As some oil producing nations move from dollars to the Euro, the value of the dollar declines. The dollar has devalued 9.9% compared to the Euro this year. Most recently, "the United Arab Emirates said it will convert some of its reserves of U.S. assets into the European currency" according to Bloomberg's news reports. "The U.A.E. will switch 8 percent of its reserves from dollars into euros before September, Sultan Bin Nasser al-Suwaidi said in a Dec. 24 interview in Abu Dhabi. The U.A.E. has started ``in a limited way'' to sell its dollar reserves, he said. The Gulf state is among oil exporters including Iran, Venezuela and Indonesia that are looking to shift their currency reserves into euros or price their oil products in the 12-nation currency. " Here is a link to the full article which also covers the value of the Yen and retail sales in Japan. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&refer=Europe&sid=a6wQSxMRkoec Mike