The economic roller coaster continues, but unfortunately sick bags will not

be provided says BetOnMarkets.com's Michael Wright.

Wall Street resumed its slide last week, as the uneasiness about the wilting

mortgage market and concerns about the broader economy, triggered selling

ahead of the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season. The Standard &

Poor's 500 index and the Dow Jones industrial average were both hurt by

traders unwinding positions going into the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

The decline in the markets has put the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and French CAC

indices in negative territory for the year. Many investments such as such as

ISAs or tracker funds simply track the benchmark markets, which means that

at the time of writing, a lot of passive investors are looking at negative

returns for 2007.

The stock market has been thrashing about recently as investors attempt to

gauge how companies will fare amid a further slowdown in the U.S. housing

market, a deterioration of credit, and record oil prices. Up to last

Wednesday's slide, stocks had fallen in eight of the 11 last sessions.

In economic news, the US Conference Board suggested an economic slowdown

could accelerate in the coming months, amid rising costs and further

weakness in the housing market. Also, the Reuters/University of Michigan

Consumer Sentiment Survey showed its lowest reading in two years - an

unwelcome development for retailers entering what is for many, the most

important period of the year.

Investors turned to government bonds amid the uncertainty. The yield on the

10-year US Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, fell to 4.01 %

from 4.09 % late Tuesday. This flight to quality is occurring as LIBOR rates

tick up again, and many debt auctions are pulled.

All of this didn't do much to help the US dollar, which over the last few

weeks has been weaker and weaker against the major currencies. At the time

of writing the EURO was worth 1.4860 USD and the GBP was trading at 2.0655

per US dollar.

Since 2003 central banks have gone on record to announce that they are

diversifying away from US denominated holdings, and buying euros and gold.

There has also been anecdotal evidence of the Dollars' decline, with

supermodel Giselle Bundchen demanding payment in Euros, and recent rap

videos displaying wads of Euros instead of Dollars.

The decline has accelerated in recent months as traders price in a weaker US

economy and further currency eroding rate cuts. With signs that the US

economy is no longer creaking, but cracking, a weak dollar may be here to

stay for the foreseeable future. In short, this may not be a temporary

weakness.

The average trader can profit from the decline of the US dollar, by buying a

Betonmarkets.com 'no touch' option. This compensates the trader if the

underlying market doesn't touch the predetermined level.

A No touch option on the Euro/USD exchange rate with a 20-day duration, and

550 points (5.5 cents) away from spot, pays 8%. This mean that the Dollar

could weaken further, strengthen slightly, or stay where it is and the

trader would still win.

• THE END -

Contact Details:

Name: Mike Wright

Tel: 448003762737

Email: editor@my.regentmarkets.com

Url: Betonmarkets.com & Betonmarkets.co.uk

Address:

Regent Markets (IOM) Limited

3rd Floor, 1-5 Church Street

Douglas, Isle of Man

IM1 2AG