Peso at 1722!

billyb says on May 25, 2007, 20:31:

MT, I think you might have caused a couple... of heart attacks on PBH. Maybe the mods should send out emails to all registered members to see if all are ok ;)

goin_south says on May 25, 2007, 20:31:

I'm sure they will MT, and as for me.... Voy por del Sur...como el dolera.

why can't the freakin Chung King Chinese just LEAVE THE FREAKN DOLLY LLAMA and Tibet ... ALONE!

Simon says on May 25, 2007, 20:32:

I heard it was at 1000!!
I I heard it was at 1000!!

I also heard 'La llorona' and 'la patasola' were coming after you if you were bad!

"You want to talk to God? Let's go see him together, I've got nothing better to do."---Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark)

goin_south says on May 25, 2007, 20:36:

I'm beginning to think it's a History Class....jaja 2001,...1955....1972....1792...1492! OMG! Buy then, MUCHOS GRINGOS ESTAN CON LASTIMA EN COLOMBIA.

ACCUMULACCIONA LOS PECHOS...'disculpa...PESOS!
Well, according to PBsH, they're related ;)

Voy por del Sur

why can't the freakin Chung King Chinese just LEAVE THE FREAKN DOLLY LLAMA and Tibet ... ALONE!

Man Tequila says on May 25, 2007, 23:33:

Yo, como si,
pero como ya se Yo, como si,
pero como ya se ve,
suponiendo que así fue,
lo mismo que antes así,
si alguna persona a mí
echare el mismo compás,
eso fue, de aquello depende,
supongo que ya me entiende,
no tengo que decir más.
Patasola, no hagas mal
que en el monte está tu bien.

Aunque no me creas/ si me lo propongo/ lograre olvidarte/ porque a fin de cuentas/ no soy tan cobarde./ Y termino todo una de estas tardes/ no sera dificil buscar algún sitio donde refugiarme/ donde nunca mas vuelvas a encontrarme. (Polo Montañez)

Buongone says on May 26, 2007, 02:29:

Peso at 1700 My Novia told me about 3 months ago she heard that the Peso would go down to 1700. Rumor around campus. I'll ask her later today where she heard it? Hold on to them Panties !! Ha Ha

billyb says on May 26, 2007, 15:52:

I've always found college students great prognosticators... of future currency valuations ;)

goin_south says on May 26, 2007, 21:42:

...de las padres ;) Voy por del Sur

why can't the freakin Chung King Chinese just LEAVE THE FREAKN DOLLY LLAMA and Tibet ... ALONE!

Buongone says on May 27, 2007, 01:42:

Well I just spoke with her. She said it was one of the Professors, with a PHD in Economics. So If you know more than this dude. Power to ya. She also said that the people of Cali are getting pissed and demonstrating against Uribe. He has been cutting back funding of programs that help the people to get money to fight the Farc. Sounds like to me to line his pockets. People say inflation don't hurt normal Colombian people. Where is your head? Up your Ass!

Rubito: What do you do on a date? Put her on the handlebars?

goin_south says on May 27, 2007, 03:22:

programs that help the people to get money to fight the Farc.

For example???

Voy por del Sur

why can't the freakin Chung King Chinese just LEAVE THE FREAKN DOLLY LLAMA and Tibet ... ALONE!

miamimike says on May 27, 2007, 03:36:

A Miami Friend related to me Last Night Two Retired Colombian natives(on SS from the USA) residing in Bogota are none too happy with their SS checks being devalued with the current exchange. Such is the state of many SA Currencies,,,Unstable with many peaks and Valleys,,,Still they are living wellin Bogota (apartments payed for, no car expenses) with their SS Incomes compared to how they would be living here in the US(Miami/south florida) with Skyrocketing Gas Prices, Homeowner's Insurance and Real Estate Taxes ect.

Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." GW Bush

slguy says on May 27, 2007, 12:01:

Hmmmmm. A PhD in economics should know better thn to claim he can foresee the future value of anything. He can certainly make an educated guess- but economics in this realm is an art, not a science. Too many variables for reliable guesstimating- and he should have clearly stated this to his students.

I'd love to know about this government money to "fight the FARC", too. Government's been issuing checks to everyday folk to buy AK's have they?

