The Falling Dollar Fallout

With all the brouhaha over the dollar's freefall, it's not always easy to parse out what, exactly, that means. Today at CNN/Money they have a succint article on the winners and losers of the falling dollar. One currency expert is quoted as saying he expects the dollar to go as high as $1.45 to the euro by the end of the year, so despite Friday's record low many expect the skid to continue.

Speaking of things falling, I recently did a post on laddering your savings with CDs, and just a few weeks ago the interest rate on a 9 month CD with ING was 5.25%. Today it sits at 4.90%, and there's no reason to think it won't slip further. Thankfully, I have most of M and my emergency fund locked in at the higher rate, but I'm not looking forward to re-investing. If I wasn't unemployed, I'd move practically all of our money into 6, 9 and 12 month CDs (all currently 4.90% at ING). Again, there are no minimums to open CDs at many online banks, so I say you carpe diem while the carpe is still good. With the housing market, credit markets, and stock markets all riding one helluva roller coaster, the plain vanilla savings account is still your safety net. Unfortunately, it just become less profitable.