August 2006 Weddings
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Now is the time to visit Europe
Dollar Trades Near 2-Week High on Bank Rescue Bill Speculation?
By Stanley WhiteOct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar traded near a two-week high against the euro on speculation U.S. lawmakers will salvage a $700 billion rescue plan for financial companies.The U.S. currency was also close to its strongest level in two weeks versus the British pound as the Senate prepared to vote on a bill to buy distressed assets, after the legislation was rejected by the House of Representatives two days ago. The euro slid against the yen after?Dexia SA?became Europe's fourth lender this week to be bailed out by the region's governments.``The dollar should remain supported within a range,'' said?Katsunori Kitakura, chief treasury dealer in Tokyo at Chuo Mitsui Trust & Banking Co., Japan's seventh-largest publicly listed lender. ``A rescue package is likely to pass and a certain level of calm is returning to markets.''The dollar traded at $1.4125 per euro at 1:19 p.m. in Tokyo from $1.4092 late yesterday in New York, when it reached a two- week high of $1.4009. Against the pound, the dollar was quoted at $1.7835, near a two-week high of $1.7758 touched yesterday. The euro was little changed at 149.57 yen. The dollar was at 105.83 yen from 106.11 yen.Currency moves may be exaggerated today as Asian markets including Hong Kong and Singapore are closed for holidays. Fluctuations are typically more pronounced when trading volumes are lighter.The South Korean won rose 1 percent to 1,194.40 per dollar, rebounding from a five-year low, on speculation a U.S. bank rescue will revive demand for emerging-market assets. South Korea's Vice Finance Minister Bae Kook Hwan said the government expects the won to stabilize soon as lower oil prices will help return the current account to a surplus this month.Senate VoteSenate Democrats and Republicans agreed to vote today on legislation that would give Treasury Secretary?Henry Paulson?broad authority to buy troubled assets from financial companies. Senators plan to include a provision that would raise the limit on federal insurance for bank deposits to $250,000 from $100,000 now, a move demanded by some of the rescue plan's critics.Global financial institutions posted $590 billion of losses and writedowns since the start of last year following the collapse of the U.S. subprime-mortgage market. The losses led to a credit crunch that caused banks including Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Washington Mutual Inc. to fail last month.``Traders are very confident something's going to be passed in the next seven days,'' said?Russell LaScala, the New York- based head of foreign-exchange trading at Deutsche Bank AG, the world's biggest foreign-exchange trader. ``That's definitely a sentiment that's being priced in the market.''European BailoutsThe yen was little changed from earlier levels after the Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan survey showed large manufacturers turned pessimistic about their prospects in September for the first time in five years.The euro declined against Japan's currency on speculation governments will bail out more European banks after France and Belgium led a state-backed rescue ofDexia?yesterday.A $9.2 billion capital infusion for Dexia, the world's biggest lender to local governments, comes two days after Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg rescued?Fortis, the largest Belgian financial-services company, the U.K. took control of Bradford & Bingley Plc, the country's biggest lender to landlords, and Germany bailed out?Hypo Real Estate Holding AG.``Selling the euro is all but unavoidable,'' said?Tsutomu Soma, a bond and currency dealer at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo. ``It may take longer for Europe to solve its problems, because it's only just now getting started.''The ECB will keep its benchmark rate at 4.25 percent at a meeting tomorrow, according to all 58 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.Money MarketsBanks are being squeezed amid a surge in borrowing costs as lenders hoard cash on concern more financial institutions will fail. The euro interbank offered rate, or Euribor, for one-month loans jumped to a record 5.05 percent yesterday, the European Banking Federation said. The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, that banks charge each other for overnight dollar loans climbed 4.31 percentage points to an all-time high of 6.88 percent, the British Bankers' Association said.Foreign banks are paying the highest premiums in at least a decade to borrow in dollars in the swaps market even after the Fed this week increased the amount of funds available to other central banks to $620 billion from $330 billion. The price on one-year cross-currency basis swaps between yen and dollars reached minus 70 basis points, the biggest effective premium for dollar funding since Bloomberg began tracking the data in 1997.``These stresses in the money market continue to suggest that the liquidity is not filtering down to where it is needed,'' analysts led by?Hans-Guenter Redeker, the London-based global head of currency strategy at BNP Paribas SA, France's biggest bank, wrote in a research note yesterday. ``The dollar will remain bid.''?http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aXeu_kATieSo&refer=worldwide?
