Yuan for Secure Long-term Kitty?

[flicker]

I asked this question already in the Gear question about courtesy flags, but it deserves its own spot so as not to dilute the conversation about the flags.

I am asking any knowledgable financial advisors out there if it is possible or likely that the Yuan will become a stronger, safer currency than the US dollar in the next decade or two.

Thanks in advance,
Chas.

[wanna_sail]

The Yuan (or RMB as it is really called) is currently not a convertible currency on the open market. That means that once you acquire it your are sort of stuck with it. You can convert RMB into other currencies on the ‘street’ in places Like Hong Kong and Thailand but the rate is not great. You can not convert RMB into anything else at any financial institution like a bank.

The RMB will have to be revalued sooner or later and with China’s entry into the WTO the currency will also become ‘tradable’ on the open market. Currently the RMB exchanges at the rate of 8.28 RMB per USD. Eventually that will change, probably slowly at first. The expected rate will be somewhere around 7.2. So for long term it might be a good investment if you are into trading currencies; usually not for the casual investor and also not normally a long term strategy; although the RMB could be the exception.

As far a kitty money goes, it is useless since you can not exchange it to anything and you can not have an ATM card that makes it available. So if you want to get to the money you have a serious problem unless you happen to be cruising past Hong Kong.

[flicker]

I am looking for a way to secure my money without putting it into stocks. What has happened with the RMB in the last few years? Is it worth buying today? And Would putting my money in a Hong Kong bank account protect it from US devaluation?

Flicker

[SEMIJim]

Um, what in Poseidon's name does the stability of the yuan vs. the U.S. dollar have to do with "General Discussion (sailing related)?"

Jim

[trantor12020]

well maybe fricker is setting aside some Yuan/RMB to buy a China made sailboat ? They made these current lot of Clipper Round the World race boats. Some of the Clipper boats almost loss their keel near The Philipines. But that's another story.

[sailingdog]

Flicker—

Umm, any reason you keep reviving dead threads for no real good reason? Please check the dates of the posts before you revive a thread that's been dead for over three years.

[GulfCoastSkimmer]

I am going to wait a year, then post why i think he did it

[LookingForCruiser]

I actually do some work with FX trading. It's a pretty ridiculous way to invest. It's mostly done as a hedging strategy when you're purchasing foreign stocks. Anybody willing to exchange small amounts with you is going to give you a lousy exchange rate. Unless you've got some predictive powers that actual experts in the field don't have, you're probably going to end up losing money.

Personally I'd put money into a solid shortish-term bond (short term because the interest rates are so low right now, you'll want to cash out and put money into a higher interest rate in the future - just a wild guess that interest rates will eventually increase for some reason), if you want a safer investment than stocks. Not a bond fund, an actual bond, there's a big difference.

But I'm not an investment advisor so do what you please, I'm just some shmoe on the Internet, among many.

[flicker]

Boy, you are tough, sailingdog And you don't miss a trick. Yes, I revived two old threads; one seemed to apply directly to my question about suitable windvane self-steerers for 38-foot sailboats, and I couldn't find the "start new thread" icon, as I said in my post on the other thread just a few minutes ago; the other was my own thread from a while ago. I know of a couple of US cruisers who were hit hard by stock dips in the past and I am still looking for the safest place to put my liquid assets so that I can sail as undisturbed as possible by market and dollar fluctuations.

Frankly, since you all seem so dogmatic about old threads, what is it that bothers you about it? It seems a little bizarre to me, but maybe that's the way things are going. I'll certainly comply with your rules, etiquette and otherwise, but maybe you could tell me how you come up with your rules so I can anticipate them and avoid being offensive in the future.

[SEMIJim]

Originally Posted by flicker

... I couldn't find the "start new thread" icon, as I said in my post on the other thread just a few minutes ago;

You mean the button that looks like this



prominently located at the left top and bottom of each sub-forum topic list page?

Originally Posted by flicker

the other was my own thread from a while ago. I know of a couple of US cruisers who were hit hard by stock dips in the past and I am still looking for the safest place to put my liquid assets so that I can sail as undisturbed as possible by market and dollar fluctuations.

Nice try, but simply including the words "cruising," "liquid" and "sail" in a post doesn't magically make the subject on-topic for a sub-forum that clearly states "sailing related".

Jim