www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I have followed Harry Dent for a while. He is the one predicting big corrections in the US and Europe. He believes that the USD will be the haven, not gold. If he is right, Americans with dollars to spend overseas could be sitting in the cat seat.

http://economyandmarkets.com/commodity- ... x=X195QA10

i hope you are right

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When I was born, I was given a choice - a big pecker or a good memory.... I don't remember what I chose.

Yes, but "hope" is NOT a strategy.

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"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 16

The dollar topped 2100 pesos at the Medellin ATMs yesterday...

For those wishing to spot trends or just keep up, day-to-day, there's this: http://www.oanda.com/

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Got that one bookmarked, Jazzbro...

Oanda has a currency convertor cheat sheet that you can print out and take with you.

http://www.oanda.com/convert/cheatsheet

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The most dangerous adversaries are the ones that come with a smile instead of a sword

Also I use coinmill.com

The only problem with that is the National Bank of Costa Rica sets the exchange rate with (apparently) little concern for what the international rate is. No matter what others say it is or should be, you will only get (in CR) what the bank here says it is. The rate has dropped a couple of points just in the last couple days here

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Old and retired but still bang, and bang, and bang!!!

USD has always been haven. Th e dollar will only get stronger when interest rates go up. It is already going up due to anticipation.

In the article Harry Dent predicts the DOW to 3300 as well

Read his latest book where he lays out his arguments that debt, entitlements and real estate bubbles plus aging demographics (baby boomers retiring), will devastate the US and European economies. Not saying he is right, but if he is, we are in deep do-do. Cash will be king.

One major way to overcome these admitted deficiencies would be for the US to have a reasonable immigration policy. I don't see it happening but legal immigrants would lower the average reported age and provide much-needed legal taxable money to the US economy. No, they wouldn't be taking any more jobs away from those who want them (previous waves of legal immigration sure didn't); they would be paid more and on a taxable basis for doing the sh!t jobs folks here don't want to do, and then over time, move up the economic ladder, again as previous immigrant groups have done. The US has a robust and growing economy (due in no small part to the present low commodity prices) and can easily absorb all whom the US deems fit to enter. Fear and hysteria should have no part of these discussions; rationality rules.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

I agree on changing immigration laws, but not for the poor immigrants. Let the countries of the world send their smartest and best educated. Its amazing that we dont let all of the foreign graduate students stay here when they graduate. These immigrants can and will have an immediate impact on our economy and pay for my social security.

Actually, you could achieve this without changing a single law - you could simply ramp up the process rate for family visas. If you are an immigrant who obtains US citizenship, you can petition to bring siblings into the US. However, the wait time to get a visa for a sibling is in many cases 10-20 years.

Accelerating the family visa process has an added bonus: in order to bring a family member into the US, you need to show that you have sufficient resources to support them, and you are responsible for repaying the US government for social services consumed by that family member until they've worked for 40 quarters.