By Stanley WhiteOct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar traded near a two-week high against the euro on speculation U.S. lawmakers will salvage a $700 billion rescue plan for financial companies.The U.S. currency was also close to its strongest level in two weeks versus the British pound as the Senate prepared to vote on a bill to buy distressed assets, after the legislation was rejected by the House of Representatives two days ago. The euro slid against the yen after?Dexia SA?became Europe's fourth lender this week to be bailed out by the region's governments.``The dollar should remain supported within a range,'' said?Katsunori Kitakura, chief treasury dealer in Tokyo at Chuo Mitsui Trust & Banking Co., Japan's seventh-largest publicly listed lender. ``A rescue package is likely to pass and a certain level of calm is returning to markets.''The dollar traded at $1.4125 per euro at 1:19 p.m. in Tokyo from $1.4092 late yesterday in New York, when it reached a two- week high of $1.4009. Against the pound, the dollar was quoted at $1.7835, near a two-week high of $1.7758 touched yesterday. The euro was little changed at 149.57 yen. The dollar was at 105.83 yen from 106.11 yen.Currency moves may be exaggerated today as Asian markets including Hong Kong and Singapore are closed for holidays. Fluctuations are typically more pronounced when trading volumes are lighter.The South Korean won rose 1 percent to 1,194.40 per dollar, rebounding from a five-year low, on speculation a U.S. bank rescue will revive demand for emerging-market assets. South Korea's Vice Finance Minister Bae Kook Hwan said the government expects the won to stabilize soon as lower oil prices will help return the current account to a surplus this month.Senate VoteSenate Democrats and Republicans agreed to vote today on legislation that would give Treasury Secretary?Henry Paulson?broad authority to buy troubled assets from financial companies. Senators plan to include a provision that would raise the limit on federal insurance for bank deposits to $250,000 from $100,000 now, a move demanded by some of the rescue plan's critics.Global financial institutions posted $590 billion of losses and writedowns since the start of last year following the collapse of the U.S. subprime-mortgage market. The losses led to a credit crunch that caused banks including Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Washington Mutual Inc. to fail last month.``Traders are very confident something's going to be passed in the next seven days,'' said?Russell LaScala, the New York- based head of foreign-exchange trading at Deutsche Bank AG, the world's biggest foreign-exchange trader. ``That's definitely a sentiment that's being priced in the market.''European BailoutsThe yen was little changed from earlier levels after the Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan survey showed large manufacturers turned pessimistic about their prospects in September for the first time in five years.The euro declined against Japan's currency on speculation governments will bail out more European banks after France and Belgium led a state-backed rescue ofDexia?yesterday.A $9.2 billion capital infusion for Dexia, the world's biggest lender to local governments, comes two days after Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg rescued?Fortis, the largest Belgian financial-services company, the U.K. took control of Bradford & Bingley Plc, the country's biggest lender to landlords, and Germany bailed out?Hypo Real Estate Holding AG.``Selling the euro is all but unavoidable,'' said?Tsutomu Soma, a bond and currency dealer at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo. ``It may take longer for Europe to solve its problems, because it's only just now getting started.''The ECB will keep its benchmark rate at 4.25 percent at a meeting tomorrow, according to all 58 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.Money MarketsBanks are being squeezed amid a surge in borrowing costs as lenders hoard cash on concern more financial institutions will fail. The euro interbank offered rate, or Euribor, for one-month loans jumped to a record 5.05 percent yesterday, the European Banking Federation said. The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, that banks charge each other for overnight dollar loans climbed 4.31 percentage points to an all-time high of 6.88 percent, the British Bankers' Association said.Foreign banks are paying the highest premiums in at least a decade to borrow in dollars in the swaps market even after the Fed this week increased the amount of funds available to other central banks to $620 billion from $330 billion. The price on one-year cross-currency basis swaps between yen and dollars reached minus 70 basis points, the biggest effective premium for dollar funding since Bloomberg began tracking the data in 1997.``These stresses in the money market continue to suggest that the liquidity is not filtering down to where it is needed,'' analysts led by?Hans-Guenter Redeker, the London-based global head of currency strategy at BNP Paribas SA, France's biggest bank, wrote in a research note yesterday. ``The dollar will remain bid.''?http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aXeu_kATieSo&refer=worldwide?
Re: Now is the time to visit Europe
Hmm... I went to Prague about 15 years ago and everything was crazy cheap. I guess things have changed...
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My husband leads pilgrimages in Europe, and he has 8 trips planned so far for 2009. He's happy about the news about the drop in the Euro.
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www.metrobabyblog.com
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For visitors, Prague is cheap because "necessities" like food and beer cost half the price of most everywhere else. ?You can still get a liter of beer for under $2. ?
To live here, it is quite expensive. ?Housing, electronics, and clothing cost quite a bit more here than elsewhere. ?With the strong Crown and the weak Euro, that is doubly true. ?We saved around 300 Euro by buying our tv in Germany as opposed to here.?