Other currencies instead of commodities

[Thailandnotes]

I have lived and worked in Thailand for the last ten years. Although, there have been many years when it was unclear which way the Thai baht was headed, there have been four or five years when it was clear what to do…get money out or leave it here.

If you assume the dollar is going to lose value but don't want to invest in commodities, is there a financial instrument that allows you to invest in a narrow range of prominent currencies? Is there a bank like HSBC that allows you to convert a saving account from one currency to another?

[jk]

everbank has fdic insured accounts in a variety of currencies. check out everbank.com

czj is a traded note issued by citibank, principal guaranteed at $10 in 2008. it has 5x leverage on each of 5 currencies: singapore $, taiwan $, thai baht, indian rupee, s korean won.

pimco local developing markets fund plmdx has exposure to a variety of currencies.

templeton has a "hard currency fund," but it has a 2.5% load to get in.

there are unhedged foreign bond funds, e.g. pfbdx, but there is some interest rate risk.

you can buy or short futures - dollar index [but this is 57% euro], yen, etc, but i don't believe there are publicly traded futures on e.g. the thai baht.

anyone know of any other vehicles?

[blazespinnaker]

I purchase short term bonds in foreign currencies via my broker.

[blazespinnaker]

Basically that gives me 4% plus whatever the currency does against the USD. Not as exciting as commodities, but that's just the way I am.

[blazespinnaker]

I am thinking about buying Yen .. nothing to invest in though.

No good yen bonds (heh), and the yen stock market is vulnerable to a US downturn / higher currency rates.

[jk]

you can either buy yen at everbank or open a futures acct.

[blazespinnaker]

Well, the problem is more one of investing the yen in something, not so much betting on the yen.

If you can tell me a lower risk currency vehicle than buying yen denominated bonds, I'd be interested.

[jk]

are you interested in yen investments because you want to invest in the japan reflation/growth story, or because you want the currency? if so, the easiest way is futures because you can get the exposure without tying up much capital.