We’ve posted a few items about the dollar recently (See this ^[1] and this ^[2]). the recent counter-trend strength in the buck is what has roiled commodity markets as well as equities.

Today’s NYT has an article that on a possible greenback rally, Some See Rise Ahead for Dollar ^[3]:

“Could the long dollar slide be over?

For the better part of the past decade, and particularly in the last few months, the American dollar has been the 98-pound weakling of the foreign exchange world. It has lost value against almost every other global currency — not just the euro, pound and yen but even the Romanian new leu and the Latvian lats.

Driven largely by the Federal Reserve’s policy of printing dollars to help spur a healthy economic recovery that remains stubbornly elusive, the dollar, weighed against a basket of other currencies, hit a 40-year low this month.

But betting against the dollar may no longer be such a safe play — not necessarily because of any sudden macroeconomic shifts but because of a sense that the long dollar sell-off may have finally gone too far. Since May 4, the dollar is up 4 percent against the euro and 2 percent against the pound, while rallying against the Romanian and Latvian currencies as well.

In light of the article, let’s take another look at a few Dollar charts:

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US Dollar Swings

click for larger charts
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Dollar vs Major Currencies

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Previously:
Dollar’s Biggest Decline? 2001-08 ^[1] (April 23rd, 2011)

The value of the dollar: Five factors for investors ^[6] (Washington Post, April 23, 2011)

The US Dollar, Annotated ^[2] (April 29th, 2011)

Source:
Some See Rise Ahead for Dollar ^[3]
LANDON THOMAS Jr.
NYT, May 17, 2011  
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/business/global/18dollar.html