Without a chief executive until Trevor Matthews arrives from Standard Life in the summer, Friends has endured a terrible year. It turned a profit of 491m in 2006 into a loss of 113m for 2007 and has faced scepticism from the City about its strategy and long-term future. Today it confirmed that JC Flowers made an offer of 150p a share, but insists that this proposal ’significantly undervalues Friends Provident and its prospects and does not represent a basis for discussion’. JC...

Since 2002, the Dollar has lost 70% of its value, relative to the Euro. Meanwhile, the same factors that signaled bearishness in 2002 persist in 2008, or even worsened in some aspects. The twin deficits are still growing, though the current account deficit may be leveling off. The US economy is headed towards recession. Inflation is set to rise due to soaring commodity prices and a loosening of monetary policy. As a result, many investors are betting that the Dollar’s slide will continue well into the near future.

However, prudent investors would be wise to “handle with care.” While not entirely applicable to forex markets, efficient markets theory dictates that inherent in a security’s current valuation is all relevant, publicly available information. Thus, all of the bad news listed above has already been priced into the Dollar, to some degree at least. The rule of diversification is in full effect when betting on forex. Thus, rather then putting all of one’s chips directly behind one currency, an investors could buy foreign securities (stocks and bonds) instead, which also capture any currency appreciation (and depreciation). Investors can also purchase Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS), whose yield is linked to inflation and, thus, acts as a hedge against a declining Dollar. The Wall Street Journal reports:

While some market watchers believe the six-year dollar bear market isn’t over yet, investors should recognize that trends in the currency markets are typically marked by volatile ups and downs along the way.

Read More: «online.wsj.com»

If smartphones morph into computing devices, as pundits predict, there may be one long-standing PC issue not in play: dealing with spam. At least, that is, as long as wireless carriers continue to do most of heavy lifting in keeping messages spam-free. That’s good news, given that most mobile users aren’t too «www.internetnews.com» about device and messaging security. A recent McAfee...

Without a chief executive until Trevor Matthews arrives from Standard Life in the summer, Friends has endured a terrible year. It turned a profit of 491m in 2006 into a loss of 113m for 2007 and has faced scepticism from the City about its strategy and long-term future. Today it confirmed that JC Flowers made an offer of 150p a share, but insists that this proposal ’significantly undervalues Friends Provident and its prospects and does not represent a basis for discussion’. JC...

Since 2002, the Dollar has lost 70% of its value, relative to the Euro. Meanwhile, the same factors that signaled bearishness in 2002 persist in 2008, or even worsened in some aspects. The twin deficits are still growing, though the current account deficit may be leveling off. The US economy is headed towards recession. Inflation is set to rise due to soaring commodity prices and a loosening of monetary policy. As a result, many investors are betting that the Dollar’s slide will continue well into the near future.

However, prudent investors would be wise to “handle with care.” While not entirely applicable to forex markets, efficient markets theory dictates that inherent in a security’s current valuation is all relevant, publicly available information. Thus, all of the bad news listed above has already been priced into the Dollar, to some degree at least. The rule of diversification is in full effect when betting on forex. Thus, rather then putting all of one’s chips directly behind one currency, an investors could buy foreign securities (stocks and bonds) instead, which also capture any currency appreciation (and depreciation). Investors can also purchase Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS), whose yield is linked to inflation and, thus, acts as a hedge against a declining Dollar. The Wall Street Journal reports:

While some market watchers believe the six-year dollar bear market isn’t over yet, investors should recognize that trends in the currency markets are typically marked by volatile ups and downs along the way.

Read More: «online.wsj.com»

If smartphones morph into computing devices, as pundits predict, there may be one long-standing PC issue not in play: dealing with spam. At least, that is, as long as wireless carriers continue to do most of heavy lifting in keeping messages spam-free. That’s good news, given that most mobile users aren’t too «www.internetnews.com» about device and messaging security. A recent McAfee...