Sounds like another ivory tower lefty, trying to brew discontent among students, to me...
slguy
*
*
*




Now I don't have to tell you good folks what's been happening in our beloved little town. Sheriff murdered, crops burned, stores looted, people stampeded, and cattle raped. The time has come to act, and act fast. I'm leaving.

Before you throw me out, make sure I pay my bar tab

podborski says on May 27, 2007, 13:51:

I think slguy is pod

Buongone says on May 28, 2007, 02:35:

Hmmmm! Next time I speak with her, I'll ask for more specifics. Is what she said, like I quoted her. Is that Uribe was cutting back funding that help the people to fight the farc. That means he is taking money out of programs designed to help the people, to fund his war against the farc. You interpreted it wrong. i did not say he was handing out guns. Maybe I should of worded it a little different. I'll ask her to explain better. Now if the peso go's down to 1700, or below. What will you think then? She said something about the TLC. I'll find out later. Not much time lately. Been busy doing other things.

elk says on May 28, 2007, 04:55:

The Downside of the Higher Peso Let's hope Colombia's Cardenas is correct. "Fedesarrollo's Cardenas said the peso's high relative value was cyclical, and it eventually would devalue back to an ''equilibrium'' of 2,500 pesos to the dollar.

THE COLOMBIAN PESO'S RISE AGAINST THE DOLLAR IS HURTING EXPORTERS
Los Angeles Times Service

BOGOTA --
BY CHRIS KRAUL

The Colombian peso is on a hot streak, and that's good for national pride, consumers of luxury imports and tourists heading to Disney World. But it's a bouquet of trouble for Bogotá flower grower Carlos Borrero and the rest of this nation's export-centered rose industry.

Like most growers who sell abroad, Borrero is paid in dollars but absorbs his costs in pesos. That means the revenue he's taking in buys about 40 percent less locally than four years ago. Meanwhile, the cost of his labor and materials has risen 40 percent in the same period.

''It's like I lost a full year of income because of the exchange fluctuation since 2004. How the hell can a small business survive that?'' asked Borrero, who has an engineering doctorate from Michigan State University and whose 75-acre farm in the Bogotá suburb of La Punta ships $2 million worth of roses and carnations to the United States a year.

Nearly all world currencies have gained against the dollar in recent years; the dollar has slid 30 percent in value since 2002 against an index of world currencies, according to the International Monetary Fund. But the greenback's decline has been steeper against the currencies of Third World countries whose economies have been lifted by booming demand for commodities such as copper, sugar and soybeans, and the incoming floods of dollars chasing them.

BIG DECLINE

The dollar buys 20 percent fewer Colombian pesos than it did a year ago and 30 percent fewer than it did four years ago.

But there is more to the peso's appreciation than demand for Colombia's oil, coal, bananas, coffee and other commodities. As never before, foreign investors are here buying up banks, factories and real estate.

Total annual investment equates to 27 percent of the nation's annual economic output, reflecting growing confidence in Colombia and the policies of President Alvaro Uribe, said Standard & Poor's analyst Richard Francis in New York.

The rise in the peso's value is visible even on the streets: Sales of new cars, most of them imported, are up 50 percent in the first four months of this year, said economist Mauricio Cardenas of the Fedesarrollo think tank in Bogotá. The peso's increased purchasing power means more imports, which are growing at a 23 percent annual rate, he added.

The number of construction permits grew 26.5 percent over the 12 months ended in March, a reflection of a real-estate market frenzy. The boom has sparked concerns about inflation at Colombia's central bank, which raised the benchmark loan rate by a quarter percentage point to 8.75 percent Friday.

Many Colombian exports haven't suffered even though a strong peso makes them more expensive. But that's not the case with flowers.

After years of strong business fueled by Americans' appreciation of big-budded Colombian roses, the industry is fighting for survival amid stiff competition from Ecuador, China, Kenya and Mexico -- relative newcomers to rose exporting.

Although Colombia shipped almost $800 million in flowers to the United States last year, the industry has cut margins to maintain its market share. Investment in new varieties and technology has shrunk, according to the grower industry association, Asocolflores.

Borrero, whose family has been in the flower business since 1969, said his company, Rosas Sabanillas, will chalk up its first annual loss this year, after barely breaking even last year. He worries about having to let some of his 230 employees go, many of whom are single mothers who took out mortgages to buy houses.

WILTED FLOWERS

Other companies are faring far worse. Five major flower growers either have scaled back operations or gone bankrupt over the past year. Total jobs in the cut-flower industry have fallen by 12,000 since 2005, a 10 percent loss.

