"The Congressional Budget Office upped its 2009 fiscal year deficit forecast to $1.2 trillion; add in the stimulus plan, and the deficit could be above $2 trillion," says Tony Sagami.

The editor of The Asia Stock Alert says, "As a result, we believe that the U.S. dollar is in big, big trouble. To protect your portfolio -- or even profit from the falling dollar -- buy Merk Hard Currency Fund (MERKX)."

The advisor explains, "For a long time, we have depended on the confidence and generosity of foreigners, especially the Chinese and Saudi Arabians, to fund our deficit spending lifestyle. Those days, however, are coming to a close.

"With the Federal Reserve Bank cutting its short-term interest rate target to range from 0% to 0.25%, I doubt you'll see overseas investors lining up to buy our next-to-nothing yielding bonds. The U.S. is, unfortunately, a country in trouble and headed for a painful currency devaluation. Inflation is lurking around the corner.

Continue reading Merk Hard Currency (MERKX): Diversify out of dollars

Merk Hard Currency (MERKX): Diversify out of dollars originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I've just returned from the World Money Show in Orlando where more than 10,000 investors gathered to learn about global investing. I had a chance to meet with many of the U.S. and foreign financial experts featured at the show, and I will share some of their top investment ideas. To view all of the stocks featured in this special global report, click here.

Money manager and newsletter advisor, Keith Fitz-Gerald focuses on maximizing growth while minimizing risks. And one move he is making to reduce the overall risk to his portfolio is to diversify by currency.

In his The Skeptical Investor, he explains, "China really doesn't want or need any more dollars, so it's looking to other currencies to diversify its mountain of money and lessen risks associated with the U.S. dollar.

"The sheer volume of assets that must be moved creates a large disparity in how currency markets are likely to move this year. It also creates an equally large opportunity for us. So we've going on the offensive with PowerShares-DB G10 Currency Harvest Fund (AMEX:DBV). Even though it's a new fund introduced in October 2006, I feel very comfortable recommending it for a variety of reasons.

"First, it's an ETF, so you can buy and sell it easily. Second, it's run in conjunction with Deutsche Bank, which is a currency-trading powerhouse. They are well known to me in my capacity as a licensed CTA specializing in currencies.

"Third, the strategy DBV uses has produced a 12.5% compounded annual growth rate in testing that dates back to 1994, so the time horizon is long enough to cover a variety of trading scenarios and global events that would derail lesser quality funds under similar conditions.

Continue reading Global gains: Power up with international currencies

Global gains: Power up with international currencies originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 18 Feb 2007 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.