Deutsche Bank forecasts dollar remaining weak in 2008

"The US dollar may remain weak for the rest of 2008 and longer term, the currency is close to a bottom."

These are some of the views that will be discussed by Deutsche Bank, a leading global investment bank at a customer seminar to be held on Monday 28 April at the Dusit Hotel in Dubai from 6pm.

The seminar will see Mr Roger Posch, Managing Director, private client sales at Deutsche Bank examine the key regional issues such as whether the dollar's decline has finally stopped and global issues such as the effect the credit crunch is having on the world economy and FX markets.

Roger Posch said, "During the seminar we'll be examining some of the market trends that indicate where we are in the dollar cycle. Currency rate differentials, trade deficits, capital flows and balance of payments all suggest that the US dollar will remain weak for the rest of 2008, although we think that the currency is, longer term, close to a bottom."

As part of the seminar, Deutsche Bank, the world's number one bank in foreign exchange trading*, will be demonstrating its market leading retail online margin FX trading platform, dbFX.com.

Once seen as the preserve of major investment institutions and corporates, the development of online trading products, such as dbFX.com, is increasing the accessibility of FX trading to family offices and private investors in the GCC region.

As the only international investment bank to have launched an Arabic retail FX online service in response to strong demand from the Middle East, dbfxarabic.com, Deutsche Bank is now investing in a regional programme of events and workshops to help educate clients about the benefits of FX, how to choose the right FX provider and trading strategies to maximize potential investment returns.

Attendees will be able to trial the various features of dbFX.com which include: being able to trade directly with the FX market's number one price provider*; access to Deutsche Bank's research and charts; world class trading execution in all market conditions; live streaming quotes 24 hours a day; 34 currency pairs; margin trading with up to 100:1 leverage and the ability to open an account with as little as $5000.

According to Betsy Waters, Global Sales Manager at dbFX, Middle Eastern investors are perceptibly adopting FX as a new asset class alongside the more traditional asset classes of equities and bonds.

"FX is being used increasingly by investors in the region to hedge and speculate," said Waters.

"With over $3.2bn traded on the FX markets daily, it's clear that this is a highly liquid market. In addition, while FX returns are not guaranteed, returns demonstrate low correlation to bond or equity markets and a lower rate of volatility."

Waters added, "With more and more retail investors in the Middle East entering the FX markets, it's crucial that investors choose the FX provider that suits their trading style.

Deutsche Bank is the only international investment bank to offer an Arabic retail FX online service, dbfxarabic.com, which we launched in October 2007 following strong demand from the region for FX trading.

We believe we will see strong growth this year in FX trading in the Middle East and we are now investing in a programme of events and workshops to help educate our clients in the region about how to maximize their potential in FX markets. Deutsche Bank's number one position in the world for FX trading*, combined with our online retail strategy, means we are helping to define the FX market in the Middle East."

The seminar will be held at the Dusit Dubai Hotel, 133 Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, from 6pm to 8.30pm on Monday 28 April.

Launched in 2006, dbFX.com is available in multiple languages, is accessible in over 70 countries around the world and has 34 currency pairs available to investors on its platform. Deutsche Bank was ranked the No. 1 Foreign Exchange Bank in 2007 by Euromoney magazine for the third year running.