So the USD lost to the Euro once again!

[Reschke]

Yesterday a single Euro cost our company $1.37 USD. Today we are sitting at $1.36 USD and its not looking like it will go any lower. I can't stand having to buy our products from Europe. We are now starting a full fledged search for North American suppliers because of the exchange rate on the Euro is killing our ability to make money.

I think part of the reason is the reluctance of the Federal Government to push  interest rates out of the cellar. Until that time we will not have much foreign investment oming here to make money. Yes we get some manufacturing of automobiles and aircraft because labor costs are lower. BUT the US housing market is dead in the water and foreclosures are at an all time high..now automobile sales have begun dropping in the face of ever increasing price gouging on the fuel market, according to the report released on Bloomberg the other day.

My conclusion is that we in the USA are in for a big wake up call in the next 6 months or so. I will be the first to jump in here and admit being wrong but I just don't see it from my point of view.

[Gooss]

If the USD is less expensive than the Euro, then US products are cheaper, right?

 You're looking for less expensive US products.  Wouldn't European companies like less expensive US products, too?  Isn't that foreign investment?  Selling more US products is a good thing, isn't it?

Increasing interest rates will make it more expensive for businesses to fund growth thereby reducing the competitive advantage over European products.  

The economy is booming now at virtually full employment.  

Wait...  Did I miss your sarcasm?

HONK!
Gooss

[Odee]

Originally posted by Gooss
If the USD is less expensive than the Euro, then US products are cheaper, right?
...The economy is booming now at virtually full employment.  

Wait...  Did I miss your sarcasm?
 

Wait a second.... wait a second...!  You mean the USA still makes products?


Was a the USA was the industrial leader.  Now we're a third rate has been for Liberal imports of products that do not last, or are of poor quality.

[Eagler]

even with the lower dollar, china junk is cheaper

[Nilsen]

With the low value of the USD its cheaper for us to buy your goods so we can buy more american stuff, and we export less over to your end of the pond. That is the theory atleast, but we have to wait for the numbers to come in as many other factors also are at play.

If the USD continue to fall we may see alot less US tourists this summer and we do get alot of them normally. Its expensive to be a toursit here, but it does not usually affect the wealthy tourists and in some cases even more decide to travel here just _bacause_ it costs alot.

And for the record... we dont use the euro here

[Maverick]

So what US produced product were you not willing to buy before the Euro went up?

If you have a US based business, why don't you already know who produced the items in the US that you need in your business? Didn't you bother to look around before you sent money overseas? If you want to complain about outsourcing and having to spend money overseas to provide for your company, why didn't you start looking locally to begin with?

[SteveBailey]

now automobile sales have begun dropping in the face of ever increasing price gouging on the fuel market,

Actually domestic sales are dropping because other companies make better cars and domestic cars are overpriced in order to pay the overinflated wages of the UAW's.  The UAW is the single largest source for GM woes.  The UAW alleges that they are trying to protect the auto worker when, in the end, the UAW will be/is responsible for nothing but job loss and the demise of the American auto industry's power.  The text book example of how a union is bad for the economy and business.

[Toad]

As has been shown many times here, UAW wages are not much different form what Honda and Toyo pay in their US plants. In two of Toyos plants they are essentially the same.

The legacy costs of retirement and healthcare for retirees is what really makes the huge difference between US auto makers. Are you in favor of termintating benefits for people that gave 25+ years to those companies?

[Nilsen]

Originally posted by Maverick
So what US produced product were you not willing to buy before the Euro went up?

If you have a US based business, why don't you already know who produced the items in the US that you need in your business? Didn't you bother to look around before you sent money overseas? If you want to complain about outsourcing and having to spend money overseas to provide for your company, why didn't you start looking locally to begin with?

Was this meant for me?

[Shamus]

only money

A billion here a billion there, pretty soon it adds up to real money

shamus

[Maverick]

Originally posted by Nilsen
Was this meant for me?

Nope, not everything is about you, fishu, baghdad bob / gscholz / viking or even a few other characters that lurk here.  

It was a question meant for the person who started the thread.

[Nilsen]

Originally posted by Maverick
Nope, not everything is about you, fishu, baghdad bob / gscholz / viking or even a few other characters that lurk here.  

Ok.. your post was below mine, but seemed kinda odd, so i wondered if you were asking me these questions.

[Maverick]

I wasn't aware that you had a US based business.

[Toad]

Originally posted by Shamus
only money

A billion here a billion there, pretty soon it adds up to real money

shamus

Indeed it does. Does anyone think that the contractual agreement over 20+ years that promised retiree healthcare should be broken? In other words, should they have their healtcare taken from them?

The basic problem is that healthcare has gotten incredibly expensive. Mostly for reasons beyond the control of the retired workers.

Here are some other key quotes from that article.

....Advertisement
 
 
Fritz Henderson, GM's chief financial officer, announced the $1 billion payment to the company's special health care trust Thursday as he outlined GM's financial results for the first quarter. The payment was made Monday and was one of three mandated by a special agreement the company negotiated with the United Auto Workers in 2005, he said.

GM's pension funds, which are separate from the health care fund, earned $300 million in the first quarter and remain overfunded, Henderson said. The financing of the health care trust and pension fund is critical to thousands of GM retirees in Oakland County....




....Net income from GM's global automotive operations, however, totaled $304 million on an adjusted basis in the first quarter of 2007. That compares with just $40 million in the first quarter of 2006, Henderson said.

GM generated adjusted automotive operating cash flow of $300 million for the first quarter of 2007, an improvement of $1.5 billion year on year, with all four regions reporting improvement.

Seems like GM is still managing to make money with their cars.

[Mickey1992]

GM used to make more profit financing cars than manufacturing them.  I never understood why they sold controlling interest in GMAC.