Crooks Buying Euros as Dollar Rises

Over at Yahoo News, AFP reports that international criminals have started dumping the US dollar in favor of the Euro, which should put additional pressure on the dollar in international currency markets, according to the report.

OTTAWA (AFP) – The weakened US dollar has fallen out of favor with organized crime groups to pay for drug shipments or to settle scores, a Canadian government report said Friday.
And if the greenback continues its slide in 2008, as expected, more and more criminals are likely to exchange euros for illicit goods, said Criminal Intelligence Service Canada in its annual report.
“The US dollar weakened significantly against other major currencies in 2007 and according to some economists, is expected to depreciate further in 2008,” said the report.
“As a consequence, other currencies — particularly the euro — are poised to weaken the US dollar’s dominance as the currency of choice for international remittances and payments,” it said.

Ironically, according to Bloomberg, a news service that knows a thing or two about markets, the crooks are more than the proverbial “day late and a dollar short.”

Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) — The dollar rose against the euro and the yen as a South Korean bank said it’s “considering” an investment in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., indicating U.S. financial firms may weather credit market turmoil.
The U.S. currency also gained versus the euro on bets yesterday’s biggest drop since June was overdone and as crude erased a 5.4 percent increase. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said falling commodity prices, a stable dollar and slowing growth should stem inflation.
“The dollar bottoming is in place,” said Alan Ruskin, head of currency strategy in North America at RBS Greenwich Capital Markets Inc. in Greenwich, Connecticut. “The euro- dollar is evenly balanced.”
The dollar has gained almost 8 percent versus the euro since touching the all-time low of $1.6038 on July 15 and appreciated 2 percent against the yen this month. The European and Japanese economies shrank in the second quarter and crude oil has fallen 22 percent from a record of $147.27 a barrel set on July 11.

Obviously, the bad guys just ain’t all that smart. However, the paradox of criminal elements switching to the Euro as the dollar strengthens helps demonstrate just why Democrats are so enthused about restoring the right to vote to felons. As dumb as the crooks are, it’s a pretty safe bet they’d vote Democrat given the chance.