Down and Down She Goes

Our trip to the UK next month is looking more expensive everyday. I guess it is really fortunate that we will only have 3 or 4 nights in a hotel for the big wedding and the rest of the time we will be staying with friends. Still have the food and beer to fund and chipping in on the petrol. I really have to have some good pub food when I am in England and, of course, good beer. We will have a few nights in a self catering cottage in Cornwall but we should be able to watch the pennies at the market there.

LONDON (AFP) - The dollar slumped to a fresh record low against the euro and below 100 yen Thursday on mounting fears of a US recession, driving gold to an all-time high of 997.10 dollars an ounce, dealers said.

The European single currency struck a record-high 1.5625 dollars, while the dollar slid to 99.78 yen -- the lowest point since November 1995.

"This is a market that is focused on risk more than return and sentiment remains significantly negative that the market is wary about taking on board excessive risk," said Commonwealth Bank economist Divyang Shah.

After reaching a new peak, the euro stood at 1.5593 dollars, from 1.5540 late on Wednesday in New York.

The dollar was trading at 100.20 yen, from 101.79 late Wednesday.