Iraqi dinar

[bobg]

         Looking for opinions. A friend invested $500 in dinar. All she talks about is how rich she will be when the dinar revalues. My opinion is it is scam. Just looking for other folks opinion on this. Is it a scam?

[Conan The Librarian]

I'm skeptical, but if she's only out $500, that's not bad at all. Kinda like playing the lottery. Iraq is undergoing a lot of changes, with a lot of sectarian strife that looks a lot like a civil war to me. My understanding is that the speculation is based on the role of oil, and Iraq's potential for re-entering the oil market as a strong player. It's true speculation. I don't think there are any guarantees. Do a google search for iraqi dinar speculation, and you'll find a lot of hits, including this one:
 
http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2011/07/27/is-the-iraqi-dinar-worthless-paper-or-maker-of-millionaires/
 

[magooch]

If the commies remain in charge of our dollar, I have no doubt that almost every other currency on the planet will leave the U.S. dollar in the dust.  So yeah, that $500 dollar investment might soon be worth $5,000,000 U.S.  Which of course would be worth about what you wipe your butt with.

[Conan The Librarian]

Magooch:
 
Do your best Austin Powers "Doctor Evil" impersonation and say "one treeleeon dollars". (Be sure to put your pinky at the corner of your mouth)
 
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=doctor+evil+picture+one+million+dollars&id=58DDB4135455CACA12AB28392FC4398F6D65ACB7&FORM=IQFRBA
 
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=zimbabwe+trillion+dollar+bill&qpvt=zimbabwe+trillion+dollar+bill&FORM=IGRE
 
http://www.anorak.co.uk/204911/money/zimbabwean-dollars-for-toilet-paper.html/
 
The Zimbabwe currency was so worthless that it literally was used as toilet paper, and the paper was worth much more than the money.

[pastorp]

In my treasure box I have 2 $100,000 dollar Zimbabwe notes. I believe them to be worth less than the price of a cup of coffee.

A friend brought them back from his elephant hunt. He could of exchanged them for about 10 cents each I believe but there value as conversation pieces are much greater than their cash value. 

Imagine ordering a happy meal and handing the girl a $100,000 bill.

[Old Fart]

Smart move or dumb move I've always had a problem investing in foreign currency.

[BBF]

As long as there is oil in that country it is valuable. Now who gets it and which currency will gain is another matter. I don't think the Iraqis will be the people that will benefit from it.

[bobg]

       Just found out yesterday she has invested if that is what you want to call it $3000 in dinar. I still say good bye $3000.   She has promised me a few bucks of it. Don't think i will spend it yet. Hey pastorp maybe you can sell your Zimbabwe notes to her.

[RPRNY]

There are only two ways to make money on currency arbitrage:

1) put several hundred thousand dollars into the market split between bet currencies, those you believe will move up or down significantly, and hedge currencies to flatten the downside curve;

2) run the currency like Soros did in several Asian markets early last decade. That takes several hundred million dollars

As to the Iraqi dinar, your friend is SOL. As an oil currency , it is either indexed directly to the dollar or a dollar/Euro-heavy basket of currencies (I can't recall which), therefore it will never substantially appreciate against the dollar. Interest rates may be high on the dinar, as will inflation, but the incremental on $3000 worth of dinar are negligible. A sofa hunt for coins would deliver greater yield.

Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk 2

[Sourdough]

I have a $10,000.00 Turkish lyre note, that I carried for emergencies when in Turkey.  At the time it was worth $300.00 American.  I forgot I had it folded and hidden in my wallet when I returned.  I found it a year later.  I went down to exchange it one day and found out Turkey had changed to the New Lyre, and all the old money is now worthless.

[BBF]

I have a $10,000.00 Turkish lyre note, that I carried for emergencies when in Turkey.  At the time it was worth $300.00 American.  I forgot I had it folded and hidden in my wallet when I returned.  I found it a year later.  I went down to exchange it one day and found out Turkey had changed to the New Lyre, and all the old money is now worthless.

That is the fastest sure fire way of dealing with runaway inflation.
 
Print a new currency and give a 50 to 1 exchange ratio.