War Games

There has been an escalation of talk regarding the strength of ones domestic currency as of late, particularly among Euroland countries as well as Japan. It really boggles the mind to think that we have been engaged in these life or death struggles involving the Euro over the past year, only to hear the French President recently speak to an overvalued Euro. Similar talk has been emanating from Japan where a wildly overvalued Yen has been squarely targeted by the new Prime Minister as part of a package to target a significantly higher rate of inflation. As countries race to debase, it is quite telling what currency many investors favor: none. We have seen an almost insatiable appetite for physical gold, and not only among those countries like India where such holdings are culturally based.  Combine this demand, with the most recent decisions by certain Central Banks such as the Bundesbank, to bring home their overseas holdings of gold, and it would appear that the world is setting up for a protracted paper fight. This fight will not involve relative victories however, with all paper currencies coming down, albeit some much more than others.  In this war, the battle over paper will be ultimately won by those who own “stuff”.