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The US$ hit a 5 month low against a basket of major currencies on Friday and the euro rose above US$1.41 for the first time this year as investors bought higher-yielding currencies and assets on hopes of a global economic recovery. Sterling approached US$1.62, almost an 8 month high, and capped its best month since 1985, while data showing the US economy shrank less than expected in the first quarter lifted global stocks and dulled the dollar’s safe-haven allure. Concern about the expanding amount of debt needed to fund a record US$1.8T US budget deficit added to dollar woes this week and put the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield en route to its biggest 2 month spike since 2004. Those worries amplified a report that South Korea’s National Pension Service intends to reduce exposure to US government bonds and equities in its 5 year portfolio. “There’s a visceral concern about the debasement of the US currency because the United States has a lot of debt to finance” and may have to print more money to do it, said Alan Ruskin, chief international strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut

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As the recession deepens, more Americans go fishin, from his wooden fishing shack on Lake Winnipesaukee’s thinning skin of ice, Mike MacDonald doesn’t need to think twice about why more Americans are going “fishin’” in the deepening U.S. recession. “This only costs $6 to get a bucket of bait and it will last the whole day,” he said, skinning a fish next to a hole drilled into the frozen New Hampshire lake. “Compare that to skiing — one day of skiing would cost $80 just for the lift ticket.” As Americans forgo expensive vacations, costly dinners and shopping mall splurges, many are opting instead for the quiet simplicity of fishing, according to the sport fishing industry and reports from bait shops and fishermen. From the icy north to fly-fishing streams in Texas, angling is on the rise. For families, it’s an inexpensive outing. Those with a knack for it can trim their grocery bills. And for newly unemployed, it’s something to do. “I’m seeing a lot more fishermen down here,” said John Miller, owner of Bob’s Sport & Tackle in Katonah, New York. “With the economy the way it is, people are getting laid off from work and don’t want to sit at home and do nothing. “The cheaper alternative,” he said, “is to go fishing.” Hard times have had this effect on Americans before. In the last U.S. recession, from 2001 to 2002, spending on fishing rods and reels rose 12 percent to $343 million, according to the National Sporting Goods Association, a trade body that measures how much people spend on sporting goods.

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