The industry is screaming for relief, going so far as to propose that Uribe stop letting the peso float freely and instead establish a fixed ''exchange rate platform'' of 2,500 pesos to the dollar. That would immediately strengthen the dollar by 20 percent over its current value of about 1,987 pesos and make flower exports more competitive.

''We are saying for the first time that we are in serious difficulties and at risk of extinction,'' Borrero said.

Fedesarrollo's Cardenas said the peso's high relative value was cyclical, and it eventually would devalue back to an ''equilibrium'' of 2,500 pesos to the dollar.

For Borrero, it can't come too soon.

''The revaluation of the peso is definitely cyclical,'' he said. ``What we don't know is: Will we, the flower growers, still be around for the turnaround?''

elk says on May 28, 2007, 05:11:

Who is Mauricio Cárdenas? Mauricio Cárdenas Santamaria
Vice-President 2006-2007

Mauricio Cárdenas is currently Executive Director of Fedesarrollo, an independent policy-oriented research center in Bogotá, Colombia. He has published seven books and a large number of academic papers. Since 1992 he has taught in the Economics graduate program at Universidad de los Andes. In 2001 he was Visiting Scholar at Harvard University. In 1999, Cárdenas was selected as one the Leaders of the New Millennium by CNN/Time Magazine. Between 2001 and 2003 he was President of Titularizadora Colombiana, an IFC-sponsored initiative that developed Colombia’s secondary mortgage market. Prior to that, he was Minister of Transportation (1998-1999) and Director of National Planning (1999-2000). He also served as Minister of Economic Development in 1994 and as General Manager of the Empresa de Energía de Bogotá in 1993. Mr. Cardenas holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

cayita says on May 28, 2007, 06:15:

ummm "She also said that the people of Cali are getting pissed and demonstrating against Uribe. He has been cutting back funding of programs that help the people to get money to fight the Farc."
So have you never heard of Plan Colombia? It has had it's funding held up lately and so I have to laugh that since Uribe absorbed all the credit for the recent security he can take the blame for its downfalls when the US aid goes away.
I am also happy to see that the same college students who protested Bush on his visit and Plan Colombia are now set to protest Uribe for not helping with the war against FARC.
This is just too funny. My country is so interesting, just never a dull moment.
I guess Uribe better step on that anti-American propaganda train quick or he will take all the blame.

juancegomez says on May 28, 2007, 09:29:

cayita The funding "held up" is about 55 million dollars or so. That's much less than half of the total yearly amount, as you might want to check.

"he can take the blame for its downfalls when the US aid goes away."

Not only is that prospect rather premature at this point in time, the other premise could also be questioned.

I'm not the biggest fan of either, to put it lightly, but I'm not in agreement with this.

"I am also happy to see that the same college students who protested Bush on his visit and Plan Colombia are now set to protest Uribe for not helping with the war against FARC."

I think you're a assuming a bit too much there on both counts. There's probably a considerable overlap, but I wouldn't say that they're "the same".

And, more importantly, though the wording is slightly confusing, the claim you quoted seems to be that allegedly Uribe is cutting resources that "help the people" in order to fight the FARC, not that he's "not helping" to fight FARC, as you seem to have understood.

That seems to be the case, IMHO, and it would make sense in context, while the other alternative sounds rather questionable.

scooby_1781 says on May 28, 2007, 11:46:

This is what western Union is exchanging whem sending money.

Estimated exchange rate 1 US Dollar = 1857.28 Colombian Pesos

Estimated local currency pay out = 1858.00 Colombian Pesos

"SEMPER FI"

Buongone says on May 29, 2007, 02:26:

Inflation? Someone said the other night that inflation do's not hurt the average Colombian. Do you believe that? I answered . When I went back half the thread was deleted. Must of got to someone.

goin_south says on May 29, 2007, 02:37:

As for sure as the Great 2007 Slide of the New York Yankees has got to stop (any day now...), so has the slide of the dollar against the Colombia Peso... ;)
Yeah, right.
By George.

Really, mark my word. It (the dollar) ain't goin any lower than about 1812..;)

Is there another famous date in the 1700? :)

Voy para del Sur

why can't the freakin Chung King Chinese just LEAVE THE FREAKN DOLLY LLAMA and Tibet ... ALONE!