Dollar's double blow from Vietnam and Qatar

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/10/03/bcnviet103.xml


Vietnam is planning to cut its purchases of US Treasuries and other dollar bonds, raising fears that Asian central banks with control over two thirds of the world's foreign reserves may soon join the flight from US assets.

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The concern is that once one or two members of the region jump ship, it could set off a broader scramble. None of them want to be the last one left holding a devalued asset. Vietnam's central bank said this week that it would move "gradually" to a floating currency.

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Separately, the gas-rich Gulf state of Qatar announced that it had cut the dollar holdings of its $50bn sovereign wealth fund from 99pc to 40pc, switching into investments in China, Japan, and emerging Asia.

The move is intended to increase long-term returns for future generations, but it can easily be seen as a vote of no confidence in US economic management.

The drastic shift by the Qatar Investment Authority is a warning that petro-dollar powers with some $3,500bn under management may pull the plug on the heavily endebted US economy -- which needs to suck in the majority of the world's savings just to stay afloat.
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surprises me to see this.

The Fed cut rates, and all is well with the world:eyes:

Our economy has become nothing more than a game of three card monte, with the elite and powerful trying to hide the bad news from the public in order to continue to fleece them. When the public finally figures out that they've been sold a bill of goods, it's going to be too late, and our economy will lie in ruins around our feet.

I remember reading a year or two ago that some petrol rich country was going to price up to half the oil it sold in euros, effectively dropping its investment in the US dollar. That caused quite a scramble; with the rise of the euro over the dollar, it meant that petroleum would cost more because of the falling currency as well as increased cost.

And I think the Saudis are looking at dumping our useless paper.

The age of the petrodollar is ending.