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Matters Financial |
26 May 2003
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Dollar's Slide Poses Global Problems
The US dollar has been in decline relative to other currencies for some time now, and it has lost about 25% against the euro and the yen in the last year or so. Secretary of the Treasury Snow abandoned any "strong dollar" policy last week -- saying a stong dollar meant one that people wanted to use as a store of value (almost every currency on the planet meets this standard). The problem is this weakness will cause global problems, and the Bush administration is doing nothing about it. Click here to read more.
Shareholders Rebel on Executive Pay
GlaxoSmithKline shareholders threw out the exit package for chief executive Pierre Garnier last week, and good for them. No one is worth $33 million as he leaves a company. What one hopes is that CEOs and their like will discover that money is no substitute for esteem and honor. More likely, one hopes that investors learn not to over-pay the under-achievers. Click here to read more.
Bloomberg to Challenge Reuters in Forex Trading
Bloomberg, LP has decided to move beyond its dominance in the trading of fixed-income securities to the foreign exchange market. This is the bailiwick of Reuters, which has long dominated the trading tools of the currency markets. The upshot will be greater competition, a rough time for both firms on occasion, but in the end, not much will change based on business decisions. Politics is another matter, though. Click here for our view.