LAT: Peso Nears Two Year High Against Dollar

[DBoon]

See: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-peso15jul15,1,1468215.story?coll=la-headlines-business

Obligatory quote:

MEXICO CITY — Spurred by a stable economy and high interest rates, Mexico's peso is near a two-year high against the dollar, meaning that Californians headed south of the border for summer vacations should pack more cash along with sunscreen.

The currency ended trading Thursday at 10.66 to the greenback, a 4.6% increase on the year, putting it among the world's strongest currencies against the dollar in 2005. At the peso's low point, in May 2004, it took 11.67 pesos to buy a dollar.

...

The currency's rise has been a boon for Mexican consumers, for whom U.S. goods have become cheaper, fueling a shopping spree along some parts of the southern U.S. border. Retail sales in McAllen, Texas, which is heavily dependent on visitors from the Mexican cities of Reynosa and Monterrey, are up 6% through April, compared with the first four months of 2004, according to the McAllen Chamber of Commerce.

"When you go to the mall, it's like Christmas every weekend. You can't find a parking space," said Steve Ahlenius, president of the business group.

So the USA is now a shopping bargain for Mexican tourists.

[TlalocW]

1. Huh... in 1990

I remember that it was 3300 pesos to the dollar or 3.3 nuevos pesos (what they're using in the article for comparison) to the dollar.

I was in high school on a school trip to Mexico City/Puebla, and I became quite popular when I gave 10,000 pesos to an elderly lady who was begging. I had arrived a day later (on Sunday) than the other students on the trip and had been lent money by my teacher and had nothing smaller to give her. I figured, "Eh, 3 bucks. No biggy." Apparently I gave her her week's take, and she told her friends about me.

TlalocW

[krkaufman]

2. Thank you, George Bush, for making my savings less valuable n/t

[madrchsod]

3. shopping for stuff made in china or

some other sweat shop country..just what in the hell do we have to sell that`s made here?