A LOT of people from South America are visiting to buy things cheap....

[TwixVoy]

At the retailer I work at we have been getting a LOT of people from South America coming in and buying all kinds of things - usually electronics in bulk.

I was talking to one person from Brazil tonight who was buying several PSPs, Xbox 360s, and other expensive electronics. I asked him why he was getting so much and he told me that it's now very profitable to come up to the US, convert his money to dollars, buy a bunch of electronics, and take it back home to sell for a profit.

Makes sense actually... electronics are virtually the only items we have NOT marked up in the last 2-3 years... PSPs, Xbox, Playstations, etc all have stayed the same price or dropped.... and as the dollar goes down in value and other currency goes up in value it must be cheap to anyone with a currency that hasn't lost value.

The dollar has turned to sh** on Bush's watch.

[gateley]

1. I just heard last night that the dollar's value has dropped over 40% since Bush

came into office. 40%!!

[Captain Angry]

2. Europeans as well.

I saw a story about a woman who flew here from London every quarter for the last year or so with empty bags. She filled up the bags, and then resold everything back home at a huge profit.

Smart person there you spoke to. Take the free money while it's there. Hopefully they save some of it for the future when the roles reverse again.

[quiet.american]

3. And I can tell you it's painful in reverse. Just got back from Europe.

Withdrawing 200 euros from an ATM cost me 338 dollars. A 25 euro lunch was about 38 dollars -- for an entree and one glass of wine. OUCH.

[TwixVoy]

7. Guess I won't be able to visit Europe anytime soon

[Skittles]

4. at work when people from Brazil came here for training

that's all they wanted to do, go to electronics stores. I had to write down where to go for them; they were so excited they were babbling about it.

[Imagevision]

5. In Cape Coral Fla. they're using shuttle buses with many people around viewing properties...

Some people are from Australia

[enid602]

6. Real

Brazil's currency (the Real) has appreciated 50% against the Dollar in the last few years. Thanks, George.