More Pressure on the U.S. Dollar (UUP, UDN)

The World Bank's Presiden Robert Zoellick cautioned U.S. authorities on Monday against assuming the dollar would maintain its role as the world's reserve currency. Robert Zoellick said other currencies such as the euro and the Chinese yuan could win increasing acceptance in international currency markets.
He said (while putting a pinky up to his lips) the United States "would be mistaken to take for granted the dollar's place as the world's predominant currency. Looking forward there will increasingly be other options to the dollar."

China, Russia and India have indicated they want to see long-term changes in the international monetary system in the wake of the financial crisis that has pushed the world economy into its first synchronized downturn since World War II.

Fellow Masters, there are two ways to play this, going long the dollar and betting against it -- your weapons of choice:

PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (NYSE:UUP)
Trading at $22 with a 52-week range of $22.54 - $27.19.  
PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund (the Fund) is a separate series of PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Trust (the Trust). The Fund’s subsidiary is DB US Dollar Index Bullish Master Fund (the Master Fund), a separate series of DB US Dollar Index Bullish Master Trust (the Master Trust). The Fund offers common units of beneficial interest (the Shares) only to certain eligible financial institutions (the Authorized Participants) in one or more blocks of 200,000 Shares, called a Basket.

PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bearish  (NYSE:UDN)
Trading at $27 with a 52-week range of $24.09 - $28.27.  PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bearish Fund (the Fund) is a separate series of PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Trust (the Trust). The Fund’s subsidiary is DB US Dollar Index Bearish Master Fund (the Master Fund), which is a separate series of DB US Dollar Index Bearish Master Trust (the Master Trust). The Fund offers common units of beneficial interest (the Shares) only to certain eligible financial institutions (the Authorized Participants) in one or more blocks of 200,000 Shares, called a Basket

Back to Evil -- Zoellick, a former high-ranking U.S. government official and investment banker, spoke at Johns Hopkins University's School for Advanced International studies in advance of the World Bank's annual meeting next week in Istanbul.

He said the dollar would remain a major currency, "but the greenback's fortunes will depend heavily on U.S. choices" on issues such as reducing its debt and trimming its budget deficit.

Zoellick praised the recent performance of the European Central Bank, saying "there is every reason to believe the euro's acceptability could grow."

He said this would depend on the competitiveness of the currency and the depth and liquidity of European financial markets.

Turning to China, he said authorities in Beijing were moving toward gradual internationalization of the yuan by making it easier for its trading partners to do business in currency swaps.

SOURCE: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9B0I3K00.htm