We all know that the dollar has dropped significantly against the Euro. However it appears(?) that Greenspan is not overly concerned about this. I read an old press release dated around February that indicated Greenspan was prepared to let the dollar drop to its natural level.

The Chinese Yuan has been artificially set by the Chinese government to have parity with the U.S. dollar. Supposably the Yuan is not really worth the paper it is printed on.

Questions:

1) Is allowing the dollar to devalue an attempt to force the Chinese to float the Yuan and abandon parity with the dollar?

2) Does devaluating the dollar hurt the Europeans more than us?

3) Has OPEC shifted away from taking payment for petroleum in dollars to payment in Euros?

4) If the answer to question 3) is "yes" then could this lead to a panic devaluation of the dollar followed by significant inflation?

5) What is a wise strategy to shelter assets against a devaluating dollar (I assume buying gold is a bad idea)?

Gary