cash buy & sell, 2) historical prices that can be exported to Excel to make a simple and chart and 3) a handy wallet-sized card with conversions (see TravelFX section). I don't have anything to do with Oanda, I just found it one day when I needed some conversions at work.

FYI, I pulled the COP vs. the USD since 01 Jan 2002 and used the interbank rate:
Average: 2369.31813 (171 days)  
High: 2462.30000 (today)
Low: 2164.30000  

[Calipro]

... in response to , posted by PECUS2 on Jun 19, 2002

Yeh there is about a 20% difference.